Elena's fun for Christmas 2008

Elena is enjoying her new bicycle with Mom at the ready to adjust it, Grandpa Lee and Uncle Steve looking on. she like her cookies and her new Elmo slippers too.

Christmas 2008

St. Andrew Church does an exuberant Christmas celebration, from around 11:30pm to 1:30 for the liturgy on Christmas eve, then the feast till 3:30am or so. We did manage to get up and enjoy Christmas day.

The Oasis

This was our destination for our hike. the oasis. Amazing lush natural growth. Unexpectedly lovely.

Desert December 23, 2008

Steve's friends in the UK don't really quite believe he comes from the desert. This is the trek we took around 30 or so miles from home. You can see we have sweaters on because it's cool weather, even in the desert while exercising a bit. We usually do wilderness hikes together, and the local mountains are snowy in the winter, but the valleys east of us, in the Palm Springs, CA area are perfect for winter hiking.

The Crown Prince in Residence Dec 2008

Steve came home from London for the holidays safe and sound, thank God. We wanted to give his friends in the UK something to drool over, so here is a basket of fresh oranges just picked from our trees and he is eating fresh avocado also from our trees.

Last bit of Milano

This is, of course, the Duomo, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in existence. It is 14,444 square meters. My pictures are not very good, except for the last which has Marco's hand with a closeup of the marble. Ever the teacher, he was explaining the neverending rebuilding of the facade to refresh the marble. I would recommend looking up "Milan Cathedral" on www.Wikipedia.org for some great pix and interesting info.

Milano, Italy, Nov 15, 2008

Thanks to Marco, our personal tour guide, we got to see more historical sights in Milano, which is known for being a fashion center and industrial city. The part that looks like a construction site is a Roman ruin, which later we're sitting in front of.

Rest of the Marro Family

Starting in the middle, just to be confusing, is Paola (Marco's twin sister), her husband Simone, and their daughter Elisa. The top pic is Elisa, next is Antonio with Francesco, Elisa's brother. The last is Francesco again.

More of the Marro Family

Top pic is Pasquale, Antonio and Lucia's oldest son. Next is Pasquale's son Gabriele. Finally his wife and daughter Giulia, held by his sister Paola.

Marro Family, Milano, Italy Nov 14-16, 2008

The top pic is my first cousin Antonio with me. Antonio's mother, Dolcissima, was my father's sister. Next is Lucia, his wife, with their son Marco. Next is Marco with me. So far he hasn't "settled down" yet and gotten married, but he's working on it, so he says.

Greve (Chianti) Italy, Nov 14, 2008

After driving around to some wine tastings with the group, Lee and I took off for a very lovely romantic walk in Greve.`

Interior Views of Fattoria di Mandri

Ok, so now you know it's an olive oil factory. We got a personal guided tour from the owner. I did the translating, so we didn't have to have the underling...very cool. I posted the pix in the wrong order, so beginning from the bottom, there is the marvelous mixture of various olive types that will be combined to go into the smasher. I didn't include a pic of the machine that automatically washes it all and separates out the leaves. The cold press done with the big stone wheels is the ancient method. (Except for the fact that it's electric now...my cousin Antonio was quick to ask: "Dov'e' il asino?"..."Where's the donkey?") Then the mash is spread on the circular coir mats and they are loaded into another press that you see. The oil and water that are expressed are separated in the spouted machine. Finally we got to taste the oil right from the hands of the proprietor. Delizioso!

Reggello, Italy, November 13, 2008

Our whole group had a delightful day here. These are all exterior views of the Fattoria di Mandri. The next post will have the interior shots.