it has been so insanely long since i have written on here!! i am sooooo sorry!!
update:
i have returned to the states for the summer, as you all know i am sure. i have been working and saving up as much as i can while im home. i have been down to disneyland with patrick and his family, and gone to see friends all over. i am so happy to be home for this long. =]
july 6th patrick and i will be departing to Wales to visit his family and to tour around fora few weeks. we will then be off to italy, where we will be in florence and capri for a few weeks as well. then he will go back home here and i will stay in florence for school. i just went up to the consulate today to get my visa situation taken care of.
i hope all of you are well!! miss you all so much!
i will be moving out of the current flat that i am at in roughly 3 weeks, so please dont send any mail to the giglio address. i will be returning in july to a new flat. please send mail to:
alexandra thrapp via melarancio 6r 50123 firenze italia
i will be getting my photos and blog up this week when it calms down about my trip up to see michele and also the one from this weekend to see alessandra in trieste and pordenone.
love you all, cant wait to see you! sorry there have been so few posts lately, its been pretty hectic with move out worries and trying to search for a new flat.
i was just sitting on my front steps with a cup of tea after getting the mail. i was spacing out and noticed 3 people walking my way. 2 guys and a girl. the girl had a pink carnation in her hand and dropped a bud right in front of my feet where i was standing in the doorway of my flat. the guy walking behind her picked it up and handed it to me and said 'buongiorno' with a big smile =] it made my day to be honest. seeing that people are still kind enough to make each other smile.
back to easter though: me in my easter dress!! haha (just like you asked for mom)
first: lisa and i woke up and attended church at a little church down the road from us. mass at the duomo wasnt until later, and it was packed already. it was lovely. we were laughing at all the people who snuck in right before the eucharist and then left directly after. just to say they had the host on easter haha.
lisa making a silly face
after that, we came back home to wake up miss nicole, who had slept through until 10. we all then walked down to the piazza del duomo (the square in front of the cathedral) and watched the cart explosion. heres a little bit on what that is:
Around 9am on Easter morning, a historic pageant of musicians, flag-throwers and dignitaries in colourful Renaissance costume escort a tall wooden cart along the streets of Florence to the Cathedral square (Piazza del Duomo) and place it between the main door and the Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni), where the 'Explosion of the Cart' (Scoppio del Carro) festival is held. The cart, teasingly nicknamed Brindellone - meaning tall and wobbly in Florentine dialect - is laden with fireworks and pulled by two pairs of huge white oxen of the local Chianina breed. Meanwhile, another parade moves from the ancient church of Santi Apostoli by the Arno, solemnly carrying a fire kindled with the flints from the Holy Sepulchre which have been kept here since 1785.
At 11am, during the celebration of Easter mass in the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, all the bells peal in unisone and the bishop uses the holy fire to ignite a dove-shaped rocket, which shoots along a steel wire from the high altar through the central nave of the cathedral and to the Brindellone outside, starting a whirlpool of fireworks, bangers and colourful Catherine-wheels.
Popular belief has it that if the explosion goes smoothly and the dove makes it safely back to the altar, the year’s harvest will be good and plentiful.
easter cart festival : orgigins and history:
The festival dates back to 1099, when the Crusaders finally conquered the city of Jerusalem after a long siege. The first soldier to climb the walls was Pazzino de' Pazzi, a brave young Florentine. His reward were three flints of stone from the Holy Sepulchre, which he proudly took back to Florence. After being kept in the family palace for a few years, Pazzino's precious relics were entrusted to a nearby church and were used each year on Holy Saturday to lit a fire that was first brought to the cathedral for blessing, and then carried in solemn procession throughout the city. Over the decades, the cart used for the procession became increasingly large and elaborate.
Then, in 1478, some Pazzis conjured against the reigning Medicis and the family was disgraced and exiled. As a result, the fire cart tradition was suppressed, but soon revived by popular demand and entrusted to the powerful Calimala (wool weavers) guild. When the Pazzi family was readmitted to the city a few years later, they provided an even more monumental and solid cart, which is basically the one still in use today, while fireworks were first introduced in the 16th century as a spectacular substitute for the door-to-door distribution of the holy fire.
procession of the cart through the streets: look ho pretty the cows looked! the cart:
the duomo looked beautiful with the light hitting it like that.
in the air, the sparks against the smoke and the light shining through looked so pretty, like little faries:
anywho...we watched that and then went out for breakfast and a day of shopping around the markets. i didnt buy anything, but it was fun to walk around and check out all of the different crafts that people had out. it was a beautiful day in florence! xoxo
also, a little side note, last week my friend vicky who is from nittingham, england, had her friend from home visiting here. they were so lovely! i wish they could have stayed longer! patrick and i will visit them while we are in england for sure =] they are such wonderful people =] vicky and nicole and i will be living with each other next year =] we are going apt hunting this week. here are some photos =]
thats me in vickys glasses!! (thanks dave, very cool photo =] )
dave, jess, me , vicky and emily (and eddy in front)
i love you all and miss you terribly! (and all see you all soon for a 2 month visit!! may 19th!!)
first off...let me back track with just some fun photos!
the roommates had to go get some pizza after a day of walking arounf the city =]
me and maribella me and nicole me goofing off or something =]
this is a little trip to the antique market i did again a few saturdays ago. it was lovely, very cute! i got a beautiful mirror and a little map of florence from the 30s that was done in water color. i will have to grab some photos of those for you, because i just realized that i didnt take any! =[ market sign
that saturday night, my roommates and i had a little dinner party! it was very cute! i made baked ziti =] which everyone apparently liked a lot becuase the two HUGE trays of it were GONE! so i was very proud of myself =] it was lots of fun to have everyone over!! i really loved it! girls getting ready! nicoles little dress =] luca (maribella's fiance) & leo (nicoles boyfriend) eating appetizers alex mcissac (my friend jons brother who happens to be studying here too) and his rommate peggy and gina luisa and melissa maribella (who borrowed my shirt!! haha) and sarahjane lisa and nicole doing dishes group photo (some people are taking the photos) alex, his buddy, gina, me and maribella lica and lisa me and gina
then after dinner, a few of us went to Twice which is a little club in florence. it was fun to get out of the house after all that cooking!!
me and nicole me and ricardo
for spring break this past week Tony, a good friend of mine who lived here in florence 2 years ago with me and sergio and alex, came to visit. we had a great day on the beach one of the days (in Viareggio, which is about 20 min from florence to the west coast) because it was so beautiful out! and the other days we were really just bumming around the house. and went out a bit. all in all it was a very relaxing spring break =] he left on monday morning very very early, but it was a great time!
vicky and nicole on the train =] vicky and nicole beach! (la mare) we were practically the only ones there! it was so nice tony =] vicky foot prints =] my feet ;) vicky nicole fell asleep so pretty i got some new sunglasses at the 99 cents store! me =] me and vicky, nicole snapped this while i was taking one myself haha
well, i love you all so much!! i will write soon again i promise! i am sorry it took me so long this last time. exam weeks just finished and so now my head it much more clear. easter i will spend here with nicole, we are going to church and then to the explosion of the cart, which is a fireworks exploding cart in the front of the duomo easter morning. they have been doing it for centuries. its very cool =] (but sounds like the city is under attack!) then on the 17th i will go up north to visit everyone up there.
love you all
ps - patrick, i found this and wanted to show you.
