Christmas in Italy

Christmas in Italy has already changed a lot during the years. Many years ago there was no Christmas tree tradition, and a nativity scene was the only thing that was done. For some reasons, maybe the pro-American feelings that undoubtedly pervade the whole country, or maybe because is an easier decoration to prepare, the tree has become one of the most poignant Christmas images in Italian peninsula. Nowadays in Italy you most often find a nativity scene besides a Christmas tree.

Spending Christmas in Italy means to discover many traditions of the past, mostly tied to the countryside and the Catholic religion. These Holidays are paced by the various religious and pagan festivities that chase each other and come to a conclusion with Epiphany on January 6. Today is Saint Stephen, an it's a holiday. New year's eve and January 1st are also holidays. The greater majority go to work during the days in between these festive days, however some take vacation days to have a long weekend. Schools in Italy close on December 23 and open again on the first school day after January 6.

Epiphany is a small Christmas for children. It is a festivity tied to when the three wise kings arrived to Bethlehem to adore the newborn Jesus. Indeed epiphany means revelation. In this day Italians hang a stocking at the fireplace and await the arrival of Befana to fill them up with candies and small presents for good kids, and charcoal for bad kids. Befana is the name of the old and ugly lady that comes flying on a broomstick to distribute presents to kids. She embodies this festivity since the legend tells that when the wise kings knocked on her door asking for the direction to Bethlehem, she helped them, but refused to join their journey as she was busy with home chores. She later regretted it, and after gathering some presents for baby Jesus she immediately started chasing after the wise kings. But no matter how hard she looked for them, she was unable to find them. So she decided to look for baby Jesus in each house where there was a new born, and leave a present to each one in case that was going to be the one.

Italians are also very traditional, and never fail to celebrate Christmas with their family. They have a saying "Natale coi tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi", Christmas with your family, Easter with whomever, which gives the sense how this festivity is much more felt than Easter. Sometimes it is hard to stay with your and your spouse's family. Therefore Italians employ Christmas Eve as a good occasion to stay with one side of the family, spend Midnight there, which is officially Christmas, then the next day is spent with th eother side of the family.

There is little moving around during these festivities, as the majority stay at home. Some use these days as a holiday period, visiting the Alps or seaside localities with thermal spots such as Ischia. But this is not typically Italian. Therefore if you want to visit Italy after Christmas day, you will find quiet cities, especially on the 26. The days approaching New Year's Eve are a little busier, but calm is soon restored on January first until the Befana.

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Comacchio, The Small Venice

Comacchio is the most original and fascinating historical center of the mouth of the Po river. Its history is inextricably linked to the flourishing of activities such as fishing, lagoon fish breeding, processing of sugar cane and the production of salt, which is still well developed. Its hallmark is the Trepponti bridge in addition to other important monuments such as the San Cassiano cathedral, the Portico of the Capuchins and the ancient Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aula Regia.

Comacchio is also called the small Venice, because the city was founded on the canals of the mouth of Po River Park, famous for the Lidi of Comacchio, which are very busy in summer.
But apart from the sea and the beauty of Emilia Romagna near Ferrara, Comacchio is a town to be discovered, even while surfing through the canals of the islands that comprise it.

Places of interest
Trepponti - This is the symbol of Comacchio, five large staircase on the channels that accommodate the passing tourists.

Bellini Building - This building is located near the Bridge of Sbirri and is a large building that houses the Art Gallery and many temporary exhibitions

Cathedral of Comacchio - In Piazza XX Settembre, is the Cathedral of St. Cassian, cathedral city

Clock Tower - This tower is one of the main monuments of the city and is located in the beautiful Piazza Ugo Bassi

Excursions and tours
There are many possible itineraries and excursions in Comacchio, but one that I recommend is the boat ride on the "Batana" (typical boats of the area). To take advantage of this free service, you must go to the docks in front of the old fish market.
Do not forget the itineraries of Comacchio on foot, by bicycle or by boat ride on the Po mouth.

Another important excursion that you have to take into consideration is the former saline extraction facilities. Large portions of salt lagoon that were abandoned and are now the safe landing for a community of hundreds Flamingos. These spectacular birds started populating the area after all salt extraction work ceased, which gave the area the deep serene and quiet character that Flamingos need to live and thrive.

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Trieste Guide

Trieste is one of the most beautiful Italian cities. It is spectacularly placed in front of the sea, nestled foothills. The beautiful nineteenth century buildings that line the waterfront testify to a past of great maritime traffics with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Trieste has always been, and still is, a frontier town, both culturally and geographically: Slovenia is not far from the Carso heights leading there, and from where the Bora wind sweeps the city.

It is the capital of Friuli Venezia Giulia with about 210,000 inhabitants. Trieste is a fascinating and aristocratic city. It is the last city of northeast Italy, the extreme southern part of Central Europe, the first city in the new Europe at the same time. The three notations enable us to understand a rich fabric of history, art and culture linked to the world of technology and scientific research, and to nature that here shows only some of its most fascinating phenomena.

Really, you can not understand Trieste at a glance. Viewed from the sea, it appears in a semicircle between the promontory of St. Andrew, where the lantern rests, and Ripa. The bank is barricaded by a long row of houses and buildings. The row is interrupted by a flight of streets that are lost within the city. Only toward the Portonuovo, between two rows of buildings, the Grand Canal opens a hole in the heart of the city for about 300 meters, forming one of the most characteristic spots of Trieste: the casual walker is startled by the sudden view of ships in the middle of the city, unexpectedly appearing to those coming off the main street going into the Pontegrosso, Canal Grande, and the likes.

At the bottom of the canal stands a Roman-style church, St. Anthony, beside the church of the Greek schismatics, St. Spyridon in purely Byzantine style. Viewed from the sea, therefore, Trieste appears almost tiny. Two hills, springing from the heart of the city, San Giusto and San Vito, make believe here are two possible limits to the city. On the contrary, after climbing those two hills, the city rushes to occupy the valleys that open behind, fending a new assault on to other flanking hills, then continuing to grow between walls of rock, and the jolly vegetable gardens and groves. Therefore, there never is a single point of the city from which the observer can embrace the whole city.
According to many visitors, few Italian cities have such natural beauties as Trieste. Due to its enviable position, Trieste has always attracted many artists, who searched for their inspiration in its purple sunrises and fire sunsets. Byron, Charles Nodier, Carducci, are just a few.

Trieste shows the changing of times with ruins that attest to its Roman origins, its alleys in the old neighborhoods, the remains of its medieval walls, and towers, the patrician houses, now poor, battered, but still with a noble character, the legends carved on nude rocks, the wells in the courtyards, and the preserved tombstones with Latin inscriptions.

The city has experienced long years of political extremism, which has sometimes been national irredentism, sometimes a real clash of civilizations. The definitive passage to Italy in 1954 is still alive in the memory of Trieste, during a time when the return to the homeland appeared uncertain. Almost by a miracle in Trieste, just like in other border cities of transit, the constant psychological tension, dictated by the many political upheavals and uncertainties, refined intellectual sensibility and produced fine reflections of intellectuals born here, or that here found their creative habitats: James Joyce, Rainer Maria Rilke, Umberto Saba and Italo Svevo. The legendary Cafes of Trieste are imbued with memories of great conversations and discussions that took place within them. They happened at a time when politics and art, literature and philosophy were discussed in various languages, in a twilight world with an uncertain future that was darkly looming ahead.

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