The 10 Year Plan: December 8

December 8 was a national holiday in Italy. It was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Here in Florence, the day was marked by religious services, a large market and tree-lighting. Where ever we went, the streets were full of people and the mood was festive.

At two Roman Catholic churches, we saw very large crowds attending mass. In Italy, the Immaculate Conception is still important. Do you know what the Immaculate Conception is? There is a common misconception among many people. Click here to find the answer.

The large market was in a square very close to our apartment. So, we strolled to the market and spent a long time looking at everything. We saw a few of the same vendors from earlier markets. Still, the large size of the market meant that there many vendors that were new to us.

Piazza Santissima Annunziata: Fair of the Immaculate Conception (Fierucola dell'Immacolata) (12/8/2016)

One vendor was an older lady who recognized Susan. The day before, Susan had worked at a thrift shop operated by our church. The older lady was a customer there and Susan met and remembered her. What was memorable was the lady's exotic hat that she decorated herself (think Iris Apfel). So, at the market, when Susan approached the hat lady's stall where she sold exotic hats with extraordinary decorations, the hat lady started speaking rapid-fire Italian. Susan, the linguistic genius that she is, understood enough to recognize the lady from the day before and carry on a short conversation. Since Susan loves being recognized about town, Susan was delighted, but she didn't buy a hat . . . this time.

Another photo of the fair. The weather was perfect--blue skies and not too cold.

Later in the day, we ventured out to see two Christmas tree lightings. On the way, we spotted a half moon in a clear sky.

The white dot is a half moon. Aside from being a full moon on December 14, it will be a Supermoon that day.

At the Palazzo Vecchio, which serves as the city hall of Florence, we attended a tree-lighting. The gathering was somewhat small but very festive. The mayor spoke for a bit and then the switch was flipped to illuminate the tree.

City Hall tree lighting (12/8/2016)

In this newspaper photo, you can see some random dude under the red arrow. After only 2 months in Florence, the random dude made it into the paper, sort of.

At City Hall, some random hottie next to the symbol of the City of Florence (12/8/2016)

City Hall tree lighting (12/8/2016). Not sure who these people are, but they finally figured out how to take a selfie.

From the City Hall, we then moved on to the big deal--the lighting of the big tree in front of the Florence cathedral. The crowd was very large. The square was filled with people as were the streets leading to the square. Before the lighting, a band performed, along with a flag team. If you have never seen synchronized flag waving and throwing Italian style, you should see it. Italians love their flags.

A newspaper photo of the flag throwers in action.

Then, as the big moment approached, there was a parade of Babbo Natale, or Santa Claus's. It was not a small parade. We stopped counting at 50 and they kept coming. It was a bevy of Babbo, a bunch of Babbo, a batch of Babbo, an abundance of Babbo, a veritable bounty of Babbo.