Christmas Begins

After all the traveling during last year’s sabbatical, it was our pleasure to stay at home in Florence and have an Italian Christmas again.  Of course, wherever we are we have an Italian Christmas in spirit, but the physical experience is really wonderful.  In comparison to the States, it features a lot more vacation days, more food and wine, and more family visits over an extended period of time which for some flows right into the first week of January and a bit beyond.  And things move slowly.  Except for last-minute shoppers, the mood is generally very low key and slow…..people really take time off to relax and enjoy a quiet break with friends and family.

For me, the real holiday spirit happens after the tree is in the house and Christmas is just a few days away and it’s time to make COOKIES.  I love to make cookies and after our first Christmas here I discovered the very best Christmas present for Italian friends…..tiny boxes filled with an assortment of my favourite kinds of cookies.  By now, after a dozen years of the practice, I have a lot of baking to do, but I love it.  I am soothed by memories of my mother doing the same thing for her friends and I put on some favourite music and crank up the oven and I’m off.  It’s a pleasure to give those little boxes away, and nothing short of a giggle to watch them disappear into thin air almost immediately after the boxes are opened. Even staunch dieters cave over this temptation……but it’s ok, isn’t it, to be a cookie-lover at Christmas time.

The Cookie Factory

After all the indulgence that is impossible to avoid at the numerous gatherings of family and friends, it’s a joy to wrap yourself up in warmies and head out to the centre of town where all of beautiful Florence is waiting to enchant and entertain you.  I couldn’t possibly find space in this blog to show you all the variations of light shows that happen all over town.  Each street in the centre has its own variation of street decorations and they change every year.  The major monuments like the Duomo, the Piazza Signoria and the Palazzo Pitti are more brightly lit than usual, and that’s enough.  They don’t need red or green lights or decorations…..their age-old brilliance is sufficient to inspire wonder.   It’s fun, however, to see what new ideas the commercial side of life produces in this town of major shopping opportunities.  La Rinascente, the department store in Piazza Repubblica, strives to outdo itself every single year and this year they are pulling more wattage than our entire block over on the other side of the Arno!  Meanwhile, the Dolce & Gabbana windows have ladies like me lining up to photograph their display of excessive luxury as only they can do it!

Rinascente Christmas

D & G Christmas Goodies

This wondrous display continues throughout the city until mid-January.  By then, thousands and thousands of people will have visited, shopped, eaten well, and enjoyed the beauty that is Christmas in Florence.  Buon Natale.