City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style

The most important news first - I'M DONE! I took my last final yesterday morning, my oral exam for the Semiotics of Art that counted for two Vassar classes. It went very well, and I'm so relieved that it's over! A strike almost got in the way of us taking the exam (this is too long of an explanation for parentheses, but all semester the Italian academic institutions have been going on strike, from elementary to university level, because the Italian government wanted to pass, and then passed, a law cutting school budgets severely, so yesterday they went on a major strike to oppose this law)...but luckily, our professor managed to get into her office, which is in the art library that was closed due to the strike, just for us. 

We went to the Christmas market after the exam and treated ourselves to some Sicilian almond cookies, similar to the gooey-ness of marzipan but doughier, and covered in powdered sugar. They look similar to these. Mmmm...we also bought a fig cookie with sprinkles, very similar to what my cousin Rose Angela makes for Christmas. I'm not sure if they're also traditionally Sicilian, or what they're called, and the ones Rose Angela makes are definitely better, but it was a nice taste of Christmas at home.

Last Friday night, Nicole and I took ourselves out to the ballet. Romeo e Giulietta was playing at Bologna's opera house, the Teatro Comunale, and we got very cheap orchestra tickets. It was a beautiful theater, modeled after La Scala in Milan, as most opera houses in Italy are, and the performance was wonderful. It was to the music by Sergei Prokofiev, and the production was very interesting because it was simple, with a very plain set and costumes that were beautiful but certainly not elaborate. However, the performances were charged with such energy and emotion that it was astounding. I don't know if it was because it was a European production, or because I've never seen a ballet production of Romeo and Juliet before, but it was a very powerful and moving ballet. 

Last weekend there was an artisan crafts fair in the Palazzo Re Enzo (literally, palace of King Enzo) in Piazza Maggiore. It was called "Regali a Palazzo" - presents at the palace.

There was one room of very fancy jewelry, one room with crafts of all kinds, including books, woodworks, ceramics, jewelry, clothing, candles, and beauty products. There was a side room with burattini, puppets, of Commedia dell'Arte. They looked so quintessentially Italian that I had to take a few photos.

Last but certainly not least, there was the room of food! We went in and got hot apple juice, which was close enough to hot cider to satisfy a craving. There were tables of chocolates, rows of cookies, cheese, wine, meats...and free samples. Here are a few of the more elaborate displays:

See the chocolate espresso maker and white chocolate espresso cup in the bottom left corner?

Another highlight of the past week was trying Panettone-flavored gelato. Panettone is a traditional Italian Christmas bread created in Milan, and it's the flavor of the month at one of the gelaterias nearby. It was very good, but I think I prefer the bread.

I'll leave you with some more pictures of Bologna decked out for Christmas, enjoy!