Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter in Italy

I made it through the day without taking a single picture. How did that happen? We had every intention on taking a family Easter Picture but with the rain it just didn't happen. We had a great day though!

After church we headed to Ponticella to celebrate Easter with the Palmieri, Anderson, and Crosland family. It was a lot of fun to be together, with tons of kids playing and having a great time. Paolo made a great mushroom lasagna, we tried our second Colomba cake (more on that below) and I made a Carrot Cake. I told Tyson how sad it is that Carrot cake gets forgotten so easily when people name their favorite cakes. I think it's easily in my top 3 favorite cakes category. We hiked a little ways into the hills of Ponticella to see that amazing views of vineyards, alfalfa fields, durum wheat and so much more. The rain left us slightly damp but it was a fun experience lead by Bologna native, Paolo. He has so much information about this great city and traditions. I always learn so much from him and his wonderful family.


Things I have learned about Easter while living in Italy

1. The traditional greeting is Buona Pasqua
2. On Palm Sunday, people are seen carrying a small olive branch to remember The Savior in
Jerusalem and his triumphal entry.
3. Easter is a very large family celebration that carries over into Monday where almost all stores, work places, and tourist attractions are closed.
4. A Colomba Pasquale "Easter Dove" is a traditional cake made for Easter. The dough in shaped into a dove (which I mistook for a Cross for the first couple of weeks I saw them) and is very similar to the breads of Christmas Panettone & Pandoro. They can be made into various animals like the Agnello or "Lamb" that we were given a few weeks ago.


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