We hope you all had as lovely Christmas and New Year, as we had here. The weather was mild and sunny this year and there was lots to to do and people to see, including our friends and neighbours. Aren’t Christmas decorations interesting in Italy! There are lots of plastic Santa Claus’ flapping about precariously from chimney tops and climbing up traditional green Tuscan shutters. Plenty of lights illuminating the trees in the road and one enterprising villager who is a big fan (tifoso) of the nearest Serie A football team which is in Florence, called AC Fiorentina. He had a huge purple/violet Christmas tree surrounded by an arched doorway of violet lights. Fiorentina incidently play in the colour violet (never seen in England you understand!). This colour apparently originates from the original red and white city colours they used to play in. The shirts were apparently then washed one day in the river Arno and the colours bled to form this particularly lurid and striking colour. Fiorentina may not be Italy’s most successful team but they are the most beautifully equipped. What would you expect from Italy’s most stylish city.
