Christmas in Rome and Florence

Tuesday was Christmas. In the morning my wife sent me down with a gift (cookies, soaps, etc) to our doorman, Paolo, who works a couple of hours on holidays. It occurred to us later that maybe the custom here is to give cash, so we will have to ask. We simply are not Italian. I called the catacombs near us and, not surprisingly, they were closed. So Chiara and I headed downtown to see a couple of churches, both near the Institute, where she got to see me enter the narrow driveway and park, which is an experience in itself. We weren't sure that the churches would be open, but we assumed so. On the way out we noted that the trash dumpsters by our apartment were overflowing; service has been spotty recently.

First there was Santa Maria Maggiore, where there was a huge mass going on, in Latin. The place was almost full, with the sides roped off so we couldn't see everything. There was a lovely choir accompanying the mass, though we couldn't see any singers from our location in the very back, so it might have been pre-recorded; you can see a brief video here and decide for yourself. In any case, it was a lovely spectacle and always a beautiful location.

 

Then we walked about ten minutes to St. Peter in Chains, where they have Michelangelo's statue of Moses, as well as the chains supposedly used on Peter in prison. It is a relatively small, out-of-the-way church, but one of my favorites. There was a small mass going on there too, in Italian. 

On the way back we went into the Institute to give her the brief tour, then we were home by about 12:30. Dee was finishing her dessert (butterscotch haystacks) for the ward party, and Chiara decided to come along. It was hilarious to get all three of us and three big trays of haystacks into the elevator. Meeting lots of new people, especially with the language barrier added, is not her favorite thing, but she was afraid otherwise that she would just fall asleep at home, which doesn't help with jet lag. It was fun to introduce her to our friends from so many different countries and cultures. There was a ton of both food and people. We started with appetizers, including Peruvian papas a la huancaina, then some pasta, then sausage, steak, and arrosticini.

 

The grill team: Huber, Perego, Cadena

 

 

I was able to gave a CD of Donny and Marie Osmond hits to Sergio for Christmas. Chiara brought it from the US after I had Amazon ship it to her fso we could surprise him with it. The Hubers also gave him the framed print of him standing beside Donny Osmond from a few weeks ago, so he was smiling ear to ear. I also was able to copy Sorella Yanacallo's old 16GB SD card onto the new 32GB card that just arrived. It is nice for her to have some extra room for photos now.

We left the party early because we needed to get home and finish packing for the train to Florence. We each nabbed a butterscotch haystack on our way out. I did the dishes and emptied the trash, (I emptied the frig of perishables) finding space in the dumpster which had apparently been emptied during the day, although all the extra bags of trash were still piled up outside. I threw in mine plus a few more as my act of service for the day. We drove down to park at the Institute, then walk over to the train station, which seemed easier than walking our suitcases all the way to the Jonio subway stop. We arrived downtown in plenty of time, so we took a few minutes to call my in-laws from the car to wish them a Merry Christmas.

The train was on time and very comfy. I had gotten a cheap upgrade to a car with only three seats across instead of four. We each slept a bit on the 90-minute ride up to Florence, and then arrived at the Hotel Porta Faenza in less than 10 minutes on foot in the cold. Chiara runs warm, so she was in short sleeves, while I was shivering in a sweater and my heaviest coat. She came here in the winter on purpose! We all were able to fit everything for four days into our carry-on sized suitcases, which makes it much easier to get about.

Our hotel is the same one that Marilyn/Lu and Karen/Dave had used and liked earlier in the year, so I was anxious to see it. The rooms are very spacious and clean, with high wood ceilings. Our room is right around the corner from Chiara's. It is good to be here together in one of our favorite places in Italy for sightseeing.

 

Packing for four days is the same as for two weeks, so it is always a feeling of accomplishment to get it all in a carryon.

Jim Huber asked, "when are sisters going to be get to wear pants?"  I stood up to show him I was already enjoying the new rules. The young sisters can hardly wait to go shopping for pants this week. Elder Balzotti said he is waiting for ties to be optional. After all, the angel Moroni didn't wear one when he appeared to Joseph Smith :) 

Chiara keeps hoping to hear Italian Christmas music, but so far has heard only English, haha.