Grace, the Grandparents and ME

Holy Cow!  Merry Christmas!!

Buon Natale!  Just back from the Grandparents where we had our Christmas lunch.  Very yummy, very abundant.  We were joined from dessert by an aunt and cousin, the former who lives across the hall.  Now am going to relax until tomorrow when packing and planning for our Christmas gift (the trip to Morocco) begins!  Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Christmas Eve.  We went out for sushi for dinner and the city was deserted.  All the stores were finally empty, the streets were quiet.  Everyone who can afford it has headed up to the mountains for the holidays.  The rest were at church or starting their "cenone", which mean "big dinner" that is eaten Christmas Eve following Mass.  Then of course there is the lunch tomorrow which is the really big holiday meal.  We're going to the Grandparents.  There will just be the 5 of us but there will be enough food to feed a village.  My mother-in-law takes feasts very seriously.  The in-laws have their 60th anniversary this next May and have started planning for the luncheon already.  The restaurant has been booked and the invites have started going out.  This is going to be a grand affair lasting at least 5 hours and Grace is already up in arms.  The restaurant is out in the country and probably doesn't have internet coverage.  Torture!  So Christmas itself will be quiet this year but we're taking a week vacation to Morocco leaving on the 27th.  Very excited!  Merry Christmas for now!  xxoo me

We had our little Christmas get-together Saturday night.  It was an ex-British Empire hullabaloo!  There were Australians, an Irish woman, Americans and an English gal.  GP was the only full blooded Italian in the mix.  It was fun. I made finger food, popped open a half dozen bottles of wine and tuned in my Christmas music radio station direct from Cork, Ireland.  One of the Australians is said to be one of the top soccer coaches in Australia.  He was touring and working with teams in France and stopped for a few days to visit friends here who happen to be friends of ours.  He's a nice guy and is my idea of stereotypically Australian.  He's rugged, handsome, outdoorsy, friendly and funny but he barely drinks!  Poor guy was freezing.  He sat on the sofa with his parka on, sort of squished up in the corner trying to keep warm, holding his wine glass with two hands like a coffee mug.  Half the time he had no idea what we were saying because we were going back and forth from English to Italian.  Poor guy.  His name is Michael, or as the Aussies say, "ma-co".  All of the Australians were horrifying us with stories of snakes, (poisonous and more poisonous), spiders, (big, aggressive, poisonous), killer jellyfish, sharks and salt water crocs.  Scrap that trip. 

Christmas in the city

          Here are some photos from a walk in the city.  We heard a wonderful gospel group performing in one of the piazzas.  They sang traditional southern gospel in English with just the hint of Italian accent.  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  Still not really feeling it.  Must bake.  xxoo me

Gospel singers

Giant Advent Calender

I needed a good deal of water and some extra coffee this morning but fortunately didn’t wake up slapping my forehead with regret, so last night was fun but not that fun.  I do recall, before being dragged off by my dear patient husband, doing the concert wave, whilst holding hands with the Dean of the lower school (woman), and singing along to our entertainment’s cover of a Michael Boboli’s song.  Can’t for the life of me remember what the song was but we were swaying back and forth gushing on about HOW MUCH WE LOVE M. B. and sighing heavily when GP suggested that maybe it was time to go.  Glad he got me out of there before I really did something unprofessional!  There was a Yankee Swap emceed by the high school Biology teacher who missed his calling by not being a stand-up comedian.  He is a very droll, multi-lingual Scott who teaches his classes while sing and dancing about, spouting inane facts about anything and everything.  Grace loves him.  So last night he called us all up one by one to choose our gift from the wrapped pile on a table usually making some silly remark about each of us.  I was “mother of Grace” one of his FAVORITE people, though I don’t know if that means Grace, his student, or me!  Then like Bob Barker, he critiqued the characteristics of each prize and gave a running commentary on our "stealing" from each other, all done in a variety of accents and languages.  (Ooh la la, da lady, she go-in for da cand-el!)  I started out with a knock-off bottle of Irish Cream, went to some sort of coat hangers and ended up with a nice packet of gourmet coffee!  He had us all laughing so hard my stomach muscles hurt this morning.  The meal was wonderful with an appetizer buffet, risotto and pasta, a dessert buffet, and wine that was bottomless and good.  The entertainment was the husband of one of the teacher’s, a professional singer who I’ve mentioned before.  There was just a little dancing before we left but I imagine it caught on later as many people didn’t leave the festivities until after midnight.  I was happily tucked into bed by then, probably snoring away as is my habit after an evening out… .  But of course where there is alcohol involved, the evening was not without it's bumps.  After my second glass of wine I lost my mouth filter and all the inappropriate thoughts bouncing around in my head came tumbling out.  I made some comments about the Bushes that I probably should not have considering I was sitting across from TEXANS.  Surprisingly they were not pleased with my impression of W. as a cyclops.  Some people have no sense of humor.  I wasn't the only one "in my cups" however because there were a lot of sheepish looking teachers at school today.  So there.  xxoo me

Christmas is coming!  The goose is getting fat.  Please put a penny in the old man's hat!  Fa la la...    School is useless because the kids are all either practicing for their Christmas concert or wacko in anticipation.  Tomorrow night is the faculty Holiday party with dancing, dinner and whatever.  They usually offer an evening in a restaurant or an "event locale" but so much money was spent on the 50th Anniversary Gala, that this year's party is in the school.  The school chef is fantastic so I'm sure the fare will be up to par.  Then Saturday evening we are hosting a little cocktail party here.  I had to wait for a date when most people had already headed home or away for the holidays because we can only fit a few in at a time.  As most folks leave on Friday after school, Saturday it is!  No place for them all to sit for dinner so it's wine and finger food.  It will be cozy.  You'd think with a place this small I'd be able to keep it spotless wouldn't you?  You would be mistaken.
Still not in the Christmas spirit.  Bah Humbug.  We did have a nice pre-Christmas dinner with our German friends last Saturday.  They made a nice Raclette and then we played a board game, the name of which has slipped my mind, until the wee hours of the morning.  It's amazing how good I think I am at things once I've had a little wine.  I had never played before but was shocked that I didn't win at the end of it.  I was so convinced I had done everything brilliantly!  xxoo me

GP and I went into the city this afternoon to meet a friend I haven't seen in 10 years.  Back in ancient history when I was young and newly in Italy, I worked in a language school teaching English.  I made friends with a few of my colleagues, especially a couple of girls from Wales.  During the years that I lived here I saw them often but once we returned to the States we all lost touch apart from the occasional card or visit.  This gal today now lives in Zurich with her German husband.  They were here for a wedding and called to see if we could meet up.  The last time I saw her she hadn't changed much at all from the girl I'd met almost 30 years ago.  Age has caught up with us all I guess.  When we met today we just stared at each other for a few moments and then started laughing.  Damn.  To think when we first met we were just beginning our working lives, (I'd say career but as I've never had one that wouldn't be accurate), and now we're talking about retirement!  We've made plans to meet up somewhere half way this spring for a day so we can really catch up.  I look forward to it. xxoo me

We stopped after school to pick up a Christmas tree.  As the tradition is still fairly new here, they don't really have all the tree getting process down yet.  There is certainly no tromping off into the woods to cut one down, dragging it back through the snow like a hunter with his catch.  Round these parts, trees are mostly fake and from the supermarket.  They come in boxes.  "Not for these Mainers!" I said.  So we stopped at our local garden center and bought a 3 foot potted fir.  It has no smell, but it's healthy and green and makes the place look more seasonal.  I had brought some decorations over when we came and we picked up some lights at the Chinese dollar store.  The apartment is now rather festive.  But I'm still not getting in "the mood".  There are no carols playing in the shops, no snow, no Santas ringing bells beside a Salvation Army pot.  There are just a few lights up and Panettone, (traditional Christmas cake), in the bakery windows.  Ho Hum.  I think I'll do some baking this weekend and see if that helps.  Happy season to all!!  xxoo me

Treelet

The strikes or protests are still going on in various cities around Italy.  It's been named the "Pitchfork Strike" though I can't imagine why as I doubt too many people are actually carrying pitchforks.  Makes me think of the peasants attacking Doctor Frankenstein's castle. They have moved around Torino from one area to another, blocking traffic, closing shopping areas etc.  The protesters here are up to 2000 now, mostly students.  Some parts of the city have become quite dangerous at night with fires and vandalism and violence by unsavory characters taking advantage of the situation.  Still nothing to affect us as we are enough out of the way and travel away from the city for school and work.  I'm actually curious and would like to see what's happening but won't have time until Saturday and Italians don't strike on weekends.  xxoo me

There is a general strike today in Torino.  Well not so much a strike as a protest.  About one thousand people gathered in the city center, Piazza Castello, and marched down some of the main avenues to the busiest train station where they blocked train traffic for an hour or so.  Almost all of the shops and bars are closed in the center because there is always a small group of hooligans who start trouble even if the protest is peaceful.  They are protesting against too high cost of living, too high taxes, too high unemployment and too low salaries.  Life in general.  Why is it these mass protests and strikes are still so common in the rest of the world but haven't been popular in the U.S. since the 60's?  Have we become too complacent?  Life here is no worse for people than in the states and in fact for many it's better.  The lower working classes and unemployed are covered by the national health care plan unlike their peers in the U.S..  Many of the essentials are much cheaper here than there, (food, telephone, water).  If you can live without a car, as city dwellers can, that cuts out the biggest cost here.  And yet they protest and we don't.  I don't know if it will resolve anything but a lot of people got an extra day off work so they'll be happy.  xxoo me

The trick to doing anything of the appointment needing sort of thing in Italy, is to leave very early and plan for any and all sorts of problems or delays.  Really this applies to anything where one needs to be in a specific place at a specific time.  Leaving an hour early this morning for a medical appointment gave me time to:

avoid the Friday market that closes all of the street in the center of town but not necessarily the same streets as last week.

find a parking space in a nation where there is 1 space for every 10 cars because the urban planning didn't keep up with it's fixation with cars.

pay for the parking when the ticket dispensing machine is broken, (since September), and the next nearest is 2 blocks away.

fight the swarms of elderly folks who use medical centers and doctor's offices as social clubs and are constantly having testing and check-ups.  This keeps them healthy and active as they are out of the house for hours every week going back and forth to these various appointments, chatting with friends and neighbors who are doing the same, and not plunked in front of the t.v., (as well as the obvious preventative benefits).  Unfortunately for those on a schedule it clogs up the system big time.

wait with these hordes of white haired old biddies who gossip and tsk on the long wooden benches.  They all dress alike in dark wool coats, dark skirts and sensible black shoes on their tiny feet.  They jump up and down every time the ping goes off for the next patient to be called up to the reception, checking the screen to see if it's their number, thus also getting plenty of exercise.  (Scary thing is that I am no longer that much younger than them.)  The wait today was 20 minutes.  Not bad.  xxoo me

I read The Boothbay Register on-line at work today.  I shouldn't do that as it makes me very homesick.  I know I sound ungrateful after a weekend away but there's no place like home.  Sniff.  xxoo me

Craftsmen building a Creche in Notre-Dame Basilica.

 As many of you may know I've never had the best opinion of France.  Well, not France so much as "The French".  My past experiences have all been in Paris or the Riviera.  No one, not even the French, like the Parisians and the people on the Riviera?  Well I don't know what anybody except me thinks about them.  But I don't like 'em!  They have always been rude and unfriendly.  On my 4 trips to Paris I have had my suitcases tossed onto the street by an innkeeper, (guess there were no rooms), been chased down the street by a gang of North Africans, (of French citizenship I am sure), been refused service in a bar and had my coffee literally hurled on my table in a cafe.  The best was near the Louvre on my first visit when a beret wearing, mustache sporting man tried to pull me into his car.  Really.  So my entire French experience over the years has been negative and it tainted my opinion of all the French.  But I am a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong!  Lyon has changed my mind.  We had a wonderful weekend.  The locals were friendly and helpful and a good time was had by all.

The early evening view over the city from Fourvière.

  Grace and I left early Friday morning from Torino by train.  We traveled over the mountains and into France going from autumn to winter to autumn again in 4 hours.  After checking into our hotel on the business side of Lyon we walked one block down and met up with our visiting friends from home.  Joy!  It was great to see familiar faces.  Grace and J. were off and gossiping immediately.  We all headed across the river Rhone into the area called Presqu'ile and then across the river Saone and wandered around the old center for a bit.  It's all narrow twisty turny cobbled roads lined with chocolate shops and pastry shops.  Did I mention I put on 10 pounds just crossing the border into France?   After that we walked up many stairs and steep little roads to Fourviere, "the hill that prays", where sits Notre-Dame Basilica, probably the most beautiful church I've ever seen and that's saying something.  While Italian churches are generally dark and foreboding and really quite gruesome, the Notre-Dame of Lyon is painted in gorgeous pale blues and greens with gold leaf.  It's like being inside a giant Easter egg.  The sun went down and the cold came out so we went for a warm drink for the girls and a warming drink for us.  We had dinner at a little restaurant where we had a lesson in French from our lovely young waitress, none of which I can now remember.

Freezing, grumpy girls

GP came in late Friday night.  Saturday morning we all met up again and toured the city.  It's a great livable size, only about 70,000 in Lyon proper.  There are tons of lovely squares and historic buildings.  Unfortunately it was windy and really cold.  We had a great dinner eating typical Lyonese food including a lot of cheese and one dish of some sort of animal head.  It looked like whale blubber.  I did not try it.  The desserts were incredible however and I think I tried them all.  Alas we had to say good-bye when the evening ended as friends were flying out on Sunday.  xxoo me

The gang.

Selfie by our funny waiter.