New Years Fireworks 2
The year before the Prep School, my parents had been living in Italy for almost two years. I had just joined the Army and they invited me out to stay with them for Christmas and New Years. I flew into Venice and then drove to their house in Vincenza, which was amazing.
Their house was hundreds of years old with no kitchen sink. Instead, there was a slab of marble tilted toward the back where water ran into a pipe and out the back of the house into a little stream. (you had to be careful what kind of soap you used and what you washed down the "drain"). There was an entryway ready for horses and shutters on all the windows. When my dad made breakfast, I woke up to an amazing aroma and sat at the table in front of the marble fireplace. He opened a window and pulled a fresh bottle of champaigne off the ledge and poured me a mimosa. He, my mom and I drank and ate until noon when we would clean and begin to make lunch. This cycle lasted for days until we finally made our way into Venice to see the city.
Lucia was there as she'd moved to Italy after she finished High School. She wasn't too happy at the time as she was going through some growing pains. Either way, she and I were happy and having a good time. When she'd get in a "mood", I'd stand in her way and put my arms out and say, "oh oh!" as annoyingly as possible, "this road has a toll of one hug!" We played out this little game numerous times, her being angry until she had to laugh and us hugging and my parents just rolling their eyes at her...at me...at us.
We went to Rome for Midnight Mass at the Vatican where I heard Pope John Paul II say Mass in Latin. There was an American family next to us and a Filipino family on the other side. To get in, we had to wait in line for hours and there hundreds of old Italian Nuns standing around us too. We met some seminarians from America and they told us about the Vatican and their experience. When the gates opened, everyone rushed to get good seats. Lucia, Mom and Dad made it through and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a nice old nun who quickly ran past me. As I turned ahead again, I realized I'd been duped! About thirty of her Nun friends, as I looked at her over my left shoulder, ran around me on the right and got in first.
After Rome, we went to Florence where Alesandro, my Italian Brother lives. His parents made us amazing food and we ate and drank and had a great time. He took me to a bar in the city afterwards and we spent hours looking for a particular bar he wanted to show me. Sometime around midnight, we found it; an Irish pub in Italy. We drank Coronas there and I showed him how to stop the top, flip it and drown the lime in the beer.
We made our way back to Vicenza for New Years and Lucia went out with some of the other American youth there on the military base. Mom, Dad and I went to a bus station in the center of Vicenza. We had heard that's where the party was. When we got there, however, there were only about two dozen people spread over an open area of about 12 Acres. Overlooking the park, there was a hill with a church at the top lit in green lights. It looked as though it was floating in the darkness. There were benches to wait for the trains and it was amazingly cold. An old couple walked past us arm in arm, each tossing fire crackers over their shoulders and laughing the whole way. Most everyone had bottles of Champaigne, but there really wasn't any "party" to be seen.
At midnight, people yelled "Happy New Year!" and everyone began to share their Champaigne and kiss one another...I got kissed by loads of old ladies that night. We were about to head home a little dissapointed when suddenly, from the church on the hill there were sprays of fireworks shooting stright up from the ground. The fireworks continued and intensified to the point my jaw literally dropped...there were hundreds of explossions above the church and, with our small crowd, I felt it was just for us. It began to snow and the fireworks were still visible through large white flakes...and the show continued. It went on for at least thirty minutes, the most beautiful display of fireworks I had ever seen. There were fireworks that I had never seen the likes of...new colors and new designs...all seen with people I didn't know and my parents.
Their house was hundreds of years old with no kitchen sink. Instead, there was a slab of marble tilted toward the back where water ran into a pipe and out the back of the house into a little stream. (you had to be careful what kind of soap you used and what you washed down the "drain"). There was an entryway ready for horses and shutters on all the windows. When my dad made breakfast, I woke up to an amazing aroma and sat at the table in front of the marble fireplace. He opened a window and pulled a fresh bottle of champaigne off the ledge and poured me a mimosa. He, my mom and I drank and ate until noon when we would clean and begin to make lunch. This cycle lasted for days until we finally made our way into Venice to see the city.
Lucia was there as she'd moved to Italy after she finished High School. She wasn't too happy at the time as she was going through some growing pains. Either way, she and I were happy and having a good time. When she'd get in a "mood", I'd stand in her way and put my arms out and say, "oh oh!" as annoyingly as possible, "this road has a toll of one hug!" We played out this little game numerous times, her being angry until she had to laugh and us hugging and my parents just rolling their eyes at her...at me...at us.
We went to Rome for Midnight Mass at the Vatican where I heard Pope John Paul II say Mass in Latin. There was an American family next to us and a Filipino family on the other side. To get in, we had to wait in line for hours and there hundreds of old Italian Nuns standing around us too. We met some seminarians from America and they told us about the Vatican and their experience. When the gates opened, everyone rushed to get good seats. Lucia, Mom and Dad made it through and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a nice old nun who quickly ran past me. As I turned ahead again, I realized I'd been duped! About thirty of her Nun friends, as I looked at her over my left shoulder, ran around me on the right and got in first.
After Rome, we went to Florence where Alesandro, my Italian Brother lives. His parents made us amazing food and we ate and drank and had a great time. He took me to a bar in the city afterwards and we spent hours looking for a particular bar he wanted to show me. Sometime around midnight, we found it; an Irish pub in Italy. We drank Coronas there and I showed him how to stop the top, flip it and drown the lime in the beer.
We made our way back to Vicenza for New Years and Lucia went out with some of the other American youth there on the military base. Mom, Dad and I went to a bus station in the center of Vicenza. We had heard that's where the party was. When we got there, however, there were only about two dozen people spread over an open area of about 12 Acres. Overlooking the park, there was a hill with a church at the top lit in green lights. It looked as though it was floating in the darkness. There were benches to wait for the trains and it was amazingly cold. An old couple walked past us arm in arm, each tossing fire crackers over their shoulders and laughing the whole way. Most everyone had bottles of Champaigne, but there really wasn't any "party" to be seen.
At midnight, people yelled "Happy New Year!" and everyone began to share their Champaigne and kiss one another...I got kissed by loads of old ladies that night. We were about to head home a little dissapointed when suddenly, from the church on the hill there were sprays of fireworks shooting stright up from the ground. The fireworks continued and intensified to the point my jaw literally dropped...there were hundreds of explossions above the church and, with our small crowd, I felt it was just for us. It began to snow and the fireworks were still visible through large white flakes...and the show continued. It went on for at least thirty minutes, the most beautiful display of fireworks I had ever seen. There were fireworks that I had never seen the likes of...new colors and new designs...all seen with people I didn't know and my parents.
posted by Adam at 4:57 PM
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