Happy Halloween!

I have been interested in seeing what Italians do for Halloween, which is one of my favorite days of the year. It turns out that they don't do much, especially with back-to-back All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (Nov. 1st and 2nd). November 1st is actually a public holiday, and if we observed this day in the US it would coincide perfectly with being able to stay up late on Halloween night. Too bad the US isn't a Catholic country.

Living in Australia we were able to accept the fact that the Halloween most familiar to us (dressing up, trick-or-treating, eating/tolerating candy corn, carving pumpkins, etc) is really an American invention. Living outside the US, I am willing to give up these wonderfully fun activities just as long as I can celebrate twice as much when I return! However, I was a little distressed to find that in the past decade or so Australia and apparently also Italy have been affected by American movies and Americans living abroad--little children have been popping up in costume, going around looking for candy. Like Smarties, this Americanization is bittersweet.

Luckily for us, we were invited to a Halloween party last night hosted by Americans. The costumes were a bit lacking, but there were a few stray decorations and some great chicken curry. Seth didn't get his costume ready in time (he wanted to be Perseus), but I managed to throw one together just in time (i.e., I bought from the market a pair of pantyhose to stick on my head and a meter of metal chain to wear as a necklace).

Leonardo's "Lady with an Ermine". At least Tim, the art historian, was able to guess correctly right away!

Besides being a holiday, November 1st also means being able to turn the heat on in our apartment! Another interesting thing about Italy is that energy is so precious that the government somehow restricts what months people can use their air conditioning and heating. It is totally freezing in here--it holds a steady 15 degrees Celsius all day long (about 58 degrees F). As cold as it is, I don't think we will be using the heat much anyways to keep the energy bill down. Actually, I prefer being restricted if it means people don't abuse and over-consume energy to over-heat and over-cool their buildings. In the US I hate having to wear long sleeves when I go into a shop or cafe in the summer because they've cranked up the AC too much. It's so wasteful, not to mention distractingly cold! The same, of course, goes for winter temperatures and too much heating. No wonder Americans have the reputation of being energy hogs.

Mom and Dad

This past week Seth and I had our first guests! Mom and Dad came to spend a few days with us before departing this morning for their cruise around Spain. Finally, we got to make use of our extra bedroom (up until now we have only used it maybe two or three times). I hope they had a good visit, despite some chilly weather, a freezing apartment, and a stormy day in Venice.

From Ponte Vecchio

The best pizza in Florence: Pizzaioulo!

Saturday was the big day at Mercato Sant'Ambrogio

The view of the back of our apartment from the market. You can see our clothes drying from the top floor.

Giant tank to fill your own bottle of wine

Waiting for lunch at Rocco's Trattoria, located inside the market. It was a VERY popular place on a Saturday afternoon!

Dad ate his beans and Mom drank her wine

Caramelized pear

After Mom and Dad took a day trip to Siena on their own, the four of us rented a car and spent three days going to San Marino (a tiny little mountainous country land-locked within Italy) and the coastal town of Rimini, then Venice. Dad was very brave to drive and the rest of us did our best to navigate. It was a bit terrifying at times, but nothing really bad happened so it was deemed a successful drive!

To add extra visual enjoyment to already beautiful locations, it was a treat to experience the road trip in the middle of fall. Being later in the season also kept some of the tourist crowds at bay.

Welcome to the country (Republic) of San Marino, famous for its three towers.

Tower 1

Tower 2

Tower 3

We stayed the night in nearby Rimini, the city that was once a favorite hang-out for Caesar and other ancient Romans, now the resort town where Italians spend their summers.

Dinner at Pic Nic. Pizza was a popular dinner this past week.

Running in the historic center of Rimini the next morning.

Roman ruins

The beach and resorts--both empty, the way I prefer to see them!

Our hotel and cute little rental car (with the postino in the foreground)

Rocky San Marino (and its three towers), visible from Rimini

We made it to Venice in one piece, though it grew rather stormy so we spent a lot of time that afternoon and evening in the chilly rain and wind. At least there were far fewer people out and about compared to when we were there the summer before last, and we appreciated not boiling in the heat and sun.

After spending a good hour or so hunting down our hotel and then having to find a phone to call the proprietor to let us in, Seth and I managed a quick trip to the Frari to soak up some Titian before it closed.

The next morning, running in Venice. The fish market is getting ready.

Two huge sword fishes and something else, freshly caught

We had just enough time in the morning for a quick walk around town and a visit to the fantastic La Scuola Grande di San Rocco--several rooms literally covered floor to ceiling with beautiful and vibrant Tintoretto oil paintings.

Seth snuck a few pictures from San Rocco

Returning to Florence, our last dinner at Il Giova, just around the corner. It's not pizza this time!

Seth had a fancy baccala (dried and salted stewed cod) and I ordered large tortellini with zucchini flowers and truffle oil.

We were sad to see Mom and Dad go this morning. Hope they caught their trains to Savona today alright!