Epiphany or Befana Day

The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated January 6 with a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana are a big part of Italian Christmas celebrations. Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus.

Italy's traditional celebration includes the tale of a white-haired good witch known as La Befana who arrives on her broomstick during the night of January 5 and fills the stockings with toys and sweets for the good children and lumps of coal for the bad ones.

According to the legend, the night before the Wise Men arrived at the manger they stopped at the shack of an old woman to ask directions. They invited her to come along but she replied that she was too busy. Then a shepherd asked her to join him but again she refused.

Later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd bearing gifts that had belonged to her child who had died. She got lost and never found the manger.

Now La Befana flies around on her broomstick each year on the 12th night, bringing small gifts (as she’s old and poor) to children in hopes that she might find the Baby Jesus. Italian children hang their stockings on the evening of January 5th awaiting the visit of La Befana.

My kids did hang their stockings tonight as La Befana usually comes and visits them here in Yorkshire as well. Will they find some little gifts tomorrow as well? Just wait and see.

Stolen Photos

I did not want to finish the year without showing some photos of festive Italy. Unfortunately I haven’t been there since last summer but I’ve “stolen” photos from my friends and acquaintances who have actually shot them personally. As I said previously, I come from Northern Italy, an area which is often left out by tourists and even Italy lovers, because it is erroneously considered “industrial” or “not holiday-like”. Instead, the North of Italy has got everything the South has and even more …We have the sunshine and the snow, the scenery and the culture, the industries and the music, the seaside and the mountains, the food and the wine (to be honest, the best wines in Italy!), the hills and the lakes….And here are only some samples of the Christmas lights ….Enjoy!

This is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, as seen by my best friend Giusy...

....And Milan again with the huge Christmas tree in Piazza del Duomo (always by Giusy)

And the dreamy Venice.....

Via XX Settembre, Genoa, by Roberto

And the Arena of Verona under the Xmas Comet ...

Visit Valeria's blog for great photos of Verona at VERONA DAILY PHOTO

And last but not least our fantastic Turin....

And Torino again, Monte dei Cappuccini, shot by the great Fabrizio at Torino Daily Photo

A Confectionery Shop Window in Milan (by Giusy).....for the pleasure of your eyes....

Saint Stephen's Day

"Good King Wenceslas looked out

on the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about

deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night

though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight

gath'ring winter fuel."

I hope you had all a lovely Christmas and a nice Boxing Day. In Italy the 26th December is dedicated to Saint Stephen, therefore it is called “Giorno di Santo Stefano” (Saint Stephen’s Day).

Stephen was the first Christian martyr, stoned to death shortly after the Crucifixion. He was selected by the apostles as one of the 7 deacons to help with charity work and his task was to look after the poor, particularly the old. It is believed he was a Jew and then converted to Christianity. He was excellent at preaching which made him enemies. This caused him to be charged with blasphemy. At the supreme Jewish law court, the Sanhedrin, Stephen told about the many mercies that God had given the children of Israel, and the ungrateful way in which they had repaid Him. He accused them of murdering Jesus, whose coming, he said, had been foretold by Moses. This angered the crowd and he was dragged out onto the streets. He was then stoned to death according to the law at that time. His stoning was witnessed by Saul who was to become Saint Paul in later times.

Saint Stephen is often represented carrying a pile of rocks or with rocks on his head.

St Lucy's Day

St. Lucia is the patron saint of the city of Syracuse (Sicily) where she was born and martyred in the reign of Diocletian. One story says that when a suitor admired her beautiful eyes she cut them out and sent them to him, asking to be left in peace thereafter (like most early Christian virgin martyrs, she refused marriage). Now she is the patron of eye diseases and the blind and is often depicted carrying her eyeballs on a plate.

The main celebration occurs today 13th of December and in May. St. Lucy is also popular among children in some regions of North-Eastern Italy, namely Trentino, East Lombardy and some parts of Veneto and Friuli, where she brings gifts to good children and coal to bad ones. Children are asked to leave some food for Lucia (a sandwich, or anything else available at the moment) and for the flying donkey that helps her carry gifts (flour, sugar, or salt), but they must not see Santa Lucia delivering gifts or she will throw ashes in their eyes, temporarily blinding them.

St Lucy’s Day in Italy is celebrated with torchlight processions and bonfires, clear indications of her role as light bringer. Apparently untroubled by the gruesome imagery, we eat St. Lucy’s eyes, cakes or biscotti shaped like eyeballs. In honor of a miracle performed by St Lucy during a famine in 1582 (she made a flotilla of grain-bearing ships appear in the harbor — the people were so hungry they boiled and ate the grain without grinding it into flour), Sicilians don't eat anything made with wheat flour on her day. Instead they eat potatoes or rice in the form of “arancine”, golden croquettes shaped and fried to the color of oranges and filled with chopped meats. In Palermo, everyone eats “cuccia”, a dessert of whole-wheat berries cooked in water, then mixed with sweet ricotta.

Snowy Italy

I bet most people never think it is possible to see snow in Italy, at least away from the Alps, so that’s why I’ve decided to post these photos that I’ve just received from Italy. My little green town on the hills in Northern Italy is now covered with a thick blanket of soft white snow. At lunchtime they already had 30 cm of snow, but it is still snowing. End of November is a bit early for snow, but the summer and the autumn have been so dry that snow is a blessing now for all the farmers and vine-growers.

This is my town in Italy under the snow. As you can see, people don't mind facing the white slippery stuff!!!


And this is our river ...

Snow can be a nuisance, that’s true, especially if you need to travel, but I love it. Everything looks better and more beautiful in white, even the dullest places!!!

So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

(A big thankyou and a huge hug to my friend Giusy who sent me the photos! What would I do without her!!!???)

Origins

I was born and lived for 23 years of my life in a small town on the border between Monferrato and Langhe in the north-western corner of Italy, between the Alps and the Riviera, in the area of Piedmont that lies south of the river Po. It is largely a rural area, yet the furthest of the three cities of Genoa, Milan and Turin is little more than an hour's drive away.

It is one the most important wine districts in Italy. From our wonderful vineyards come the grapes for the renowned red wines, Barbera, Barolo, Dolcetto, Freisa, Grignolino and of course the Asti Spumante which is famous all over the world.

The charm of the region is carried by its gently rolling hills, tiny hilltop villages and broad fertile landscape of vineyards and fruit orchards. A network of mostly small roads connects these old villages and towns with each other.

We also have a wonderful cuisine to accompany its famous wines. The white truffles, "tartufi", are world-renowned. Now in October you can sample them in almost any restaurant or ‘trattorie’, especially in the Langhe region, centered around the medieval town of Alba.

(see below, white truffels)

The town of Alba

Our climate is mediterranean and mild - the Italian Riviera is only 30 miles away. The winters are short, and night temperatures in January and February only occasionally fall below zero. Spring and autumn are long and warm. The summers are hot and dry, although the hilltops are ventilated by a pleasant sea breeze.

Monferrato and Langhe have also has a strong literary tradition, including the 18th century Asti-born poet and dramatist Vittorio Alfieri, the novelists Cesare Pavese and Beppe Fenoglio and the Alessandrian Umberto Eco.

I miss my native area a lot, expecially in the autumn when the hills "show" their best colours and the air is filled with lovely odours and chants and chatting of the harvesters. I miss it in the summer when it is cold and rainy in the UK and hot and sunny there. I will go back ... sooner or later ...

(some of the photos above are courtesy of my best friend Giusy who still lives in this area)