WINTER IS OVER

 We had a couple of dinner invitations in January.  At the Guigliarelli home we were taught how to make the real Italian pizza. Above is Marina's nativity which stays up at least until Jan 6.

 Paolo is the expert here.  He uses integrale flour and typo 00.  Everyone seems to have their own idea of which flour works best for pizza,  I prefer typo 0 for breads.  I have tried several methods.  Paolo made excellent pizza and we enjoyed our evening with them.

 He first bakes the crust and sauce for several minutes and then adds the other toppings and finishes the baking process.

 Mozzarella cheese and basil were the toppings of choice on this pizza.  There are a ton of types of mozzarella so it's a matter of choice.   Paolo seems to prefer bufala.(from water buffalo milk)

 One New Year's Eve we were invited to the Aranas Family to share their meal made by Evelyn.  She worked all day on this one.  She is a marvelous cook and can make anything.

 She could still smile after all of that work.

 The big pot on the middle of the table was for cooking the toppings of your choice to go with your rice.

 There have been some hang ups with the construction of the Rome Temple so we held a special fast in Italy that the work could progress as planned.  Evidently there had been some corners cut and some shoddy work done.  Some crews had to be fired and new people hired.  After the fast the branch met together for a wonderful meal.  There is always food. (above and below)

During the winter we also took the time to inspect the missionary apartments.  We had a little extra time between a couple of the appointments so we were able to go to the San Vitale Balsilica in Ravenna.  It it famous for it's many mosaics.  They are beautiful!! This is a view from the outside.

 This is part of the floor.

 More from the inside walls and ceilings.  It's all amazing.  The many hours of dedicated work to produce such marvelous art.

 Inside the Mausoleo di Galia Placidia.  We think the body isn't really there.  (probably somewhere in Rome)

 I love the stone walkways and roads.They come in so many different designs.

On our walk back to the car this was in someone's window outside their apartment.

We did see some snow this winter.  We had a zone meeting in Modena which is more north and inland.  This was taken on the 12 of Feb so there was still plenty of winter left up there.

This is the combined Modena and Rimini zones.  Rimin has now been renamed to Ravenna zone.

As the weather warmed up a bit we took a little time to go to the Cittadella here in Ancona.  This is a one way car passage that took us to the parking.  Below is part of the wall surrounding the once fortress overlooking the city.  It has now been transformed into a beautiful park.

I loved the walkway into the park through this small tunnel.

There is a great view of the city below. You can also see the sea off in the distance.

 It's very quiet and secluded up there but partially might be due to the chilly weather still.

They've even included a play yard for families.  Italians are very family oriented.

Spring was really trying to get  a head start on the season

 I have no idea what these plants are but they look like giant aloe vera.  Maybe they are.

Before the month of Feb ended we were invited to share in Evelyn's birthday dinner.  She shares the same birthday as our oldest son, Curtis.  Many more happy years to her.

  The sad part of the dinner was saying good-bye to Felicitas as she was headed back to the Philippines. She is Jude's mother.  She is 86 years old and doesn't want to die in Italy. Can't blame her for that.   She is so funny and always has a smile and something funny to say.  She is greatly missed here in Italy.