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!

Buon Natale!

As in many european cities, christmas was one of the most important holidays celebrated in Italy. The towns are filled with decoration of colorful lights. Christmas markets, selling christmas related gifts and tidbits can be found on the city streets. In the evening, it was a lively atmosphere as many people go out in the streets.

In this season, most Italian would go back to their hometown and spend time with their families.


In churches, they usually have the nativity scene depicted inside. Some churches have evening mass or late night mass during the christmas eve.

It was not a white christmas, as I thought it would be. Well, perhaps chrstmas was not meant to be white in the first place.

Christmas in modern days would be a season of giving. Warm moments for family gathering. A point to ponder and give thanks. A festival of celebration. These are wonderful aspects for christmas as seen by people all over the world.

But first and foremost, Christmas was as depicted in the nativity scene:
The night was dark. So was human life.
But even within the darkness, a light appeared, in human form.
Not from a palace nor with glorious splendor.
Just a small baby in a humble manger.
Still, what was but a small light in the town of Betlehem has become the light of the world.
The light of us.

Happy birthday Jesus!

Caldonazzo Lake

Not very var from Trento, there is another lake called Caldonazzo lake. We reached the place within half an hour by train.

It was one morning, end of autumn. The wheather was pretty cold and no one else was there. The lake seems pristine so that you can almost see the reflection of the mountains on the water. As with other lakes, there are lots of ducks here as well.

I like this kind of stuff, just sitting by the lake and enjoying the scenery. The still waters. It makes your mind kinda relax.

Right before we left, we had some coffee in a nearby bar. A nice countryside atmosphere.
People were friendly though they don't speak much english. I left my bag in the bar and went to the station. Just as I realized it and was going to go back, an elderly man ran to me and returned my bag. Another act of kindness there :D.

Cooking Chronicles (4): Pasta

Pasta is a typical Italian dish. There is an exciting variety of shapes for pasta. From noodle, wheel, pipe, spiral and many other. And the raw pasta are typically less expensive than rice.

In this case the pasta used is the noodle shaped one, a bit thicker than typical spaghetti.

Cooking pasta is basically just boiling then adding tomato sauce or meat sauce. In this serving, I boiled the pasta with some vegetables ( those used for wantan noodle) and sausage. then mix the meat sauce, cream (derived from milk) and cheese. Fry for a while and serve hot.