Warm Winter

It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear. The sun was shining brightly. A bit warm. Green trees. Fresh atmosphere. Still there was something amiss . . well what was it . .

Oh, it's supposed to be midst of winter now . . well aren't winter supposed to be freezing?
And yes where is the snow? Some of the days there are a glimpse of snow on the mountain summit, and that's all. Just when I thought I had a chance of playing with some snow. Well, fat hope that was.

People blame it on global warming. But winter throughout europe this year would be one of the warmest in several hundred years. I once asked my Italian flatmate:

me:Is the warm winter a good thing?
Tommasso: Of course not
me: why? it's not so much cold now
Tommasso: Many reasons, people cannot ski, that's one
Then the bears do not go to sleep. Bugs that's supposed to be dead are still alive.
Nature's balance are affected.
me: (nod) ic . .

Well the only thing I miss from this winter was the snow. The ideas of whether bears get much sleep or not does not appeal much to me. Yeah, people tend to be selfish.

Hope the winter will get colder these days.

Florence (1):David

Florence(Firenze) will appeal the most to art lovers. There are dozens of museums in the city. Many famous artists have made their marks there in Florence.

Among them is the artist Michelangelo famous for his "David" sculpture. The original sculpture was displayed in the Gallery Academia and the replicas were around the city.

I am not really 'artistically inclined'. But viewing the sculpture still bring about majestic feeling. Too bad that cameras were not allowed in the academia. It made the 7 euros felt too expensive for entrance. Well, once in a lifetime maybe still ok.

The other two replicas we found was outside the old palace and in the piazza Michelangelo. The sculpture was a bit vulgar and obvious, in the name of art, perhaps. That's why I thought I should crop some of his parts.

Cooking Chronicles(5): Meatball Soup

Meatball soup is widely available in Indonesia. It can easily be found from small moving stalls to restaurants.

As I had some extra prawns, I just mixed it in. Dismantle and cut the prawns and mix it with the meat and green onion, adding a bit of flour. Shape the meat into ball shape by hand.

Boil the water, then put the meat inside. Add salt. When almost cooked, put the vegetable and green onions in.

Fireworks

New year is often associated with fresh start. People everywhere celebrate the coming of the year.

This year also in Trento people gathered in the city square Piazza Fiera for the new year countdown. Accompanied with fireworks, singing, dancing and free flow wine amidst the cold wheather, people crowded the place.

It was not easy to get back home though, at 12.30 am, the cab were fully booked. We had to wait and arrive home around 1.5 hours later. So much for a new year celebration.

Happy new year 2007!