Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “christmas in italy”
If you didn’t plan far enough ahead to get tickets to Midnight Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, there are plenty of other places to attend Christmas mass in Rome – after all the city has hundreds of churches. Our writer in Rome, Frances Kidd, reports the following churches usually hold English-language services during the Christmas season. You …
Our guest blogger Robin Locker recounts her discovery of panettone and the history of this Italian holiday food- When I first saw panettone, I thought it was the ubiquitous fruitcake that you see around the holidays. You know- the dense brick of a log that everyone hates, but gets as a gift…and re-gifts it on down the line until they …
Our intrepid writer France Kidd ventured to Naples to explore their most famous Christmas tradition – the creation of presepi or Nativity scenes. This year Neapolitan craftsmen have made figures of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and other famous Americans and Europeans to fill their scenes. All of this Christmas fun can be found on one street …
The Telegraph (U.K.) recommends the region of Trentino Alto Adige in northern Italy as a great place to experience Christmas markets and a little skiing. Close to Germany and Switzerland, this lesser known region shares a long history of Christmas markets with its neighbors. “The town of Arco, three miles from Lake Garda, is particularly popular with families during the …
Rome is a popular destination for Christmas travel. As we’ll be detailing in the November 2008 issue of Dream of Italy, while many restaurants in Rome close for the Christmas holiday, many more, especially some of the top tier eateries and those in hotels, stay open to serve travelers and Roman natives alike. One of these is La Pergola in …
Did you know that only 22% of Italians send Christmas cards? I can’t find a statistic for Americans, but over 80% of Britons send these holiday greetings and I bet it is a similar percentage for Americans. Well, our Italian friends may not be sending many cards, but we can spend the Italian holiday cheer with these elegant Christmas cards …
I was at the post office today (yes, my local branch is open on Sunday!) mailing a bunch of our gift subscriptions and had a chance during the long wait, to receive some of the things that were in Dream of Italy’s P.O. Box. A new property in Tuscany caught my eye, especially since it is open for Christmas and …
Holy cow! Did you know that Italian bakers produce 117 million panettone and pandoro cakes every Christmas? The population of Italy is only 50-something million. Obviously many of those cakes are being exported. Who knew the Italian Christmas cake industry was worth 579 million euros per year? That’s why, according to Reuters, manufacturers are calling for strict rules governing the …
She’s in a nativity scene of course…Okay, back up. Naples is known for its artisans who excel in creating handmade presepi (nativity scenes) – there’s a whole street of shops selling presepi the city’s Spanish Quarter. Each year the offerings get more creative and this year, Gennaro di Virgilio made figurines of American presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John …
Food is an essential part of the Italian experience. What do Italians eat during holiday celebrations? Christmas Eve: The meal centers on fish, in the Catholic tradition to abstain from meat the night before a major holiday. La Vigilia di Natale (the vigil) is also called The Feast of the Seven Fishes. The origin of the “seven” is somewhat of …
