Tonight, Michael & I went with the boys for a musical party. A friend had about 10 over to her house, where they had a mini-concert (a friend who is a soprano sang several song cycles as well as some early 19th century French music) accompanied by light refreshments.
On our way home, we noticed (how could we not?) that the Piazza del Popolo was crawling with people! They were having a big family festival, with free refreshments, including popcorn (yes, it was made with olive oil, much to my amusement and gustatory pleasure!), bruschetta, polenta with sauce, and so on. Delizioso! It was really nice to see everyone out and about, just enjoying their families and friends. All the Christmas lights were on, and the presepi around town have all been completed now.
The boys & I went on the trenino, and were amused by the fact that it made an unscheduled stop to allow someone to pass a plateful of fresh bruschetta (toasted on an open wood-fired grill) into the engineer's booth! At one point, we were stopped because a clown needed to pass candies in through the windows; we later were assailed with balloon dogs and other creations.
We visited the most elaborate diorama purporting to display Todi in the 13th century. Being flat made it lack a good bit of realism, however!
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| With Jeremy, for scale |
I finally bought a creche for myself, a Christmas present from my parents (thank you again!). I love it -- it's all handmade papier-mâché, which is a traditional style, apparently. (And, yes, it is rather funny in the richness of the ornamentation -- in stark contrast to what we understand to be the reality of His birth, but it's SO gorgeous I'm willing to overlook that!).
Love,
Alexandra
What a Perfect Present from the Piazzo. You will cherish it forever!
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