The Last of the Holiday Lights

On January 20th, they finally took down most of the Christmas/New Year lights in St. Petersburg.  It's always a little strange to me to be halfway into January, and still looking at lights all along the streets & lit "New Year" trees (not Christmas trees, every Russian will point out to you).  After all, it's the new year and I always want to move forward. 

But I will admit that the lights make for a pretty walk home.  And they add some much welcome light to our long dark days.  We are currently getting around 6 1/2 hours of dim light each day.  It's better than late December (which is closer to 5 hours), and we're gaining 4 minutes a day, but it's still mostly dark. 

So here's the last of the lights

Beautiful Winter Morning

 

A crisp, cold winter morning can be beautiful.  Our winter so far this year has been very different than the past few years.  It took a long while (2nd week of January) before the below freezing temperatures arrived.  And once they did, it's been COLD!  Highs around 10 F, lows around 0 F (+/- a few degrees).

 

One benefit is very little snow.  Another is very little ice or dirty slush or salt on the sidewalks, all of which manage to ruin a pair of pants per week and destroy even my sturdiest boots.  Another benefit has been more blue skies than normal. 

  

Personally, I prefer this type of winter.  I hope it stays for a while.............

 

 

 

That's not snow piles on the Neva River;  it's ice shards.  The river froze so quickly that you can see how the river was moving & freezing at the same time

 

A Roman Christmas - Part 2

Here's part 2 of our Christmas 2013 trip to Rome.  This post is mostly about our visits to St. Peter's and Pope Francesco!  We spent a lot of time here - 4 separate visits over 5 days.  I'm thinking that has got to set me up pretty good for the year!

Big crowds on the Sunday before Christmas, all of us waiting for Pope Francis to appear at his apartment window to give his 12:00 Noon Sunday Blessing.  Although it's not really the Pope's apartment anymore.  Pope Francis refused to move from his old apartment in town.

Loving the Jumbotron TV's that they installed in the square for the holidays!

A view from the apartment window.

Then, we returned on the next day (Monday), to visit St. Peter's.  In my opinion, no trip to Rome is complete without a walk through this amazing Cathedral.  I've seen it 4 times, and there is always something new to see or experience.

 

 

The images speak for themselves.  The dome is breathtaking every time I see it

It was 12 noon when I took this picture.  Notice how the sunlight beam is shining directly onto the alter.  Amazing!

The Swiss Guards.  I think the new Pope is stressing them out

Our 3rd visit was on Christmas Eve.  As I mentioned, we weren't able to get tickets to watch Midnight Mass (actually 10PM Mass) inside the church.  But it was a warm night, so we joined the crowds in the square.

 

There were many manger scenes throughout the city.  But the one in St. Peter's Square was really special.

The 1st 1500 people to arrive in the square were able to get a seat.  Not us!

Our view of the Jumbotron was actually really good.

Our 4th and final visit was on Christmas day, for the 12:00 Noon Christmas blessing.  HUGE crowds!  100,000 people?  More?

The Pope gives the Christmas Blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's. 

There was also a program involving all 250 of the Pontifical Swiss Guards

To wrap up our trip to Rome, a short stop in Ancient Rome and the Jewish Ghetto.  We spend Christmas afternoon in this area, because it was a nice day for walking & because all of the restaurants were open!

It always amazes me to see the ancient ruins mixed in with the modern city.

Lunch, outside on Christmas day.  Fried artichokes, fried zucchini blossoms, vongole clams, and marinated bacala (salt cod).  Yum!!!

 

 

Bye, until next time........