Where To Go And Stay and What To Say Over Christmas and New Year

UK Xmas Cracker. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Christmas trees in major cities. This is Prague, Czech Republic, with a free band playing music. They pass a hat around.

Prague: We went to a free midnight mass concert and hymns in Czech, Prague on Christmas Eve. No charge. But have coins ready for the collection box carried to each row of the audience for the poor and needy.

UK. Christmas decorations in English front garden. We drive around taking photos. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problems
Where or when do you say Santa Claus and where or when do you say Father Christmas? Where's best to celebrate or see celebrations of Christmas and New Year?

Answers What To Say
The choice of wording of Santa or Father is a religious distinction. Santa is short for Santa Claus, a saint, and also Latin, Italian, and Spanish as in the American place name Santa Barbara. 

Saints, created by the pope, are Catholic. (Catholic churches have statues of saints and Jesus on the Cross. Protestant churches are more austere.) 

After Henry VIII started the Church of England the word Saint fell out of favour, hence Protestants will use Father Christmas. 

The abbreviation 'Santa', short for Santa Claus, tends to be a kiddie word. 

Russia and China In Communist Russia and China religion was banned. So the Russians, who have colder winters in their northern capitals, celebrate and brighten mid-winter with a snow-white-haired and bearded gentleman called Grandfather Frost. 

Scotland The Scots are Protestant make less fuss of Christmas but more fuss over New Year. Go to Scotland or watch on TV in the UK.

Where To Go - By Country
Christmas is big in the USA, with Christmas trees in windows and lights across rooftops. Also in the UK and most European and other Catholic countries.

UK In the UK a large Christmas tree, a Norway Spruce, is donated by the Norwegian government, and placed in Trafalgar Square, London, England. 

Major events and activites for you: 
Advance planning: book restaurants. Order Santa Claus costume on line.
To do: (Some are free, some are free but turn up early or at non-busy times; some free but require booking seats, first come first served, others are time specific and rquire advance boking and payment.
Book Christmas shows pantomimes or ice shows.
Go ice skating on artificial rinks, or watch ice skaters to music.
Hearing Christmas carols under the tree. Seeing the lights in Regent Street and Oxford Street. The Harrods department store and Selfridges will have lights or decorations on the front and in the windows.

Outdoor seasonal tree with white lights. Expect to see large trees lit at night in Catholic countries such as Poland, in their capital, Warsaw.

Czech Republic
Our hotel served a 'special' higher price Christmas meal which featured the main dish of carp. Then we went to the free midnight mass.

Singapore
Singapore celebrates all religions and the major malls and streets have great lights and Christmas carols play in shopping malls and from lamp posts.

If you want to avoid Christmas and giving presents to children and the cost and time spent organizing gifts and Christmas dinner (for example, if you can't afford it, or are not Christian) you could opt for a non-Christian country, or a beach holiday.

Spain If you miss Christmas, or want to miss Christmas, you can go to countries which celebrate the Magi and birth of Jesus on January 5 or 6, notably Spain and other European countries. In Spain the big excitement is the national Christmas Lottery with a big prize, called El Gordo (meaning the giant). Families will make a grou bet and sit around the TV watching.

Italy
Popular places for Christmas include seeing Francis of Assissi, birthplace of St Francis. The appearance of the Pope on Christmas day at the Vatican also draws crowds. 

The Italian festive cake is Panettone, a huge domed cake which you can buy loose or in a decorative tin, in Italy and in Italian cafés in London, England. 

Venezuela
You also get Panettone in Venezuela.

Story
When I was a child it was not the done thing to celebrate other religions or to celebrate multiple cultures. My parents took me to an English hotel for Christmas, or to a beach holiday in Spain.

Hotels
Hotels have higher prices for Christmas meals and may be closed except to residents because the restaurants are fully booked.

UK. Christmas pudding with white sauce.

UK. Christmas pudding with ice cream - that's a first, new idea.

UK.Christmas pudding with yellow custard. You'll get this everywhere in the UK over Christmas, in restaurants and in pubs. Christmas tables in restaurants have Xmas crackers containing a joke or motto, a banger to pull, a paper hat and often a small plastic gift. Look for boxes of crackers in supermarkets. You may find it is banned to take crackers on planes becuase the crackers contain explisve or fire starting materials. 

Self Catering, Souvenirs And Gift What To Eat Or Buy - Fun and Food, Festivity, Souvenirs
Most supermarkets in the UK import foods from all over Europe and the world. In the UK supermarkets you can buy Christmas pudding and Christmas cake with a white iced top and messages and green trees and red Santas. Many biscuits and cakes and chocolates come in presentation boxes which are only available at Christmas time. The price of the contests and box will be dearer. But you can keep the boxes as biscuit tins, as a colletor's piece for your shelves, or for storing jewellery and knick knacks. Airport shops will have these, but also department stores and supermarkets.

France
The French Christmas cake is a log. The French word for Christmas is Noel. 

Germany
The Germans eat Stollen which is a long roll with a marzipan centre.

Christmas Dinner In Restaurants Restaurant prices go up around Christmas time and some restaurants will be fully booked both lunch and evening towards Christmas with office and social club Christmas parties, serving turkey, stuffing and roast potatoes, followed by Christmas pudding. (Usually other options including a vegetarian alternative).

Prices of restaurants drop in January, although last year in the UK some restaurants did not start their reductions until several days after New Year's eve.

New Year's eve you may also find high prices and fully booked bars and restaurants and shops and cafes closing early.

One club I belong to in the UK chose to have a DIY pot luck Christmas party and a meal out in January to celebrate the New Year. That cut the cost, as well as being an all-religion, all diet option.

Other English seasonal foods are mince pies. The cheapest are about £1 for six in a supermarket.

Prices of Christmas pudding (black domed pudding containing dried fruit, same as American plum pudding which is sold all year in the USA) are reduced in UK supermarkets after New Year.

Tips
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. See my previous posts on Christmas and New Year. Please share links to your favourite posts.