Buon Natale!

We took ourselves back to Lucca to share Christmas Day with cousin Anna and her family. She and her husband Rolando are the heads of a large extended family which now includes a few great-grandchildren. Our midday meal, a sitting for about 14, included tortellini in brodo, quadrucci al ragù (pasta) ; a meat course with choices of roast guinea hen, pork, salsicce; patate arrosto, patate cipolle, torta agli spinaci and piselli e prosciutto; a green salad; deserts: tiramisu, panettone, torta di riso, fruit, peanuts, walnuts, candied dates---Nancy's contribution: banket, a almond pastry from her Dutch tradition.. and coffee.

The meal was followed a passeggiata with Gabriella, Pietro, and cousin Ilaria's husband Raffaello around the city walls (about 4 kilometers). Then it was back to the house for more visiting with additional family members who had come by for a visit.

We said our goodbyes around 8:30 P.M. Despite having the all the shops and cafes closed, Via Fillugo was filled with after-dinner strollers, and there was a small crowd --mostly teenagers-- hanging around the skating rink set up in Piazza Maggiore. The parking lot near Viale Europa was empty except for our car and a few others, more evidence that there are relatively few tourists in town.

Fairly exhausted after some seven hours of our best efforts to follow the conversation with our elemental Italian skills, we "debrief" on the trip back to Lido, checking each other's comprehension of the evening's topics: work, hobbies, cell phones, Formula One, changes brought by computers, soccer (calcio); the health of trees in the park, tourism, poor church attendance, and, of course -- cooking. It's been a qualified victory -- our understanding is better than on earlier trips, but dealing with different speakers in multiple simultaneous conversations is always a struggle.