Last night was the Annual Holiday Program of the International School of Florence, where Cyrus is in the 2nd grade. The program included the whole school, from preschoolers to the 12th grade. The locale was the Chiesa di San Salvatore al Monte, just off the Piazza Michelangelo. With only a few exceptions, the program was filled with Christmas music. While I think it must be due to the fact that this is a private school, I expect the Italian public schools also have Christmas programs.
This morning we got up early, had a pancake breakfast, finishing off one of our tins of maple syrup, then headed out for a hike with another ISF family from near Fiesole. Once Griff starts at ISF in January (the current plan), he will be in the preschool with their daughter, Eva (pictured below with brother Grant).
From our local playground in Borgunto (Fiesole) we went to the Parco Monte Ceceri for a hike up to Leonardo's Leap (well, it was actually where his assistant jumped from, trying out Leonardo's flying machines - he didn't make it). The pickly pear are still in bloom and provide a quick snack before heading back down.
It was a bit afternoon when we finished our hike, and it being such a nice day, we thought we'd go for a drive to check out the Casa del Prosciutto, a restaurant that came highly recommended by Jill, our Italian tutor back in Madison.
We had a nice lunch, though it was small by Italian standards. We started with 2 antipasti of prosciutto (it melted like butter in our mouths!) and crostini with liver pate, which both Cyrus and Griffin loved! For our main course (we only had one), Cyrus and Griff each had a pasta with tomato sauce. I ordered gnocchi with gorgonzola and Eric had Carpaccio ai funghi o rucola (raw beef with mushroom and salad). We finished with 2 coffees (macciato) and 2 slices of their homemade tarts (lemon/almond creme and fresh fruit creme). The place was packed and they even gave us a discount (a thannks to Jill!) Our new friends at Casa del Prosciutto are ready to welcome us and all of our visitors - and we definitely intend to go back. (Jill - they took a break from serving and cooking to have this photo taken just for you!)
