Presepe Vivente, 2019

The live Nativity started at Porta Romana again this year. One change that was noticeable was the amount of effort that had gone into the overall ambiance at the starting point. Various shopkeepers and homeowners had transformed their doorways and spaces into bakeries, basketmakers, fiber transformation (carders/spinning wheels), and so on. It was absolutely delightful!

Yes, this IS a kid in a basket

I don't know how they kept these bunnies from hopping off

Everyone collected at San Fortunato as the end of the procession, where there was a play. The goose was present again this year, and honking in grand style.

Love,

Alexandra

Christmas in Deruta

While Jim and Sharon were with us, we took a few trips to Deruta. As usual, the small principal piazza was decorated with the local ceramics, using a tree that is also ceramic:

This is the trunk of a huge "tree" that is covered in handpainted ceramic balls

There were reindeer and a sleigh this year

I loved the blankets, handpainted using traditional designs

It's impossible to convey the scale of this splendid decoration

Love,

Alexandra

Fireplace excitement and disappointments

You can see traces of hand-tooling on the edges

We were delighted to find out that (for once) our geometra was wrong about something: our local art restorers had a look at the main fireplace mantel in the house, and declared that rather than (early 20th-century) cement, the fireplace was made from pietra serena. This meant that the fireplace dates to the late 1500s/early 1600s, and it is one of the remaining "original" mantels in Todi. Apparently at various points, these mantels have been sold off by their owners, making ours even rarer to find in situ.

The disappointment that we've been working on is that at some point during the construction, there were a few holes knocked into the chimney liner. This meant smoke penetration in the bathrooms (the same floor as the fireplace) and Michael's office (the attic, two stories up). Umberto and his crew have relined the lower part of the chimney, thereby resolving the bathroom situation 100% and the attic problem 85%. However, we still have to figure out the remaining smoke penetration so that Michael doesn't become a kippered herring while he is at work, while permitting us to use the fireplace as intended.

Speaking of fireplace, we also had a wood delivery...

Love,

Alexandra

Delivery from Murano

After a few months of waiting, our chandelier finally arrived! The box was satisfyingly large, and chock-full of packing peanuts. And then it was time to hang it, to everyone's delight (particularly the electricians').

And, hung!

Love,

Alexandra

Christmastime is here

I skipped blogging all of Advent, so here are a few photos of the decorations in the Piazza, compiled into a time-lapse for succinctness!

The boom was right above us at coffee,
until I suggested that they might want us
to move...

A spiderweb during the day, the lights became shooting stars at night

We were sad that it was a fake tree this year

Meanwhile, inside, Maxwell LOVES Christmas

Epiphany!

Because of Babbo Natale's house (and the
lighting arrangement) in the piazza, they moved the descent
of the befana to Piazza Garibaldi this year.

Increasing the suspense...

There was a band under the arches

Thanks to Jim, I have a photo of the befana!!

Happy Christmas, a little late!

Love,

Alexandra

At the end of the rainbow...

Coming home, I had this view. Who could resist a photo or four?

We even had a double for a while!

And from the patio at home

Love,

Alexandra

Accountant's Office

I'm trying desperately to catch up on blog posts, because I realize we haven't updated since October! Just a sign that things have been busy.

In early November, we had an appointment with what amounts to a CPA in Florence. This role is called the "commercialista," and everyone needs one. It appears that there is no self-filing for taxes in Italy, and ours are more complicated than many given the requirement to file in both countries. Because of this, our best bet was a firm in Florence; the commercialisti here don't also have expertise in American taxes, and we didn't want to structure things in such a way as to minimize taxes here and end up hammered on the other side of the ocean.

As a result, we toodled off to Florence in the 6:35 train, arriving just after 8:00. This gave us plenty of time to have coffee and find the office prior to our meeting time; it was a nasty, rainy day, though, so we weren't really interested in prolonging our stay.

The offices, however, were worth seeing. I took a few clandestine photos (so as not to be a total tourist about it) for posterity.

Inside the vestibule is another door, about 12 feet tall

This is the main entry door, Michael for scale

Once inside the office suite,
we enjoyed these historic
(guessing 1800s, so not OLD old) frescoes

Love,

Alexandra