We wrapped up the holiday season yesterday as it was the final day of Caiden’s school break & also the day we drove Stephen to the airport for his return to the United States. It was a bleak day, indeed. But the four weeks that proceeded it were delightful, even if they were remarkably different than what we’d initially planned.
We’d originally booked a stay in The Dolomites & while visions of a Christmas spent swooshing down Italian slopes danced in our heads, the Italian government had very different visions. With their red zone (aka lockdown) holiday restrictions & mandate to close all ski resorts, we soon realized that our celebrations would be much cozier, & much closer to home.
So we shifted gears & our first stop was to the ‘big COOP’, as we affectionately call it, which is our large, local supermarket. We stocked up on games & puzzles (& perhaps some adult beverages, too). We readied ourselves for the long-haul within our four walls & then became familiar with which days offered what freedoms.
We learned that there were a few “yellow” days sprinkled in the holiday break which meant movement was pretty freely permitted within our region (for us, Tuscany) & restaurants could open for a sit down lunch. On those dates we day-tripped to Lucca for bike riding, wandering & dining, we visited the charming town of Castiglione della Pescaia & caught a most magnificent sunset at Marina di Grossetto, nestled along the Tyrrhenian Sea. We also got all gussied up one day & enjoyed a gorgeous Tuscan lunch, accompanied by a full day of Christmas shopping & a nighttime viewing of central Firenze’s dazzling lights. Stephen & I even snuck away to Val d’Orcia on Caiden’s second to last day before school break & explored Greve in Chianti, Montalcino, Pienza & Montepulciano. We sat on a curb & ate pizza slices asporto (to go), side-by-side, while sipping Chianti from a plastic cup… it was a most-perfect meal.
Our actual holiday celebrations were spent exclusively at home. We roasted a chicken & made potatoes with green beans on Christmas Eve (although we sorely missed our traditional fondue dinner) & finished the evening with Stephen’s great grandmother’s delicious apricot/powdered sugar cookies as well the softest, yummiest, frosted sugar cookies I’ve ever tasted! All of these treats were crafted by the three of us, elbow to elbow in our tiny European kitchen, with Spotify belting out classic holiday tunes in the background. I even realized that night that I don’t, in fact, dislike Christmas cookies—I just dislike the dry, thin, more-crunchy-than-flavorful sprinkled variety I’d had every year prior.
New Year’s Eve found us teaching Caiden the fine art of cards & gambling as we cobbled together a Blackjack table, using red, blue, white & black “Mastermind” pieces as chips & a tablecloth with oranges on it as the spots on which to place a bet. We popped open Prosecco & rang in 2021 with our very own pyrotechnics (they’re legal here which was beyond exciting for these California, fireworks-forbidden kids!!) & watched a magical display of endless bursts & explosions along the Florentine skyline below our home.
The days that followed were a bit of a blur as Stephen began preparing for his departure & as the two of us lost ourselves in the OCD-ness of completing the toughest puzzle we’d ever attempted. There was also the Harry Potter movie marathon (eight in total!) that the boys devotedly completed.
I suppose our holidays didn’t reek of excitement, but they’re among the most special of my life. While many wished away 2020, I regarded her with such profound respect because she taught me some lessons I needed to learn, & reminded me of a few that had been forgotten… something about love, & slowing down, & having enough, & appreciating the littlest things, & simplifying, & putting others before oneself. She stripped away all the noise & clutter & crap & craziness & reminded me that I have every.single.thing.I.need, & then some.
So as the last of the Christmas gifts are put away & the final pine needles swept off the floor, I’ll forever cherish our Holidays in Italy 2020. I’ll remember the year of more red than green as one that gave far more than it ever took.
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