On Tour: Christmas Market - Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy

The Christmas markets are all over Europe during the holiday season. In Rome, I had a chance to go to the one in Piazza Navona.

This piazza is long, as the buildings around it are built upon the ruins of the Circus Domitianus (Domitian's Stadium). The piazza used to be the area for the races in the stadium. In ancient times, the stadium was the site of the Agonal games. The name has changed from "in agone" to "n'agone" to "navone" and now "navona".

Today, it is surrounded by beautiful old buildings, a church, and adorned with three fountains.

At the northern part of the piazza is the "Fontana di Nettuno" (Poseidon Neptune - god of water in Greek mythology). The basin design was by Giacomo della Porta (1576) and the statues of Neptune and the Nereids (sea nymphs) were just added in the last century.

To the western side of the piazza stands the church of Sant'Angese in Agone (St. Agnes in Agony).

The story goes that in this arena a twelve-year-old Christian, Agnes, refused to marry a pagan. On the spot, she was exposed naked, but miraculously covered by the unusual, instant growth of her hair, then martyred.

The building of the church was commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1652. Not long after, Francesco Borromini took control of the project and was responsible for the completion of the dome, 

the concave facade, and the twin bell towers.

Across from the church, in the center of the piazza is Bernini's most spectacular fountain, "La Fontana Dei Fiumi" (rivers) which was erected in 1651, featuring a central rocky structure 

that supports an obelisk, an ancient Roman imitation of the original Egyptian form.

Around the obelisk structure are four giant statues, which were executed by Bernini's pupils according to his designs, representing the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges, and the Rio della Plata, 

as a representation of the four corners of the world.

At Christmas time, the piazza is filled with stalls selling toys and other items 

for the Christmas gift giving...

with attractions to make it a family affair, where the children can have a balloon, a sweet treat, 

or take a ride and have a fun time...

and pose for a picture and talk with Santa about the gifts they want him to bring.

As I walked around, I came upon some Italian delights...an assortment of caramelized nuts and "turrones" (nougats)...

stockings filled with candies and an array of other sweet confections to eat 

or for you to use to design your own gifts...

and giant donuts!...that were, likewise, being packaged for gift giving...

plus Chupa Chups and candied apples.

Of all the Christmas markets I have gone to, this one at Piazza Navona seems to be the most dedicated to the season of Christmas.

Figurines of all sizes, stables, forms, and cribs are prominently displayed and sold so you can make your own manger scene.

There were ornaments galore...snowballs, candle holders for Kris Kringle presents...

or unique ornaments for an ornament exchange...

wreaths and other decorations to make the house look festive...

and colorful metallic, wooden, and glass ornaments for trimming the Christmas tree.

After an hour's walk around the market, it was time to go and have dinner.

Piazza Navona is an extremely lively place, with side-walk cafes around it. During the summer, there are numerous artists who offer to draw or paint passers-by, for a fee, of course. The place is crowded each day with a variety of entertainers, including mime artists.

Perhaps, my next visit to Italy should be in the summertime, next year!?!

In Concert: Becca Godinez's Christmas Concert 12/12/09

My friendship with Becca goes back to my "Ms.Ellaneous" days. So when I found out she had a concert coming up in Los Angeles, I made sure to reschedule my departure to catch her show.

This was a night to remember...Becca Godinez in concert at the Heritage Forum, Anaheim, California...a dynamic performer whose style is so versatile, captivating, and entertaining. For those who watched her for the first time, they were so pleasantly wowed by her.



Becca's opening number was a medley of Christmas songs.



As she talked to her audience, she noticed her former singing group members from Calvary Chapel, and invited them to perform with her.



"Prime Note Ensemble", composed of Filipino men who came all the way from Saudi Arabia, entertained us with their acapela songs - such talented singers who don't even read a note of music...



and soon, Becca joined them for a number...what a beautiful blending of voices.



Tasha Kaiserman, Becca's beautiful and talented daughter, gave us a jazzy rendition of ”O Holy Night.“



Then, out came Ner de Leon, a Filipino saxophone player...in his rendition of Chuck Mangione's “Feels so Good.” He thrilled us.



Ner is such a dynamic performer...



who captivated the audience with another 2 songs.



I'm sure he will make it to the top...someday soon!



Becca shared his story with us...his conversion from his Las Vegas life style to who he is today.



Becca, along with her long-time back-up singers who were entertaining, as well, with their Christmas hats and their singing and dancing, sang “Shining” which has earned her one of two gold records.





In her rendition of “Drummer Boy” 4 drummers came to accompany her. That was a very nice touch that added to the theme of the song.



In Her finale number, all her guest performers joined her - her back up singers, Ner de Leon on the sax, and Prime Note Ensemble.



Becca thanked her guest performers as she clutched her bouquet of flowers.



An encore number...and the people were clamoring for me.

If you missed this concert, be sure to catch her next time. Our grateful thanks to Katz Entertainment for producing this show. We are looking forward to another one in the Spring or summer, or winter...next year!

Disneyland at Christmas Time

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) is particularly remembered as an American film producer, known as an innovator in animation and theme park design. After winning fifty-nine Academy Award nominations and twenty-six Oscars,seven Emmy Awards, he, along with his brother Roy, put up the Walt Disney Company. He and his staff created several of the world's most famous fictional characters including the ever popular Mickey Mouse, a character based on a mouse he had adopted as a pet while working in a Kansas City studio. With many more animated characters to populate his own fantasy-theme park, soon Disneyland was opened as the happiest place on earth, for all who spent a day or so in this magic kingdom. The The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.


The magical, holiday season is here in Disneyland! Two friends and I went there for a couple of hours to experience this season in Disney fashion, along with about 40 to 50 thousand others, that day. Our plans were to have a late lunch at the Blue Bayou Restaurant, catch up with each others' lives, and visit a section or two. And so we did.



The Magic Kingdom's castle was our gateway to our fantasy land for the next hour or so.



By the time we were queuing for "It's a Small World," the lights went on...



and soon the international doll characters paraded before us...



followed by a number of lighting effects on the Small World castle...like magnified snowflakes falling...





and after the snow-falling, the blue lighting effects came...and that's when we got on for our boat ride to...



it's a Small World!...a place where hope for peace on earth from a child's point of view is celebrated — to the tune most of us are familiar with, on a joyful boat ride around the globe...





where different countries and continents are featured...and different languages are "spoken"...







with a message about "Peace on Earth"...



and in living in harmony with one another.



The magical minutes came to an end, but the joy in our hearts warmed us on this cold evening. And, soon the sky was going to be lit up...pop, pop, pop...and the fireworks display was underway!















Those pyro-technicians surely entertained us!



Then, the evening shade finally fell over the Magic Kingdom...



and we started to trek out...along lit up streets...



and taking one more look at the castle that brought us to another world.





We joined the crowd on Main Street...as we headed out...



and finally, we took a good look at the towering Christmas tree, admiring the big-sized ornaments...which, at one point, will be auctioned off for charity.



After taking a break at the California Hotel, we went to the other park: California Adventure, to ride, "Soarin' over California," where in one ride we "flew" over all the scenic places to visit in this Golden State.

This visit to Disneyland was reminiscent of days past when we used to bring our children. This time, we were alone in our child-like mode, to enjoy the happiest place on earth!