Which Country Are We In Again??

We've been back in Italy for one month now.  How is that possible?  I feel like we just got here yesterday, and yet we've been here for ages!  It's been an awfully busy week, with a few lazy days thrown in here and there for recovery purposes.  The major event which happened last week was the150th anniversary of Italy being an united country.  Before that time, the peninsula was completely divided and it took a lot of work for everyone to join into one nation.  So on March 17th Italy had a national holiday celebrating this occasion!  As if Italy needed yet another holiday to add to the calendar, many businesses were closed, school was out, and everyone seemed to flock to the center of Firenze to have a walk and see all the flags hanging around the city.  In the evening there were fireworks and the buildings were lit in the colors of basil, mozzarella, and tomato!  It certainly was a lovely sight.

Ava painted this flag at her school

On that same day as the 150th celebration I was also fighting a cold, and trying to remember my Irish heritage since it was St. Patty's Day too!  The night before I was able to drag Francesco to see the Irish Fesival that is held annually in Firenze to hear some good ol' celtic music, watch a lil' Irish step-dancing, and of course enjoy a lovely dark stout beer on tap!  The theatre was decorated with huge cardboard cutouts of Irish buildings and castles.  Small booths were set up to sell some things that they tried to pass off as authentically Irish, but I saved my pennies for when I will actually go to Ireland someday!  One couldn't help but crave some fish and chips and carrot cake while tapping our toes.  As an interesting twist to the evening, we ended up going to hear some friends play tango music in a tiny bar, dancing a little tango, and even a bit of salsa.  Such is life in a European city I suppose!  You never know which country you'll find yourself in at the end of the night!



The Irish flag of green, white and orange...funny how similar it is to the Italian flag!

Friday I continued to fight my cold, and prepared for some guests who were coming to visit.  We had our usual family lunch on Saturday, a birthday party to attend in a gorgeous house in the hills of Fiesole, and then we had another large party at our house just for the fun of it at night!  As the musicians were setting up (we always seem to have someone playing music in the house) Ava grabbed the microphone and sang an incredible rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in front of about 25 people while accompanied by Francesco's guitar.  The house went wild, and everyone had to comment on what a little star she is! 

In the hills of Fiesole, we find a little star statue

Unfortunately the little star woke up with the stomach flu on Sunday, and so we watched kid shows all day long inbetween taking her temperature and dosing out tylenol for the fever...yuck-o.  She's recovering quickly, so that's always a big help.  We have another busy week ahead of us, and I'm totally looking forward to it!  After all the rain the past week, this one is promising to be full of sunshine and rising Spring temperatures!  I'm inspired to go shopping for some flowery dresses and peep-toed heels..and I'm sure I can squeeze that into our schedule at some time...