Saturday, March 22, 2008

HAPPY EASTER - BUONA PASQUA!

Happy Easter/Buona Pasqua to all who celebrate this holy day.

To everyone else, happy spring...well, assuming that you're actually having spring! Here in Umbria, and in most of Europe, winter suddenly realized that it hadn't really made an appearance and decided 'better late than never'! The past few days have been cold and gray, with blustery winds and occasional snow flurries. For those of you not shivering and those of you who're high and dry, perhaps you're a bit closer to a traditional spring than the rest of us.


For all my peeps.....


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Saturday, January 19, 2008

WHEN IS EASTER...AND WHY?

While searching the internet for April airfares to Louisville (yes I know we just got back, but it's never too early to start searching for bargain airfares!), I was surprised at the high prices I was quoted. Hmmm, I thought, the higher prices must be because it's around Easter. Knowing that people flock to Rome, or more specifically, to the Vatican for Easter, the airlines don't want to miss out on a sure thing, so the prices are usually higher.

I figured I might as well find out when Easter was going to be this year, since the date always changes, so I looked at my planning calendar. Wow! What a shock! Easter falls on March 23rd this year! I couldn't remember it ever being that early, so I decided to do some research to find out just how the date is determined.

According to
THIS PAGE on CNN.com, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring! If you want more details and history you can read about it by clicking the link. I also found out that Easter can be as early as March 22nd (making this year's Easter just one day shy of it's earliest), or as late as April 25th.

Because Easter is so early this year, all the festivities for Carnivale/Mardi Gras will also be unusually early....Ash Wednesday is February 6th! Usually we look forward to Easter as a sign that spring can't be far away, but that might not apply this year! Be sure to stock up on your chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps!

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