Empty Mangers

At first, we thought hooligans were stealing all the baby Jesus figures from Nativity scenes around town--including this one inside the Duomo. (That would be the explanation in the States.) But such blasphemy seemed impossible in a Catholic country like Italy.

Then, we figured it out: The baby isn't born until Dec. 24.

Frosty in Firenze

Last night, the rain turned into sleet and started to stick. You-know-who has been whining about the lack of snow (one more reason Salt Lake City is SO much better than Florence). I didn't want to get his hopes up.

But this morning we opened the windows and the city had been frosted--for the first time in years. It wasn't just scrapbookers from Utah snapping photos. Jack pulled on his size 5 snow pants and his new Christmas sweater and tromped out onto the deck to make a snow"man".

It's small. But it will do.

O Tannenbaum

A city Christmas tree after all--at Piazza della Repubblica. (It's sponsored by the hotels around the square.)

Santa seems to be optional. He comes and goes.

Takeout

Vending machine caves are tucked into buildings around town for fast food on the go.

There's espresso, cola, fizzy water, Fanta and--slightly disturbing--hot meals. For 3 to 5 euros, your options range from farfalle with smoked salmon to lasagna al forno. Those selections are always empty. I've tried to buy one just for the novelty. Either they're selling out...or the concept has failed.

I have a hard time believing Italians would eat reheated pasta from a vending machine.

All He Wants for Christmas...

In Italy, children place their baby teeth under a glass next to the bed. During the night, a mouse, "Topino," removes the tooth and leaves a few coins underneath the glass.

We've been visited by the tooth fairy TWICE in the last week.

"She brought Italian money!" he said.

Lost in Translation

Italians are mystified by American outrage at the verdict in Amanda Knox's murder trial. They're watching CNN's analysts blame it on a parochial Perugia jury or Fox's pundits chalk it up to anti-American student sentiment in a college town. They saw Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sort of deflect the question of whether or not the U.S. government would intervene.

Reaction here ranges from defensive affront that anyone would knock Italy's judicial system to outright cynicism: the local TV affiliate compared Knox to Carlo Parlanti, an Italian convicted of rape in California and sent to prison for nine years (many Italians believe he was set up). America jailed an innocent Italian--so...tit-for-tat.

The people I've talked to reassure me that Amanda is "doing fine" in prison. They promise that her sentence will be reduced to 10 years on appeal. "A girl died," they say. "Someone had to go to prison."

Flipped Switch

The day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the American Christmas shopping season. The day of the Immaculate Conception--or rather, the weekend before--seems to kick off the holiday for Italians.

Tuesday, Dec. 8 is a national holiday. Schools are closed. Many Italians made a four-day weekend of it: Driving up to Germany or descending on Florence to see the Uffizi and the David without American and Japanese tourists--and to shop.

Most of the stores opened on Sunday and stayed open (unheard of!). And walking through town is like pressing through a mosh pit full of people in puffy black coats. (Except for the guy in purple; he's a mime.)

"German" Christmas Market

At Santa Croce through Dec. 20.

Northern Italians from the Alpine regions come to town speaking German, grilling wurstel and bratwurst and peddling carved wooden nativity scenes and stocking caps.

It's almost as good as Strasbourg or Munich--and the natives flock there in droves to eat strudel and buy ornaments.

I bought these....for Jack.

Values Education

Last month, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that crosses displayed in Italy's classrooms violate parents' rights to raise their children according to their own values.

A Finnish immigrant sued after schools in Padua refused to remove the crosses from her child's classrooms. Her efforts failed in Italian courts. But the European court ordered the state to pay the woman 5,000 euros.

Italian government officials call the ruling "shameful" and say the rest of the European Union is abandoning its heritage. And citizens are going to the piazzas to collect signatures--including at this tent in Piazza della Repubblica last weekend--in an attempt to reverse the ruling.

This would all be quaint if it didn't feel so familiar....

Bicycle Graveyard

Florence is a town for bicycles--bikeways, bike shops, bike chains and locks latched everywhere.

It's also the last resting place for a lot of skeletons. Some are the victims of hoodlums who stomp on the spokes, bending the wheels so their owners can't ride home. Others seem simply to have been left to scavengers--seats and front wheels missing, tires breaking down in the elements and frames rusting for months.

You never know when someone might come, unlock the chain and ride off on the thing...

Strings of Streetlights

Christmas trees are rare. Stockings are few. No Santa parade--although there is a plastic replica on the carousel at Piazza della Repubblica.

But Firenze does have lights. Lots and lots of lights. Some with the obligatory Fleur de Lis. Others just draped over alleys or shaped into curtains.

The halls are decked.