A Sicilian Christmas

In Catania, Sicily - a Christmas tree made
out of real cactus leaves, then painted gold!

Christmas is huge in Italy. In America, we think we've got the prize for over the top Christmas celebrations, but I think it's even bigger here. Each city we goes to has displays of lights strung between the buildings on the main streets, and every shop has a Christmas display. Fortunately for us, however, the endless repetitions of "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bells" is not part of it.

There are some very curious new twists to Christmas here - the decorations include little Santas climbing up ladders to apartment balconies; the juxtaposition of a picture of Santa near a palm tree in Sicily (there are still flowers and blue skies here); and stacks of traditional Christmas cakes near the registers of every grocery store. 

Parade of Santa Lucia

And especially, now that we are in Sicily, there are the sweets. Although we've been told that these sweets are available year-round, I suspect that the displays get even more fantastic for Christmas time. Sicily is famous for its cannola, a crispy shell of pastry which is filled with a sweet fresh ricotta, and often edged with chopped pistachios, which grow here. There is also an endless parade of cookies. We had thought we would avoid the over-abundance of Christmas-time treats by traveling this holiday season, but that has definitely not been the case. Carb and sugar overload - and how tasty it has been!

Right now, we are staying in a lovely B&B in Siracusa, on the island of Ortigia. On Thursday night, we watched the parade of Santa Lucia (Saint Lucy) as the statue returned to her alcove in the Cathedral. St. Lucia is the patron saint of Siracusa - she is also celebrated many other places in the world, especially in Sweden. In Siracusa, the statue leaves the cathedral on December 13 and returns a week later on the 20th. There was even a fabulous fireworks display, which we could see from the roof of our B&B!!

We return on Monday to Catania, to the home of a lovely couchsurfing family, Massimo and Paola and their two teenaged children. They have generously opened their doors to us for Christmas. Over and over again as we've traveled in Italy, we have been blown away by the hospitality and generosity of our couchsurfing hosts. We greatly look forward to seeing the holiday with our Italian friends, and we're thinking of all of you at home! Buon Natale - Merry Christmas!

It's harvest time for oranges - and they are plentiful,
juicy, and cheap - 0.50 euros per kilo! :)