Christmas Eve

 In the afternoon on Christmas Eve we traditionally set up the Christmas Tree

After the tree is decorated the presents are put under the tree

We also have a nice Christmas Pyramid

 

Thw traditional dinner for Christmas eve

The presents

Fifteen Years Old

Luckily Mia's 15'th birthday was on a Saturday

The biggest surprise was a new phone - the old one was five and a half years old an the battery was acting up

Mia's friend had organized a few surprise guests and the headed for a round of paint ball

Uncle Stefan was in town as well

Christmas market Mainz

A day off at school was used for a trip to the Christmas market in Main

The Mainzelmänchen are a famous character from national public brodcaster ZDF based in Mains

 

Jugendtanztag

Like last year Mia's hip hop group participated at the Jugendtanztag - a dance competion organized by the city

Train ride over the Alps

The train from Bologna back ti Munich took us over the Brenner pass where we saw our first snow of this winter First we had some sun and even a rainbow in the Po valley just outside Bologna

Going into the Alps the top of the mountains were dusted with snow

There was more snow when passing over the Brenner:

Arriving at Munich Main Station:

A late lunch at the Viktilaienmarkt

Ferrari Museum

On our third full day in Bologna we took the train to Modena - the city famous for its Balsamic Vinegar and the home of Ferrari. A shuttle bus took us from the train station to the Museo Ferrari Maranello.

Back in Bologna we had a great dinner in the old town

Bologna: Day 2

On our second full day in Bologne we headed to the Santuario di Madonna di San Luca - one of the oldest churches in Bologna on a mountain overlooking the city. To get up there one can walk along a 3.8 km long covered walkway with 666 arches - the Portico di San Luca

It's a bit exhausting to walk up

But the view is pretty nice

Going down is more fun than going up

Time for lunch under a Portico

 
An old city gate in the south west corner of the old town

When it got dark we headed back to the historic center:

All Saints day - November 1 - is a public holiday and the Piazza Maggiore it was really lively

The main shopping street was blocked and people were dancing to the sound of two DJs that had brought a boom box. We had nver seem anything like this and were watching - and sometimes dancing - for more than an hour