Holidays Abroad

I have had my first Thanksgiving away from home and family. It was definitely a unique holiday. Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but here at the school they try to make it special for us.

We had a day trip to Pisa and Lucca, two cities in Tuscany. Pisa, obviously, is famous for its Leaning Tower. I had already been there a month or two ago, so I just enjoyed wandering about the streets of the city a bit. It drizzled rain, but wasn't too bad. Next, we went to Lucca, a city I hadn't seen. It wasn't a big city, but it had several beautiful churches, including San Michele in Foro, which stood in a huge piazza full of pigeons. It was a nice little town and we all just strolled and looked in shops. Also, Lucca is known for its ramparts, the old city walls that are now grass-covered and turned into walking paths on top of them. Altogether, it was a good day.

In the evening, when we returned to school, they had prepared a really nice dinner for us. Delicious food! Almost all the traditional American foods. We all dressed up nicely and took photos, and just relaxed and ate together. It was definitely a good ending to the day. As nice as it was though, at the end of the day I couldn't help but think about my family and wish that I was with them. Some things will never change!

And speaking of holidays, I am shocked by how fast Christmas is approaching! In a little over two weeks I am heading off for Amsterdam with some friends for a few days and then Greece with my mother, father, and brother.

Here in Florence, everyone is getting ready for Christmas, also. We took a walk into town today to go to a Christmas market that is set up in the piazza at Santa Croce, one of the beautiful churches. Along many of the main shopping streets, they have strung up beautiful white Christmas lights and almost every store has nicely decorated trees in the windows. It is exciting to see how another country views the holiday. I love Christmas. When we made it to the market, it was so exciting! Delicious cookies, candies, hot cider, trinkets, all kinds of things everywhere. I bought some bread and pesto cheese for dinner, a pretty ornament and several gifts for friends and family. Mainly it was surreal just to be walking through a Christmas market in Florence, Italy in front of a beautiful old church. Definitely a Christmas to remember!

Some photos from Pisa, Lucca, and Thanksgiving dinner are up on my Picasa Album. Enjoy!

Ciao