say it with light

This year Milan decided to say Happy Holidays with lights.

Well, not really "Happy Holidays" because what Italians actually say is "Merry Christmas." They've not been the quickest to embrace the idea of a generic holiday greeting and you'll get a hearty "Buon Natale" thrown at you no matter what you celebrate.

So Milan said its Merry Christmas with a big mess o' lights. The streets were full of them. And in addition to making this city seem something like 10,000 times more welcoming, the extra light from the extra lights didn't hurt either. The holidays in Milan were like Las Vegas's shy little sister - if she were Catholic and her focus was more on Christmas cheer than gambling.

Some new friends arrived in Italy after the lights had already gone up and were surprised to find out that Milan isn't always like this. Alas, no. But it should be.



Our Christmas was a good one and replete with the three P's: panettone, pancetta and presents. Although, truth be told one of the presents didn't make it here until December 31. But that was Italian UPS's fault.

As I've taken to saying, in Italy "must" is what's left after the grapes are pressed. The fact that it was made clear to UPS that the package "must" be delivered for Christmas didn't really translate into the Italian business model. Instead, Stefano received the gift of Italian customer service which at its high point during the 10-day holding pattern offered the reason for the package's delay as: "there are a lot of packages out there this time of year."

We'd be shocked that this was the official excuse provided by an international delivery company that delivers packages for its living, but that kind of thinking only gets you heartache in Italy.



Anyway, the presents (all of them) were eventually opened, the panettone was eaten, and the pancetta was fried. Hot cocoa was present - with marshmallows - and we made a meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and broccoli for dinner.

It was a wonderful Christmas and we're lucky. Lucky to have spent it together. Lucky to have spent it here. And lucky to have loving family and friends around the world to share our seasons greetings with us.



Just don't send those greetings by Italian UPS.