Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year's Day traditional food

Thanks everyone for sharing information about the name of the Nativity scene. Is it Crèche or crib? I noticed that both the two words express the same fundamental meaning. Maybe, the best term is Nativity scene , although displays often go beyond the manger scene and may even include a representation of the entire village.
So this is the last day of the year and tommorrow New Year's Day is every man's birthday. According to tradition, New Year's Day food will bring you fortune in the year to come. Here in Italy, seafood dishes are always eaten at New Year's eve. With regard to fish dishes, the picture below shows a big brown grouper, which I saw while I was buying seafood on December 24th.    
In most cultures,  meal prepared on New Year's  Day brings good luck.  Here  in Italy New Year's eve  meal consists of seafood and lentils,  which symbolize little coins:  they can  bring prosperity  for the new  year and should be the first meal we eat for the new year. Of course, we also celebrate with party and firework.
What is your New Year traditional meal? 
Happy New Year to all the blogger friends! 

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Back home to Naples

My two daughters did the Christmas three two weeks ago and this morning I'm also doing the crib. We are going to Naples on December 24th and we'll stay there one week.
My mother, who had left the rehabilitation centre on December 13th, came back home in Naples last week. So I took her home to Naples last Sunday. She learnt the appropriate way to walk safely with two canes on level surfaces. Of course she will continue the physio therapy there in Naples, at home. 
I'd like to show you a picture of  our crib with its central figures of the nativity scene. This time we made a small one.
Could you tell me the correct English word of that oldest Christmas traditions? is it crib or crèche? Maybe crèche is a French word but it is also used in the U.S. and Canada. With regards to linguistic innovations related to blogging communities, I've noticed the evolution of an even more abbreviated language. Reading blogs' comments gives me the opportunity to learn some abbreviations such as LOL, GR8, ASAP, F2F and C%L (sic!). Those abbreviations can be circulated at an unprecedent rate through comments, emails and sms. Fortunately, Christmas wishes' abbreviation  doesn't exist ... I hope :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Friday, December 06, 2013

1 hour and 15 mins training on a cloudy afternoon

The last two weeks at the rehabilitation centre my mother has been able to recover slightly from her orthopedic injury, as she has been going out and working through the pain. She has been believing in her healing, so since 20th November she has walked about two hours a day with the walker. I can say that things are going better and she will come back to her home soon. I will probably take her to Naples by car next week. In the meanwhile, she is also enjoying the scenery (available through her window) and taking pictures of the sea as you can see above.
Today I did 1 hour and 15 minutes training on a flat track. The two  following pictures were taken while I was running in the early afternoon. The second one shows the flat track above mentioned and the cloudy weather. Unfortunately, that concrete path wasn't as soft as I can usually see in the hills which surround the town :) 
Nice weekend and happy running/walking to everyone!