Easter in Florence is an Extravaganza! I went to a 10am Catholic Church service in the Duomo with my roomies, Josh, and his buddy Mike. After church (which was in ITALIAN! So I only understood some of it), we went outside the church and watched the parade and cart event! In Florence since forever, every Easter they have a parade with a HUGE cart (12 feet tall?) that is drawn by two white ox. The ox are lead away when the cart reaches the Duomo. The cart is HEAVILY loaded with fireworks and firecrackers, so basically with 12 minutes worth of explosives. Then a white dove is released from inside the church and flies into the cart, igniting it! THE CART THEN EXPLODES!!! And for 12 minutes, we got to watch red, white and purple smoke come off the cart as firecrackers erupted and fireworks shot into the sky! (Note: Red symbolizes the blood of Christ, White His Purity and Grace, and Purple is the color of Florence).

After the festivities, Josh, Mike and I rushed back to Josh's apartment and promptly began cooking at noon. Josh said I was on mash potato duty. He wasn't kidding. He and Mike had made a detailed schedule of when to start each item and when to take it out so that everything would be ready promptly at 3pm! And the plan worked! Our feast included: Honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, bread rolls, deviled eggs, and for dessert: Tiramisu!!! (two helpings per person!)

We made everything with family recepies. We even made the tiramisu from scratch! It was delicious.

After our feast, we played cards for hours: speed, Texas rat something or other, and crazy eights! It was so much fun!

Easter in Firenze: SUCCESS!!!