December 25, 2014

Christmas Day has been incredibly relaxing! I am almost a little reluctant to go back to France. I am in love with Italian culture and how friendly people are. It's so refreshing. I was telling Jan how we can't believe it's Christmas because of the lack of commercial hype that we are used to. Gésu bambino, baby Jesus is the real hype here. Everyone was excited to see baby Jesus finally present in the wooden Nativity scene outside the Duomo after midnight Mass. The pace here is so different, la dolce vita, the good life as the Italians call it. Street musicians in the evenings, an opera singer in the piazza, street artists as well. One truly needs very little to be happy: family, a good heart, and an open mind.

 San Croce with statue of Dante

 Thousands gathered for midnight mass in the Duomo

Gésu bambino is finally here! 

Midnight mass was incredible, long, but so beautiful with Italian and Latin, songs I remember so clearly from singing with the St. Rose Choir. Even a cardinal facilitated the mass and it was relaxing listening to the homily because Jan and I could pick up so much of what he was saying from our own knowledge of a Romance language. The mass was long, but beautiful and meditative. The sound of the bells was magnifico. I can still hear them throughout today; this whole experience and the energy here is magical. I don't know how else to better describe it. Looking forward to seeing several museums in the coming days. 

 Inside the paper/stationary shop