Nick and I just returned from visiting his Aunt and Uncle's house in Vasto.  Aunt Tina smothered us with love and food and more food and Uncle Giuliano was kind enough to not only drive us around to see the other relatives in Vasto but also showed us the Vasto  

lighthouse and some of the tucked away beaches in Vasto which were wonderful views of the coast that we would not otherwise have been able to see as tourists.  In Italy, December 26th is also a holiday - the saint's day of Santo Stefano - and in Vasto, December 27th is cousin Barbara's birthday so we had three solid days of festivities. Three solid days of large meals, sitting around the table afterward playing cards, watching TV and just relaxing.  After dinner on the 26th, Aunt Tina, along with the help of her mother and Nick's Uncle Giuliano made a fried doug called "scripelli".  Covered with sugar 

or honey after they are cooked, scripelli are delightful.  Aunt Tina made a boat load of other goodies during our stay but I think that my favorite was her ravioli stuffed with pancetta and parmesan.     ---------->

(Or, was my favorite the dessert raviolies that were stuffed with cherry filling and fried?  I can't decide.)

All of this relaxing felt well deserved after our five hour train ride to get to Vasto was spent standing the whole way.  UG!  Yes, on foot the whole train ride.  The train was so full that we didn't even make it inside the car.  Our "seats" ended up floating somewhere between the entrance, the bathroom and the sliding door leading to the the space between cars where all of the smokers went to get a breath of "fresh air" when 

they couldn't get off at one of the stops or hide in the bathroom.  I thought for sure that it would be the longest four or five hours of my life but it turned out to be quite a jovial ride.  Everyone seemed to be happy to be on their way to visit someone for the holidays and the constant moving to let someone on/off the train OR into/out of the bathroom OR through to the next car provided enough distraction that the time went by about as quickly as it would have if we

had had seats.  Everytime that we had to let someone through it was a complicated puzzle of people and luggage and shopping bags  - but that did not include the time we had to let the portable bar through (a miracle it made it) with it's coffee and beer and snacks headed to the next car.  We took the bus back with reserved seats.

New Year's Eve was a flurry of activity in the San Ambrogio neighborhood (that's where we live).  Outside our kitchen window in the public space where the market usually is there was a HUGE New Year's Eve party which began to pick up speed around 10:00 pm.  There was loud music to dance to and people were setting off fireworks left and right.  It seemed to me to be hundreds and hundreds of fireworks especially when the clock struck midnight.  They were going off on both sides of the apartment and while it was fun to see I confess that the loud noises (I mean REALLY loud, not just obnoxious neighbor loud) made me feel like I was in a war zone.  We slept in our guest room that night, away from all of the windows (the guest room is a private loft above the living room) and it was surprisingly quiet.  (I love to sleep!  Even on New Years Eve!)

This weekend the winter group of students are arriving.  They will be spending roughly ten weeks here in Florence and then they will switch places with another group of students who are in London.  I have to say that while I'm looking forward to meeting them I'm still getting over missing the last batch of students who were here for the fall term.  I don't know how Janet does it three times a year meeting, getting to know and saying goodbye to everyone.  Janet is pretty amazing though and we've already seen more than one former student make great efforts to reconnect with Janet while they are passing through Italy.

The December break has felt a bit too long for me.  I don't handle well too much idle time.  I've read Dicken's Christmas Carol, an autobiography of an obsessive collector and now I'm diving into Les Miserables which I might put aside for something lighter once I get through the first or second books of it.  Thankfully, in Florence we have an English bookstore called the "Paperback Exchange" and there are two other large chains that have English sections in them but the "Paperback Exchange" is a wonderful store with plenty of new and used books and a nice cookbook section too.  It is a gem of a store in the heart of the city - they even have a free, clean bathroom that you can use if you ask nicely.  That in itself is worth noting in the tourguides!  Aside from reading we've been taking lots of long walks and I've been trying to discover new views and places in the city.  One of our favorite walks is up to San Mineato where the monks make and sell honey and soaps and other gifts and there is the best view of Florence from up there.  It's quite an uphill hike but worth the effort.

(San Miniato al Monte - photo courtesy of igougo[dot]com)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!