Day 124!

Buon Natale, buone feste, e tanti auguri a tutti! What a way to spend Christmas Day☺ First thing this morning, Dina and Angelo came and picked us girls up to drive us around so we could see Novara and then to take us to Mario and Maria’s for lunch. Everyone has been so intent on showing us around Novara—Mario and Enio drove us around Wednesday night; Flavio and Lisa drove us around yesterday during the day; Domenico and Lisa drove us around last night; and now Dina and Angelo this morning! We have gotten the same tour but with different guides each time☺ Mario, Maria, their son Paolo and his wife Teresa, their daughter Daniela, Dina, Angelo, and we girls all had Christmas lunch together at Mario and Maria’s. Such a feast! For appetizers there were little onions, olives, mushrooms, eggplant, pigs-in-a-blanket, little pizzas, two kinds of salami, two kinds of prosciutto, and potato salad. Then the first course was like an Italian-style enchilada (I forget what they are called). There were two kinds, one filled with gorgonzola and mushrooms, the other with cheese and prosciutto, both so delicious! For the second course we had a roast and salad. The meat here is always so tender, I don’t know how they do it. Then out came the cheese, and the clementines, as usual, as well as peanuts and walnuts. After we thought we really couldn’t eat another bite, we had dessert! We had panettone (a type of sweet bread with candied fruit or chocolate inside—this one was chocolate!—that is a necessity for Italian holidays) with homemade whipped cream and prosecco! I don’t think I can ever eat again! The Italians really know how to do Christmas. We had such a wonderful meal and wonderful company. Erin, Alex, and I exchanged little gifts before lunch, but those were the only presents present (pun intended☺). Don’t get me wrong, I love both giving and receiving Christmas gifts, but it’s kind of nice for once to celebrate Christmas without such a huge focus on material things. We got to meet Mario and Maria’s kids, Paolo and Daniela, and Paolo’s wife (since July!) Teresa. They were also so nice and hospitable, welcoming us crazy Americans into their family Christmas celebration.
After our lengthy lunch, we had to say our final goodbyes to Mario and Maria. Che triste! But we promised that we will come back in the spring, a promise I fully intend to keep! Dina and Angelo took us back to Flavio and Elenora’s so we could pack up our suitcases so we will be ready for our EARLY start tomorrow. Our train from Milan to Interlaken is at 9 tomorrow morning, which means we have to leave here at 7 to make sure we get to Milan in time to make it! We said our final goodbyes to Dina and Angelo, and Dina warned us to be careful while traveling because “everyone is good, but [we] are young and beautiful.” She is so crazy, but I love her!
After we packed up all our stuff, we went down to Lisa and Domenico’s for dinner. They were having a bunch of friends over for homemade pizza. Going to a friend’s house instead of staying with family all day on Christmas is a strange concept to me, but we had so much fun! Lisa and her sister kept making pizza after pizza, each with a different variety of tasty toppings—prosciuto, tomatoes, salami, tuna, olives, mushrooms, always mozzarella. It was all so delicious, and Lisa even made up bags of the leftover pizza for Erin, Alex, and I to take on the train tomorrow. There was such a playful, friendly atmosphere during the whole evening. These people may be in their 30s, but they really seem so much younger. After dinner we all played Wii—Erin voluntarily, Alex and I against our will haha. It was so funny to see how much they love to play Wii, and watching some of the Wiifit games was especially entertaining. Lisa had also made up a Secret Santa type of game where we all picked numbers out of a jar that corresponded with newspaper-wrapped “gifts”—things like one piece of panettone, rubber bands, and a button that says “sono schemo” (I’m crazy). Domenico got clown balloons as one gift and started making balloon animals for everyone! I got a giraffe☺ He made Alex a pregnant dog—a poodle with a little balloon inside the stomach! This all led to my personal favorite part of the evening when Domenico performed more magic tricks! He is really good. I honestly have no idea how he did some of them, it’s kind of freaky. He did coin tricks, card tricks, and some with a couple red clown noses. They were all so entertaining. I was so astounded that Lisa said she was laughing harder at my reaction to the tricks than at the tricks themselves. I just love magic! It was such a fun night, I was so sad when Alex and Erin finally decided it was time to head upstairs. I really didn’t want the night to end, or our stay in Novara for that matter. I had so much fun joking around with Lisa and Domenico and their friends. They all make fun of the things we say in English with a hilarious impression of our accent. One of their friends kept trying to say a few sentences in English and kept talking about how “cool” he is. I honestly can’t remember the last time I so thoroughly enjoyed myself! For now I need to get to sleep as we have an early start and a long day ahead of us, but I am for sure coming back here before the I leave Italy!
xoxo