Happy New Year!

From the fabulous George ....

...And from me to you.... Felice Anno Nuovo!

Stolen Photos

I did not want to finish the year without showing some photos of festive Italy. Unfortunately I haven’t been there since last summer but I’ve “stolen” photos from my friends and acquaintances who have actually shot them personally. As I said previously, I come from Northern Italy, an area which is often left out by tourists and even Italy lovers, because it is erroneously considered “industrial” or “not holiday-like”. Instead, the North of Italy has got everything the South has and even more …We have the sunshine and the snow, the scenery and the culture, the industries and the music, the seaside and the mountains, the food and the wine (to be honest, the best wines in Italy!), the hills and the lakes….And here are only some samples of the Christmas lights ….Enjoy!

This is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, as seen by my best friend Giusy...

....And Milan again with the huge Christmas tree in Piazza del Duomo (always by Giusy)

And the dreamy Venice.....

Via XX Settembre, Genoa, by Roberto

And the Arena of Verona under the Xmas Comet ...

Visit Valeria's blog for great photos of Verona at VERONA DAILY PHOTO

And last but not least our fantastic Turin....

And Torino again, Monte dei Cappuccini, shot by the great Fabrizio at Torino Daily Photo

A Confectionery Shop Window in Milan (by Giusy).....for the pleasure of your eyes....

Saint Stephen's Day

"Good King Wenceslas looked out

on the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about

deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night

though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight

gath'ring winter fuel."

I hope you had all a lovely Christmas and a nice Boxing Day. In Italy the 26th December is dedicated to Saint Stephen, therefore it is called “Giorno di Santo Stefano” (Saint Stephen’s Day).

Stephen was the first Christian martyr, stoned to death shortly after the Crucifixion. He was selected by the apostles as one of the 7 deacons to help with charity work and his task was to look after the poor, particularly the old. It is believed he was a Jew and then converted to Christianity. He was excellent at preaching which made him enemies. This caused him to be charged with blasphemy. At the supreme Jewish law court, the Sanhedrin, Stephen told about the many mercies that God had given the children of Israel, and the ungrateful way in which they had repaid Him. He accused them of murdering Jesus, whose coming, he said, had been foretold by Moses. This angered the crowd and he was dragged out onto the streets. He was then stoned to death according to the law at that time. His stoning was witnessed by Saul who was to become Saint Paul in later times.

Saint Stephen is often represented carrying a pile of rocks or with rocks on his head.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

Granddad is 75

My dad's birthday was actually on 20th December but my parents arrived from Italy late at night so we could not celebrate. And next day he was ill so we had to postpone until yesterday when he felt better. My dad is a special person and the only man in the world I really trust 100%. He had some tough time in his life and we almost lost him four years ago when he had a massive heart attack. But he is a tough fighter and he keeps on going on with his pacemaker, always helping people and cheering us up with his jokes and good words.

Here is my dad with his proud grandchildren ….and his delicious cake made by my friend Lesley….

And here is grandma as well.

We had a little party with just the six of us but we had a serene and happy time together. It is so nice to be all together again! It is really like Christmas :))))

Off limits!

Yesterday I went to Leeds, unfortunately not for my Christmas shopping (still unfinished by the way!) this time, but for work. Still I could not resist strolling along Victoria Quarter and admiring the Christmas decorations.

Victoria Quarter is considered by many the fashion and lifestyle destination of the North of England. It combines exclusive fashion, beauty and lifestyle stores, cosmopolitan vibrancy and breath-taking Victorian architecture to give a unique shopping experience.
It “houses” more than 70 top names such as LK Bennett, Vivienne Westwood, Gieves and Hawkes, Jigsaw, Ted Baker, Karen Millen, etc. and, of course, Harvey Nichols.

Unfortunately, my shopping experience was limited to “window shopping” as, in spite of the early reductions, the prices are still too high for my pockets.

Anyway, window shopping and above admiring the Christmas displays in the beautiful arcades can still be a reasonably good consolation.

It is difficult to see from the photos, but the Christmas tree is actually decorated with diamonds and other gems and sparkling necklaces, all fakes of course!

It's Up!

Our Christmas Tree is finally up! It took me and my daughter half a day last Saturday but we managed to sort it out. It is usually down to my daughter and my dad to put up the Christmas Tree together, but this year my mum and dad are coming over from Italy a bit later than usual so Vicky and I decided to do it ourselves. To tell the truth, she did most of the work herself as she remembered exactly what her granddad did in the past. Our tree is a synthetic one and a bit “strange” as you had to insert the single branches one by one inside the main post and all the layers have different length. Anyway my only task was to pass on the branches to her and towards the end send her out of the room whilst I was trying to untangles the lights and set them up (not an easy task, I can assure you!). I did so because I knew I was going to swear badly and I don’t want that poor 9-year old to listen to my profanities…

Vicky even managed to set up the Nativity scene on her own, and although I tried to convince her that Baby Jesus arrives on Christmas night and the Three Kings on the 6h January, she decided to put all the figurines at the same time.

This is the extent of our Christmas decorations for this year!

Thanks to Sugar of SUGAR SHACK for the beautiful tag!