Firenze at Christmas: Lights, Sparkle, Magic

It is hard not to compare Christmas this year with last year’s holiday in Italy. Hands down, this year wins! In 2020 the holiday came with increased COVID restrictions which prevented travel between cities. That meant no trip to Firenze (Florence) to marvel at the Christmas decorations (a small thing in light of the more serious issues associated with the pandemic, but still, one more small loss). A little bit of sparkle would have been most welcome at the end of last year!

As of mid-December 2021 no such restrictions on travel are in place. Firenze is aglow and welcoming visitors. There are precautions in place, including a requirement to wear masks outdoors in the main piazzas during certain times (I actually witnessed local police enforcing this rule). And while there were definitely crowds when I visited in early December, by Florentine standards they were fairly modest. Best of all, Firenze at Christmas is as magical as ever!

By day there is un sacco (a whole lot) of things to see and do. I started my day in Firenze with a lunchtime stroll through the Mercato di Natale. The market sits in front of the church of Santa Croce and brings a blend of Italian and German holiday celebrations to the city. After a year’s absence, the 2021 market marked a return to tradition. Plus I enjoyed a German flavored lunch from one of the many stalls.

Many hours can be spent along the streets of Firenze peeking into shops filled with Christmas goods, seeing the elaborately decorated shop windows, and enjoying all the greenery that frames the doorways of shops, cafes, and hotels. (Some of my favorites below)

There are many other things to see during the day - the stunning terra cotta nativity in front of the Duomo, the nearby Christmas tree made even more beautiful by the back drop of the marble clad cathedral, happy kids riding the carousel in Piazza della Repubblica. In Firenze, Christmas is everywhere.

Life size terracotta figures make a simple but beautiful nativity scene outside of the Duomo. Note that there is no infant Jesus yet - he arrives Christmas Eve.

For a time out, I recommend a stop at Caffè Gilli for a pot of tea and a little dolce (sweet). Gilli has an old world elegance and provides the perfect setting to sit, catch your breath, and appreciate the Italian Christmas spirit. An added bonus is that the cafe offers a view of the carousel in Piazza della Repubblica and also has one of the best windows in town, full of whimsical Christmas chocolate creations.

As wonderful as the city is by day, it is at night that the magic really happens.

Once the sun goes down the streets sparkle with lights. A walk down Via dei Servi, from Piazza SS Annunziata toward the glowing lantern atop the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo), is a breathtaking sight.

Another not-to-be missed sight is a nighttime view of the ever-changing display on the facade of the Rinascente department store in Piazza della Repubblica.

For intense sparkle, head to the area around the intersection of Via Tornabuoni and Via degli Strozzi and prepare to be amazed.

The lights here are intertwined with gold and silver ornaments. They dazzle and seem to fill the sky. It is impossible to stand here and not smile.

I was in Firenze the night of the tree lighting, which meant there were some special celebrations. Drummers and flag bearers in medieval costume and a brass band attended the ceremony. Afterwards, a train load of Santas arrived and then wandered through town throughout the evening, delighting adults and children alike.

I love Firenze any time of year. But at Christmas, and especially this year, it made the perfect holiday excursion. Grazie Firenze!

A Christmas Market in Pietrasanta

What a busy, Christmas-y week it has been! December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and an Italian national holiday, marked the official start of the Christmas season here in Italy. It is the traditional day for cities to hold tree lighting ceremonies and for families to put up decorations, including a presepe (nativity scene) and a Christmas tree. Some towns and shops start a bit earlier, so that by the first week in December there are a lot of holiday events to be found.

This year it seems that everyone is ready to celebrate. Unlike last year, when much of Italy was under pandemic restrictions that kept holiday markets closed and celebrations curtailed, this year the holiday season has arrived in festive fashion. For me, that means gathering with friends (in small, fully vaccinated groups), entering all the beautifully decorated shops in Lucca (with mask in place), and sipping a hot drink at a chilly outdoor cafe in a light filled piazza. It also means being able to visit nearby towns to browse through Christmas markets, marvel at lights and decorations, and appreciate the joy of the season. With that spirit in mind, the past week has been filled with events - a holiday market and lunch in Pietrasanta, an overnight in Firenze (Florence) which is pure magic at this time of year, and several meet-ups with friends. I am filling up on Italian Christmas before I head to New Mexico for some family time and a southwestern holiday. Whew! I may be a bit tired, but I am smiling.

Babbo Natale greets visitors to Pietrasanta

The first stop on my list of Christmas events was Pietrasanta, a delightful small village in the province of Lucca. About an hour by train from my home (30 minutes by car), it is one of my favorite day trips. I have visited Pietrasanta many times, enjoying its artsy atmosphere and beautiful city center (for more on Pietrasanta: https://twopartsitaly.com/blog/2021/5/26/heaven-and-hell-in-pietrasanta) but I had never made a visit during the winter. After reading about the local Christmas market, I decided it was time to go. And so last week I hopped on a train with some friends to spend a Sunday exploring holiday time in Pietrasanta.

One of Pisano’s imaginative creations in Pietrasanta.

There was plenty of holiday spirit to be found! Just outside the arched entryway to the city center, in Piazza Carducci, was a larger-than-life Santa Claus and the first of a series of really interesting pieces of art. The large, colorful pieces struck me as a cross between the metal parts of old erector sets (anyone else old enough to remember those?) and legos. That may sound strange, but it made for some really fun sculptures, several of which fit the Christmas theme including the brightly colored tree pictured here. They were created by the Italian artist name Tano Pisano; the series is called Meccano. It continues with several large pieces in Piazza del Duomo and at the facade of the Church of Sant’Agostino (there are more of his pieces within the church and cloister - all will be on display through February 2022).

The center of Piazza del Duomo, the main square, is where the Christmas tree sits, surrounded by over-sized holiday ornaments and more sculptures by Pisano.

At the far end of the piazza, the market was filled with handcrafted and specialty Christmas items. Each booth had something different to offer - from hats to housewares, lamps to ceramic pieces, ornaments to beautifully turned wooden toys.

And the setting! Browsing through the stalls while enjoying views of nearby bell towers, statues, the old town fortress walls, blue Tuscan skies dotted with soft white clouds was just perfect . A Christmas card worthy scene.

Wandering the streets from Piazza del Duomo through town to Piazza Matteotti took us past art galleries, shops, fanciful windows, wonderful decorations, and an outdoor antiques market.

After a stop for lunch at the small and cozy restaurant Quarantuno (my go to lunch spot in Pietrasanta) it was time for a train back to Lucca. A wonderful day and a great start to the holiday season.

My busy week continued a few days later when I headed to Florence. More on that next week!

All dressed up for the holidays

The Artisans and Shopkeepers of Chiasso Barletti

Little touches like a basket of flowers add to the charm of Chiasso Barletti

Tucked away just a bit off the main drag of Via Fillungo in Lucca lies the small vicolo (alley) of Chiasso Barletti. Home to a collection of small artisan workshops and wonderful negozi (shops), it is one of the few completely pedestrian lanes in town. That makes it the perfect place both to “vedere le vetrine” (window shop) and to “fare shopping” (go shopping - the Italians often use the English word shopping in this context). With the holidays approaching, shopping is certainly on my mind and Chiasso Barletti is sure to be one of my first stops.

The vicolo itself is interesting year round with its old doors, cobbled streets, outdoor displays of goods and art, plants, newsstand headlines, and even interesting bits of art dangling overhead. Most recently that has included a collection of colorful wooden cutouts of houses and suns; this week they’ve added Christmas decorations above the street and all along the lane. In addition to being one of my favorite shopping streets, its character also makes it my favorite detour when walking though town.

Copper pans on display in the shop Chocolat

It has been good to watch new shops put down roots here over the past few years. Each shop offers something unique and shows off the best of Lucca’s art and culture in its own way. Several of the workshops offer a chance to see an artist at work, something that makes owning one of their pieces even more special.

This collection of shops have inviting goods, enchanting and ever changing window displays, personal touches, and a warmth that draws you into to the shops and makes you want to stay awhile. The friendliness of the owners makes it even more wonderful. Stop by and chat for awhile!

Here is a sample of my favorite shops in Chiasso Barletti. First, the artisan workshops:

It’s always enjoyable to see an artist at work. Here, Stefano makes beautiful ceramic pieces.

Rossoramina offers beautiful hand painted ceramics and table linens. Step inside and watch Federica and Stefano as they create everything from tiny espresso cups and larger mugs to plates and platters as well as decorative pieces. Their designs use color and pattern in eye-catching ways. A set of their smaller size coffee cups (a perfect size for a macchiato) sits in my china cabinet and is a joy to use. This is a great go-to place for special home goods and for gifts at any time of year.

Next door, find hand-crafted jewelry at the studio of Elena Camilla Bertellotti.

This is another place where you can see artisans at work as they use their tools to create contemporary jewelry in silver and brass (or gold by special request).

The pieces are unique and the window display always makes me stop to admire the newest necklaces, rings, and earrings.

Just across the way, you can sometimes catch the artist painting at Maria Guida Studio d’Arte. Her work is both colorful and whimsical and always makes me smile. This is another great place for artwork and gifts that are unique to Lucca.

In addition to the artisan workshops, there are other special shops along this alleyway. Here are my favorites:

Chocolat, the tastiest shop in Chiasso Barletti

The tastiest shop in Chiasso Barletti is Chocolat. Not only can you find beautiful creations in chocolate here but also a variety of caramelle (candies) and loose teas. They also create whimsical window displays that change to reflect seasonal events and holidays. Their Christmas windows are especially delightful.

I love to buy table decorations in chocolate here (like their oh-so-Italian Easter Chickens) or small bags of chocolate truffles as hostess gifts. After all, one can never go wrong with chocolate, right?

Elisabetta Santi has worked in affari di cappelli (the hat business) for many years. But when the legendary Lucchese hat shop where she worked sadly closed she decided it was time to open her own shop and so created Santi punto. She opened in Chiasso Barletti during the pandemic. What a leap of faith that must have been!

Her shop sells gorgeous hats for women and men as well as scarfs, bags, coats, and umbrellas. They are artfully arranged inside the shop as well as in colorful window displays. This is the go to spot for summer sun hats, warm winter hats, rain hats, and year-round fashionable hats. Elisabetta makes her colorful hats and collections of umbrellas look like art.

Last, but definitely not least, is one of my favorite places in Lucca - Etta’s Bookshop. Run by the delightful Julia (and named after her cat Etta), the shop sells English language books and lots of fun things for book lovers. It is a cozy, friendly place - everything that a neighborhood bookshop should be.

There are many English speakers here in Lucca and Etta’s bookstore has quickly built a devoted fan base, myself included. A quick wave from Julia as I pass her shop brightens any day considerably. Even better is to stop in, chat a bit, browse, and head home with a new literary treasure (or a mind-candy guilty pleasure). Often I will do an informal “orientation walk” with newcomers to Lucca (if you’re a blog reader coming to Lucca for a long stay I am happy to do this!) and Etta’s Bookshop is always a stop on the tour.

I walk through Chiasso Barletti nearly everyday, often going out of my way just because I enjoy the atmosphere here (and the lack of automobiles). There is always something new to see in the changing window displays, the vignettes outside of storefronts, the flowers along the lane, the decorations overhead. It’s fun to see the shopkeepers, a small community of their own making, chatting outside their shops. It is especially wonderful at this time of year, with a red carpet rolled out down the center of the alley, little trees decorated with ribbons on the walls, and holiday colors in all the shop windows. It’s the perfect spot for some holiday shopping!

One of my all-time favorite window displays at Chocolat.

Note: No paid advertising here - these are just a few of my favorite places!

A Fully Vaccinated Italian Thanksgiving

Last week marked my third Italian Thanksgiving. Of course there really is no Italian Thanksgiving tradition, so perhaps it is better to say that this was my third Thanksgiving since moving to Lucca, Italy in December of 2018. And what interesting holidays they have been!

My first “Turkey Day” celebration here in 2019 was a large gathering of friends, nestled close around a beautifully set table, eating roasted turkey breast with all the traditional trimmings. The common thread in our giving of thanks was that we were all thrilled to be living in Italy and to have found a community of like-minded people who were well on their way to becoming our own little Italian family. The future was full of plans for adventure, travel, group outings, language classes, and figuring out Italian bureaucracy together.

Thanksgiving appetizers, 2021

How very different the next year was. Thanksgiving 2020 came in the midst of the world-wide pandemic. Italy was hit hard and by last November many things had come to a standstill, including holiday celebrations. The restrictions in place prevented large gatherings, with a max of two or three unrelated persons allowed to be inside one’s home. How to possibly celebrate with all the tragedy surrounding us? How to choose just one or two friends to invite to even a scaled down dinner? The answer seemed to be to spread out Thanksgiving by visiting one friend at a time, ideally outdoors, one friend each day over the long holiday weekend. We replaced big traditional dinners with brief get togethers over coffee or a walk on the wall. On that Thanksgiving day I had a minimalist dinner with one friend and a roast chicken. Still, we were thankful to be healthy, to be living in Italy where the community faced hardship together, and for being allowed some small freedoms after the much tougher lockdown of previous months. We focused on the many large and small things to appreciate - family, friends, beautiful vistas, the smell of coffee, music, Netflix movies, sunshine, the sound of church bells, a safe place to live, dogs. A renewed awareness of these things may be the one blessing to come from the pandemic.

Cold and rainy November weather felt dreary during last year’s pandemic restrictions, but this year it didn’t bother us a bit. The cold felt clean and crisp and even the rainy walk home from Thanksgiving dinner didn’t dampen our spirits.

And now here we are in 2021. In Italy, COVID is in fairly good control, although the threat remains and the winter season is seeing large increases in the surrounding countries of Germany, Austria, and most of Eastern Europe. Not to mention the latest variant rearing its ugly head! There have also been modest, though still worrisome, increases in parts of Italy. But this November we are not restricted. We move about freely, shops and restaurants are open, and we have even been able to travel for pure pleasure. That is something very near the top of my thankful list! Masks are mandatory when inside shops or public venues, hand washing, and targeted social distancing remain the norm. I have come to appreciate these things, as they have made it possible for us to return to a sense of normalcy (or at least the new normal, which is so much better than the far-from-normal of last November). This year we also have vaccines. Italy has, for the most part, embraced them, achieving one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe. And the EU Green Pass really does feel like a ticket to freedom. More things for which to give thanks! Vaccines and widespread testing have allowed visits from US friends, my own travel to see family in New Mexico, a lessening of anxiety (though not an abandonment of reasonable caution), and the beginnings of economic recovery. And then there is the magic of living in Italy. I still pinch myself and it is yet another reason for thankfulness.

This year we celebrated !

This year we once again gathered as a group of friends, though in modest numbers and with everyone fully vaccinated. Shari, our hostess, had decorated beautifully for the holiday and created a gracious setting for us all to enjoy (the photos are mine, but the decor magic is all her’s).

We feasted on turkey and all the trimmings, each of us bringing one of our Thanksgiving favorites (apple cranberry pie and my mom’s turkey dressing for me, no small feat with my little “easy bake” oven). We drank toasts and gave thanks. We sat further apart, kept the doors open to increase air flow, and washed our hands. But without the need for masks, the smiles were there for us all to see. And how we laughed! A joyful sound.

We thought of our families and appreciated the fact that once again we can travel to visit with our children, grandchildren, and parents. I was beyond thankful for the opportunity to laugh together, to share joy, and to feel hope for the future. I was even thankful for the rain that made the day chilly and damp.

And, I am thankful for one particular (peculiar?) Thanksgiving tradition that dates back to that first gathering in 2019 - the one that sees Jedd, one of our hosts, wearing the most amazing pair of shiny, and pointy, green shoes with equally notable socks. It may not be everyone’s Thanksgiving tradition, but it is uniquely ours and I love it!

I hope you all had an equally hopeful and joyful Thanksgiving. And now … let the Christmas decorating begin.

Cook Once and Entertain Twice: An Afternoon Tea and Evening Aperitivo

I’ve always adhered to the “cook once, eat twice” school of meal prep. This was especially true in the days when I was working full time and doing most of the cooking for my family. Even now, when I am usually cooking for just one in my tiny Italian kitchen, I love making extra and having leftovers. Soups, stews, extra salad ingredients all prepped - these things make life much easier.

One lump or two ? The quintessential tea question.

But I’ve never really applied that approach to entertaining. It was just a bit of serendipity that recently saw me doing some culinary recycling, stretching the preparations over two separate events.
I had carefully planned the first event - an afternoon tea for a a group of friends, one of whom is soon to depart Lucca for her home across the sea.

The tea was a fairly formal affair with dainty tea sandwiches, scones with lemon curd, and the Queen’s own shortbread (or so the recipe claimed) along with chocolate cookies rolled in pistachio bits.

It was served in proper courses - first savories, then scones, and finally sweets. Very ladylike!

With plenty of leftovers, I turned around the next day and hosted an impromptu rainy evening aperitivo. One key - there was no overlap in the two groups that I hosted, so that no one was seeing the same dishes twice. I did fess up to the aperitivo group that I had served some of the same things, though in slightly different form, the day before. They did not seem to mind at all! Of course a formal tea with scones and the like is not appropriate fare for an evening aperitivo, so I had to change things up a bit.

A buffet rather than a formal table setting worked best for the aperitivo. But the fall centerpiece and even the tablecloth worked for both.

For the aperitivo I did make one platter of small sandwich rounds filled with a gorgonzola pecan spread and some cherry jam (exactly the same as I’d served for tea the day prior). But I changed the other sandwich offering - the one with a salmon cream cheese filling. For the aperitivo, I served the salmon filling as a spread for crackers rather than in the little triangular sandwiches I had made for the tea.

What was a salmon sandwich filling for tea became this spread with crackers for the aperitivo

I added a bowl of potato chips and a couple of bottles of wine and - voila! - an Italian aperitivo. We ended up talking for hours, solving many of the world’s problems, which gave me a perfect excuse to set out the leftover cookies.

Doing the two events back to back was fun and used my leftover ingredients to great advantage. And it really cut prep time! With slight modification, the table setting morphed from formal tea to informal aperitivo. Even the fall centerpiece of leaves (collected on Lucca’s walls) and local gourds and pumpkins made the transition nicely. Plus, I was able to see two different sets of friends and enjoy two very different events. That was the best part.
Cook once and entertain twice or, in Italian, cucina una volta e intrattieni due volte, just may be my new motto.

Fall days in Lucca are perfect for entertaining.