"Quasi pronto per il grande giorno" - "Almost ready for the big day"

Well, only two days to go til Baba Noel shows up and fills our stockings with goodies. We're all ready, though. As you can see, the "tree" is decorated and the presents are wrapped.

The last couple weeks have been busy getting ready for Christmas and catching up with work. I have mostly been trying to get set up to DO work, but I won't bore you with those details. The summary is that we are down one computer, so Meryck and I are sharing for now.

I did get to go to Karaoke, finally. It's not the same as Karaoke at home - people just sing wherever they are and the microphone gets passed around. They do a mix of familiar English songs, and popular Italian songs. I think it's a great way to practice Italian, so I'll definitely go again!

One thing that we really wanted to do over the Christmas holidays is to see the biggest Christmas tree in the world, according to Guinness. It's not actually a tree, but lights in the shape of a tree up a hill overlooking the town of Gubbio. So we rented a car, picked up snacks and headed out with the help of Grace. (our Garmin GPS navigator) We had been to Gubbio once in the summer, and saw the road race there. This time we decided to take the funicular (or funivia) up the big hill and walk down. We weren't sure what to expect with the funicular, but thought it would be like a ski gondola, especially from the pictures on the sign. It turned out to be a birdcage that up to two people can stand in. It was definitely not what we imagined, but it was quite an experience. On our walk down the hill, Terry discovered that we were actually walking IN the Christmas Tree, and we could see hundreds of electrical cords snaking through the trees to power the lights.
Pictures of Gubbio on facebook.

The next day was Sunday, and since we couldn't return the rental car, Terry and I decided to do another little road trip. This time we let Meryck sleep in and we went by ourselves. (with Grace, of course) Todi is a little old town about 45 minutes away. It is pretty typical of what we've seen so far in Umbrian hilltop towns, but each new town still manages to impress us with its beauty. Todi seemed so well preserved and cared for, and the duomo at the top of town was bright and beautiful.
Pictures of Todi on facebook.

Other than that, we are still enjoying life in our little apartment in our little town. I'm still practicing Italian when I can, and putting up posters around the house to help us all remember common words and phrases. Meryck is looking forward to Christmas, the boys did a final grocery store run this morning, so we're all set. I'm going to have a coffee and go back to work.

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo a tutti.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Pre-Christmas pictures of Perugia on facebook.