12/22 to 12/29 West Palm Beach

 Visiting Chuck, Silvia and Aaron

for Christmas

West Palm Beach, FL

December 22 to December 29 

 9 miles and 25 minutes 

Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed the Season's festivities. Chanukah was celebrated early, December 7th to the 15th. Next year it will fall on the same day as Christmas, December 25th and go to January 2nd. As mentioned in my e-card to friends, Christmas was different for me being the first time away from home for that holiday. Being with family down here in Florida filled the gap nicely for me. And it's been a whirlwind of non-stop memorable activities like enjoying the company of family, dining in and out and, of course celebrating Christmas. Now to squeeze a week's worth of memories into a format that I'll enjoy in the future. First, an introduction to...

 The Cast:

Hosts Silvia & Chuck

And, in from Milan for a two week visit are Silvia's mom, Germana, and sister Adriana and husband, Giorgio. I subscribed to an on-line course at Babbel.com and practiced my Italian as best I could.

Nonna Germana & Aaron

Giorgio & Adriana (who I haven't seen in 25 years)

The Christmas Setting:

West Palm Beach's Christmas Tree with...

...some 3-D printed ornaments in addition to the classics.

Of course, I went all out decorating Winnie this year, a first, with a 3-D printed ornament. Thank you, Chuck.

Here's a 6-hour look at how my 3-D printed ornament was made...in 17 seconds.

The Table Settings:

Arrangements and settings by Adriana

Dining In

Although temperatures remained below normal for this time of year in Florida, indoors or out, lunches and dinners were varied delicious and satisfying.

In keeping with the tradition Chuck grew up with, it was pasta (macaroni), meatballs and a salad for Christmas Eve dinner. Part of that tradition was Nonna Julia's sauce, of course. The recipe, given to him by sister, Marybeth, was an excellent first attempt. Marybeth watched grandma prepare it many times over the years. She and my sister, Judy, have it down pat. I can close my eyes while enjoying their pasta dishes complete with meatballs and put myself into that childhood kitchen where aromas of so many meals were enjoyed leaving indelible impressions.

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Christmas Day it was turkey, ham, roasted potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and stuffing. 

The wines, of course, paired nicely and enjoyed by all.

The Mass

Christmas on many levels this year was a totally new experience. As I've mentioned in many of my correspondences, it was difficult to "get into the spirit" here in Florida. Decorations were few and far between; weather, although unseasonably cool did little to bring back Christmas in the north; The Mass on Christmas however, was something new and different. St. Ann's in West Palm Beach celebrated the 5:00 pm for the French Creole population. West Palm's diverse ancestry include 6.5% Irish, 5.9% German, 5.7% Haitian, 5.6% Italian and 5.5% English in the top five with French Creole spoken by 4.4% of the population. Knowing the English mass was made more interesting hearing it all in French Creole.

 The 1½ hour ceremony was sung. A sample of one of the carols taken by Adriana near the end is below.  You can get totally absorb into the "swing' of things. I loved it. Be sure your volume is up.

The Games

Evenings were given to playing one three games:

1. Left, Right, Center dice game. Chips = $$. The roll of the dice determines which way you pass a chip. Winner receives all chips in Center.

Chuck 3-D printed a set for me. I'll introduce it to the old folks at Elite in Clermont. 

2.  Tombola - the Italian version of BINGO. Excellent opportunity to practice my numbers in Italian. The link in red shares the Italian tradition.

Cards cost 2 chips each. Winners need 5 across. Play continues until entire card is covered.

3. Mercante in Fiera - A traditional Italian Christmas game played with illustrated cards representing iconic characters, foods or animals. Follow the link above for details. There are two decks with 40 cards each. One is dealt to players. The dealer or 'merchant' can auction off more cards to players after players pay an entrance fee. The actual play continues as in Go Fish with the dealer calling out the character from the second deck. Duplicates of player and dealer cards are put aside. Winner(s) are those whose cards still in hand match those previously laid out in the center of the table. 

Sample of artwork on the forty cards.

Dining Out

Chuck's location is nicely located with shopping and restaurants within walking distance. Yes, that's "walking distance." We visited two such nearby related restaurants. For lunch one day, we walked to Jo Bistro's specializing in Acai Bowls and "freshly squeezed juices, detox shots, avocado toast, wraps, sandwiches, soups, sushi, and fresh fruit."

The KIWI BOWL consisted of frozen Acai at the bottom, topped with granola, banana, pineapple, strawberry, kiwi, raspberry, coconut, Chia and hemp seed, and agave nectar.

Another night out, we walked to the sister restaurant, Sushi Jo's, right next door. 

Always a favorite, the Rock and Roll roll: Shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, Masago (a type of fish egg from the capelin fish), asparagus, spicy mayo, sesame sees and eel sauce.

Coincidentally, at 8:03 pm that evening Space X's Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral 150 miles away. Aaron captured this awesome shot.

Things do Do.

1. At the Waterfront. We made a trip to downtown West Palm Beach  to walk and view the sites at the waterfront. Check out the link for more details.

Sandi, the world’s only 700-ton holiday sand tree,

2.  Blowing Rocks Nature Preserve on Jupiter Island, Florida was another afternoon trip. The video within the link above will show how special this area is and why it has one of the largest Anastasia limestone outcropping on the US Atlantic coast.

The trail takes you through a sea grape tunnel thick with sub-tropical plant species like...

...the Gumbo Limbo tree.

Once you walk up and over a dune onto the wooden platform with stairs leading to the beach, you are met with the awesome view of the ocean with its pristine beach area thanks to the work of the Nature Conservancy. This view is to the south.

Facing north

Aaron tested the waters; shallow to the waist to about 200'.

The beginnings of the outcrop. Most of it buried under the sand.

Unfortunately, we were there at low tide and would no be treated to the crashing high tide waves.

Photo credit and caption to Mike Olliver. During high tide, the waves push water up through the Anastasia limestone rocks, shooting sea spray up to 50 feet in the air! Watch a video HERE showing area at high tide.

3. Decorating the Gingerbread House.

Granddaughter, Sara, drove up from Miami for the day and was able to help put the finishing touches on the gingerbread house.

Arriving pre-constructed, packets of decorating material were provided.

Icing also served as "glue."

Finished product, even the gingerbread figures were decorated.

Which is your favorite?  #1-Nonna Germana, #2-Sara, #3-Adriana, #4-Chuck

And so concludes a jam-packed family experience in Florida. It will continue in my next blog beginning with News Years Eve. Not to overstay my welcome, Winnie and I will move to West Palm Travelers Park in Lantana, FL, less than ten miles from Chuck. I will be there until January 14th. I'll return to West Palm to finish out the month of January. I hope your Christmas season was as wonderful as mine. 

“NO MATTER HOW FAR APART WE MAY BE, OUR HEARTS ARE ALWAYS CLOSE WHEN IT COMES TO CHRISTMAS WITH FAMILY.” – UNKNOWN.