December: we just like to celebrate

"It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid!"

This year will be the first time I will not spend Christmas at home, but, as everybody knows: life is plenty of first time! So, I will stay in Boston, waiting for my brother and some friends to arrive on the 27^th and I’m thinking about volunteering on the 25^th!

Do you want to know how many things I’m going to miss?!

Let’s start saying that I would have already opened 7 windows of my Christmas Chocolate Calendar (which has 24 windows you have to find because they are not numerically arranged), and also because my mum is still buying me one. Yeah, I’m 25 but a child inside for this kind of things, and exactly when I was still a child we were used to light up the Advent Candles every evening for 4 weeks. One candle per week.

Then yesterday, the 6^th of December, was Saint Nicholas. I believe it’s a bigger tradition in Germany and might be that Christina knows it better, but I celebrate it too.

What is Saint Nicholas doing? Brings candies and little gifts to the kids, and grown up. The tradition says that you should leave some water and some flour or milk and biscuits so when he comes to leave candies he will have something to eat and drink. I was doing it at home and then going to my grandpa apartment to do the same. The next morning was amazing, weaking up and running to see what he had brought. Actually, I still hope to find something on the 6^th morning, and must say my mum is not letting me down.

Be careful though!: you need to be a nice kid or you will not receive anything a part from coal.

Tomorrow is the 8th of December, and guess what?! It's a Holyday in Italy, so people are not working on that day. Bad news is that tomorrow is a Sunday, so the majority was not going to work anyway. The 8th of December is called the Immaculate Conception, and it is a Catholic Festivity, during which religious believer attend a procession.

Going on, comes the 13^th of December: Saint Lucy! I have the feeling this little celebration is more Italian and a big deal for where I’m from and also for Verona, where I study. The tradition is the same as for Saint Nicholas: you leave water, milk, cookies and thick salt. Why thick salt?! Because this nice lady travels around with a donkey. Why with a donkey? Because she is blind. She wears a white dress and a veil, which covers her face. For Saint Lucy, since she is a lady like me, I got to get more gifts: at home, at my grandpa’s and also at my grandma’s house! Lucky me!! Furthermore, when I was in Kinder Garden, she was coming there to bring us a little bag with candies, nuts and mandarin oranges (which I hated until not that long ago, now I really like them, but at the time I was disappointed: I wanted the candies, why should I get also the fruit?!)

Moreover, the night of the 12^th my aunt and my cousins were bringing me to a neighbor city, where Saint Lucy was coming with her donkey and giving also small bags with candies. Oh guys, it was so much fun being a child back then!

In addition, on that day, and in the weekend, in many Italian cities you will find Saint Lucy’s Local Fair.

Verona Saint Lucy Local Fair

Now, we arrive at the real point: Christmas! What I do is usually celebrating Christmas’ Eve with my friends: we might have dinner together and then we all meet in the same old place just before midnight to wish everybody: “Merry Christmas”. It’s a bar in my little town, where they prepare Vim Brulè (hot red wine with some spices, like clover). Christmas is also the Birthday of one of my dear friend, so I have to remember to also wish her happy b-day!

Obviously, during the night Santa arrives, we call him Babbo Natale! And he leaves presents under the Christmas tree, which is something my mum love to do! Every year with different decoration she creates. I do my grandma’s Christmas tree, because she cares a lot about it. 

We also do the “Nativity Scene” and if you are Catholic on Christmas day also little Jesus comes with Santa to leave gifts to the good children and then you add him in the Nativity Scene in the cave in between Holy Mary and Giuseppe.

Christmas day is spent with the family. I was used to go downstairs to my grandpa’s apartment to wish him merry Christmas and then the part of the family, from which my dad is from, was coming there too. Then we have lunch at my grandma’s house with my mum family. Lasagna, meatloaf, hard-boiled eggs, asparagus and vitello tonnato (veal with tuna souce) are never missing. You can also guess what the dessert is..my amazing Tiramisù! And Pandoro or Panettone!

Now Christmas day is gone, it should be it! No, it’s not! The 26^th is still a Holyday in Italy: Saint Steven. Then, guess what my brother name is..Stefano! We would be obligated to celebrate even if we didn’t want to. The thing is that Saint Steven lunch gives us the possibility to finish the left over, but since we are Italians and food is never enough we prepare some new ones. Noticed that my brother feels like he should be the only one deciding the menu, but this doesn’t mean he is going to help cooking.

This is December Holidays in Italy, or at least my Holydays! Anyway, what is generally going on in Italy are: Christmas market (it’s a tradition more for north Italy) and the lightening of Christmas tree with some exhibitions (the choir singing and some dancing). http://instagram.com/p/Ss15GdlwqE/

Not a big deal as I have experience here in Boston at the Boston Common.

I love Christmas markets because you can go and walk through them, you can buy some typical Christmas presents and there is always really cute stuff or you can just go there with your friend and drink a Brulè (hot wine) or an apple cider, or you can eat some real good and typical food. Check it out: http://instagram.com/p/SvO8ZLFwog/

Christmas Market in Rovereto Tn

My story ends here form now, but December has still some days left..New Year’s Eve and the January will start..I leave you with some suspense..cause you’ll never know if we do celebrate something else also in January.

Xo Xo Camilla