Politics in Italy vs. Politics in the US

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Carnival in Viareggio

While the best-known carnival activities in Italy are surely the ones in Venice, those have also become quite touristy apparently, and very expensive. Somewhat less known outside of Italy is the carnival of Viareggio, on the Tuscan coast, where we had been in the summer to go to the beach. During the Sundays in February, there's a big celebration here, and a parade with floats, costumes, loud music, and whatever else you expect from a carnival. We went there today with some of Kristen's classmates. After walking to the seaside promenade where all the activities are held, we looked at some of the floats that were already set up (the parade basically does one big loop on the promenade), before stopping for some lunch. I got "fish & chips," which in Italy apparently means "fried frutti di mare with french fries" ("extra tentacles").

Berlusconi cooking the opposition

By now it was almost time for the parade to get started, so we waited around some while getting blasted by extremely loud Italian party/carnival music. In the parade, a lot of the floats were quite elaborate, with moving parts, smoke machines, etc. Many of them had political themes and made fun of Italian politicians or the political situation in Italy, so except for picking out Berlusconi, I wasn't able to get the humor of a lot of them. Nevertheless, the parade was fun, and we had a good time.

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2009. For all of you who don't know German New Year's traditions, one of the most beloved is watching "Dinner for One". Enjoy!

Palin for President!

A break from the heat

As a little break from the summerly heat, here's a video of the Perito Moreno glacier, which we saw in Argentina in March. The ice bridge that forms periodically is now breaking apart, making for some pretty spectacular glacier watching.