December is a magical time in Italy, the Christmas spirit is everywhere and people are immersed in a world of colorful lights and jolly sounds.
Every 6th of December, Trieste celebrates San Nicolo’ (Saint Nicholas, who had a reputation for secret gift-giving) with a popular fair, which becomes the city’s main attraction for several days and attracts vendors from all over Italy.
The fair takes place in the famous Viale XX Settembre, a long pedestrian avenue with many shops, gelaterie and cinemas that has been one of the main social points since forever.
The fair is the delight of the adults who can buy food specialties (like succulent olives from Sicily, torrone candy or goat cheese from Tuscany) and unusual gadgets to give as a present for Christmas, and the joy of the kids who can get candy and toys.
It is almost impossible not to meet an old friend or schoolmate while walking by the booths, and this makes the whole experience even “merrier”.
ho trovato per caso il vostro bel blog. vi lascio il saluto di un altro italiano emigrato in USA. Mandi 🙂
I came across an ad for your ebook on the expatsinitaly website, clicked rather diffidently and then downloaded the free chapter. This I found absolutely magnificent so I showed it to my husband who thought likewise and we’ve just bought the publication. Haven’t started to read the rest of the book yet, but found that first chapter 1) clear & concise 2) informative 3) well written 4) amusing and 5) totally relevant. Complimenti!
I’m an old Italy hand having lived in Venice during the 1970s, and we now have a holiday home in Umbria. But there are loads of things I haven’t caught up with or that have passed me by, e.g. the way you have nowadays to ‘validate’ a train ticket, and got caught out just last year when the inspector tried to fine me 40 euros (which I beat him down to 5!) and now from your photos and explanation I know which wretched yellow box to look out for!
The only ‘critique’ I would make is that you don’t make yourselves contactable – the ‘contact us’ tab at the bottom of the website just sends one up to the top – and the blog doesn’t seem very up-to-date …. ? Minor issues, however, in the context of us being so happy with the book! But it means I’ve had to leave a comment on an irrelevant blog just to be able to say ‘THANK YOU’!
I’m sure you could get a publisher to pay for publishing a print version of this book and you could end up making a mint on Amazon! I guess a lot of people will have it on their iphone or pad but old boots like me don’t have either of those things. We silverish (sorry: delicately highlighted) surfers must constitute a fair majority of those well-off (and with time) enough to travel abroad, and all the Italians I know who’re engaged in tourism say their major client base is the middle-aged and un-Appled. Anyway, not for me to ‘teach my grandmother how to suck eggs’ (as we say in England) but maybe food for thought … ? I’d be delighted to hear from you if you can take a moment from the child-rearing and everything else !
Kind regards
Ali