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Monday, December 27, 2010

Winter: The Holiday Season Isn't Over Yet!


http://www.distrettolaghi.it/system/files/copertine_eventi/russian.jpg


Natale may be past, and La Festa di Santo Stefano is over as well, but remember, in Italy the holiday season is celebrated all the way through La Festa dell'Epifania on January 6. And so, while it's true that things can be pretty quiet in Stresa in the winter, there are a few more special events, both traditional and new, happening in these days to tell you about.

On the evening of Thursday, December 30, there will be a very special (and free!) dance performance. In the beautiful auditorium of the Palazzo dei Congressi The Flying Tzars, The Imperial Russian Dance Company, will entertain all with their ballet and traditional Russian dance routines. The show begins at 9:00 pm.

On Friday, December 31, at 3:00 pm in the afternoon, New Year's Eve starts with an "Insulae Harmonicae" classical music concert, at the Parrocchia San Vittore, the church on Isola Bella. Not only is the concert free, but free water taxis have been arranged to transport guests to and from the performance. These free taxis will leave from Piazzale Lido, the Carciano boat stop.

And on January 6, for the Festa dell'Epifania, there will be the traditional procession of the Re Magi into Stresa. They will begin at 4:00 pm from the Palazzo dei Congressi.


La Festa di Santo Stefano, in case you were wondering, is celebrated on December 26th and marks the announcement of the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the Three Wise Men. In Italy it is treated as another family day, to be celebrated with visits and food.


Friday, December 24, 2010

Buon Natale A Tutti, From Stresa With Love


It's la vigilia di Natale, Christmas Eve, in Stresa. It's raining, as it has been for some days now. Not the bestweather for this special night, but the events have gone on as planned. All evening the churches in the small frazione, the villages, of Stresa have held their annual Christmas Eve masses, and afterwards they've all served vin brule, the traditional warm, spiced wine, with the traditional cake panettone, and cioccolata, hot chocolate. One could have, if they had so wanted, made a pilgrimage through the small villages in the hills, starting at 9 pm at the Chiesa di Someraro, and then at the Chiesa di Brisino. By 10.30, if one made their way to the village of Magognino, they would have seen the live presepe. And after the mass there they could warm up at the bonfire lit outside the church. But all are aperitivi for the main midnight masses, at the larger Chiesa di Stresa and the Chiesa di Carciano, after which, of course, there was distributed more vin brule, more hot chocolate, and more panettone.

And at one house in Stresa, projected high onto an exterior wall for all to see, a beautiful Christmas image, to put one in the proper spirit, rain or not.

From Stresa Sights, to each and every one of you, our very warmest wishes for a holiday season filled with joy, peace, and love.

BUON NATALE!


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Milan: The Tiffany Christmas Tree

Tiffany’s Christmas tree challenges Milan’s DuomoLet's return to Christmas in Milan...

Remember, we're in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, looking at the twinkling lights of the twirling Swarovski heart pendant hanging from the gallery's ceiling. Next, let's turn around and walk into the Piazza del Duomo, facing Milan's beautiful cathedral, and gaze at the Tiffany Christmas tree. The tree is hung with 100,000 lights and towers over the piazza on a 'base' built to look like Tiffany's distinctive turquoise boxes. The base in fact houses a temporary Tiffany shop, which will be open throughout the holiday season.

Because of this retail shop, the tree hasn't been without controversy... Milan's mayor at first disapproved of the commercial nature of the tree, but when no other sponsors for a Christmas tree appeared, and when Tiffany agreed to give a percentage of its sales from the shop under the tree to charities, the city agreed. The estimated cost of the tree is 320,000 euro. The tree was installed on December 4 and it will remain in place until January 8, 2011. Controversy or not, these sponsored displays and light show are making for a brilliant holiday season in Milan.

Tiffany’s main shop in Milan is in nearby Via Spiga.


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

News: Also Extraterrestrials Come to Stresa!





Is news of Stresa's beauty and her attractions so widespread that now even visitors from other planets are arriving to have a look around? It seems so, if one believes the testimony of tens of different people who claim to have seen mysterious lights and objects in the skies over the lake, as reported in various newspapers.

Some did not speak at first of what they saw, for fear of being ridiculed, but after reading other reports they came forward with their tales too. One couple gave this description of what they witnessed Friday afternoon from their apartment on the fourth floor of a building in Verbania:

"We haven't told anyone of our sighting for fear of being taken in jest ... Around 9:00 pm, Friday evening, I was in the living room and all of a sudden the room was illuminated from a light, strong and bright blue. I was scared, and instinctively I looked out the window and I saw a globe of blue light suspended in the air and after a few seconds it quickly disappeared."

Another description from another witness:

My boy and I stood with our mouths open at the view of a strange object in the skies of Verbania, where we live. The object was a glowing red sphere, larger than the planet Venus and brighter, and it was moving from one side to the other, like an airplane, but then changing direction and moving to the left. Slowly, slowly, the red light started to fade until it disappeared completely. Very soon after this another object appeared, much larger and closer, maybe 50 meters above the houses, white (or transparent, but with the lights of the city this looks the same), it had an oval shape, and it was spinning and moving in the direction of the lake. We didn't think then of UFOs, but after some searching we discovered that in the summer there were many similar reports of sightings in Italy.

What do you think? UFOs? Extraterrestrials in Stresa? Chissa, who knows? And anyway, who could blame them for wanting to be here.

Read about it in Italian here.



Friday, December 10, 2010

Milan: New Swarovski Christmas Display For 2010

Swarovski-decorated-milan Christmas 2010: Swarovski hearts as Milan
Swarovski, the world famous Austrian crystal company, which for some years had beautified Milan with its sparkling tree each Christmas season, has something new instead planned for 2010. Inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, hanging from the vaulted ceiling, Swarovski has installed a dangling, spiraling chain of crystal hearts. Each heart is in the iconic Swarovski shape, and as the spiral spins the light plays off of the facets of the hundreds of crystals, filling the gallery with a lightshow visible even from afar. The hearts were installed on December 4, and they will remain in the Galleria until January 8, 2011.
The work is called "Un Amore di Citta'," and it is a part of the exhibition LED: Festivale Internazionale della Luce di Milano, taking place throughout Milan on the same days. Look for the 60+ unique open air light displays on locations all around the city in the second edition of this event, and be amazed by it in anticipation with this video: www.ledfestival.it

Milan, like other Italian cities, is magical in winter. And it's so easy to reach from Stresa, or vice versa. Here's an early post from this blog on reaching Milan, or Milano as it's called here of course, from Stresa by train: http:going-to-milano-from-stresa.html

What else is going on in winter? Read the other winter posts.

The Swarovski shop is located near the hearts mobile, inside the Galleria.


Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Winter: The Underwater Presepe at Laveno Mombello



Here's another nativity scene to see in the area, and it's surely one of the most unusual ones you'll see anywhere in Italy. I'm speaking about the Presepe Sommerso in Laveno Mombello. This nativity scene is fully submerged under the waters of Lago Maggiore, in front of Piazza Caduti del Lavoro in the centre of Laveno.

The tradition was started in 1979 by a group of divers who called themselves “Friends of the Nativity Scene." There were only three statues that year, and a blessing performed before a small audience. Now, the display has grown to a total of 42 statues, assembled two to three meters below the surface of the water on five metal platforms that support a total weight of 18 tons. The statues are carved in white Vicenza stone and represent the classic Nativity figures of Mary, Joseph, the Baby Jesus and the Magi, as well as many others, such as travelers, a housewife carrying chickens and baskets, and a shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulders. In the daytime the figures are hardly visible under the water, but after dark they seem to float in the light of the floodlights illuminating them from below.




On Christmas Eve the figure of the Christ Child is carried ceremoniously by a young married couple from the Church of St. Philip and St. James to the lakefront and blessed by the parish priest. Four scuba divers then carry the baby and an illuminated cradle and place them in the underwater manger. The statues were submerged this year on 4 December, and the display will be in place and illuminated until Epiphany on 6 January 2011.


The main website for the Presepe Sommerso has wonderful photos of the entire ceremony and fantastic images taken underwater of the display. If presepe are a part of your holiday season traditions, this is one not to miss in the Stresa area.

Laveno is across the lake from Stresa, on the Lombardy side of Lago Maggiore. It is the city one looks at often from Stresa as one gazes over the lake. It is easily reached using the ferry boats of the Navigazione Laghi. Check the schedules for times.


Presepe Sommerso
www.presepesommerso.it

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