Christmas-Time in Florence

Now that Thanksgiving is over my favorite time of the year has officially begun! CHRISTMAS-TIME!!! :) I thought I'd share what Christmas-time looks like in Florence, both at our house and around the city. I apologize for the quality of some of the pictures - many of them were taken at night with my phone. Anyway, enjoy an inside look at Christmas from across the globe!

Just as a comparison, this is a picture of Colton from last Christmas. He was about 12-weeks-old. It's hard to believe how much he's changed in a year!

This is our Christmas tree. It's in our bedroom in front of the window so everyone on our street can enjoy it with us. :) Oh, and Santa has already stopped by to drop off some of Colton's gifts under our tree. How good of him. ;o)

A look at some of my Christmas decor. It doesn't look wonderful in the pic but in person it's nice.

The nativity. Not every Italian puts up a Christmas tree but they ALL have a nativity. I love mine - it was a Christmas gift last year. I only set up part of it this year because it's within Colton's reach and I didn't want him grabbing the little animals and breaking them. Maybe next year I can set it all out again!

And now for some shots of Colton. He was all dressed up in his wonderful Christmas outfit from Grammy and Big Poppy as we were about to head to our work Christmas party.

This is a very typical Colton face. Do you think he's a little mischievous? :)

Another of Colton's typical faces - his huge smile! I'm sure he's screaming with glee, too. :)

He really loves this toy!

A great picture of Daddy and Colton!

Family picture, Christmas 2009

I love these PJ's from Gigi and Grandy; they are perfect for Colton. "Dear Santa, I can explain..." :)

Now for a look at how Florence celebrates Christmas! These pictures were all taken yesterday. I have to admit, I love walking through the city and admiring all the beautiful Christmas decor!

Piazza Repubblica

Same piazza from the other side. See all those people? It was a gorgeous evening/night last night and thousands of people packed the streets, strolling along and enjoying the sights, smells, and sounds of Christmas. I love it!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I tried some for the first time right after taking this pic. Let's just say i enjoy the song MUCH more than the actual food. :)

Florence has amazing Christmas lights out all over the city center. Their beauty is hard to capture on camera but here's a look at some of them.

Curtains made of lights

The main drag is canopied with thousands upon thousands of lights

A window display. The city color for Florence is purple and this tree was decorated accordingly. Dad, you'd love it! :)

Light columns floating above the road

Stars!

Colton was thrilled to get out of the stroller and walk with Daddy. :) I just liked the picture it made.

"Auguri" means something like "Best wishes."

Finally, and this has nothing to do with Christmas, I had to post a picture of this sign in a store. Bless them for trying to translate the Italian to English for the tourists.... but I cracked up when I saw that instead of shoes they wrote "shoeses." :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)