luminara_2

I'm a sucker for Christmas lights. For the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification, Rome put on quite a show with its Via del Corso mile-long flag. But the rest of the city is no less decked out.
Fendi always does the best Christmas decorations. This year the gold belt was added with sparkly melting icicles, and every 20 minutes or so, it snows! There are models in reindeer costume that take photos of kids with Santa and meake free buttons out of them. Posh Via Condotti is decorated with giant chandeliers, and for snowball fans, there's a huge one with a big tree inside it and blowing snow in the main entrance of the Galleria Alberto Sordi.
For more awesome images of Rom'e holiday look please head over at Moscerina's light show post.

luminaria

The new Christmas lights along Via del Corso were finally lit up today, I've been seeing workers hang the long strands all along the thoroughfare that stretches from Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo for the past week.
On December 8th we celebrate the Immaculate Conception, and customarily take the following day off work if this happens near a weekend. We call this "il ponte," the bridge. This day also marks the beginning of the holiday season in Rome, and traditionally the time in which decorations go up.

la notte

Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Gesù at night.
First image participates in this month's Theme Day in the CityDailyPhoto community.

accademia americana

The bar at the American Academy in Rome