Christmas Day worldwide - open presents December 245h, 25th, or in January?

Santa Claus is calling? When?

In the UK we used to say Father Christmas.

 In England, Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Day, December 25th. According to the Gregorian calendar. A neat number, although the day of the week varies. In 2025 Christmas Day is on a Thursday. 

German Christmas Traditions

The Germans open their presents on Christmas Eve. The British royal family stick to this tradition, which came from Queen Victoria's husband Albert.

But does Christmas eve start at sunset the day before?

Sunset Evening

Starting the next day at sunset is the way that it would have been for Jews at the time of Jesus, and how Orthodox Jews today still start and end the Sabbath.

But when does the next day start? According to modern thinking, at midnight. 

Midnight Mass - Europe and Roman Catholic

Another European tradition in Catholic countries and Cathedrals is Midnight mass. We went to Midnight mass one year in Prague. Midnight of course is the start of the next day.

When we went to live in Singapore, Christmas ended at midnight on December 25th. No Boxing Day.

Angela Lansbury happily holding the Singapore flag. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Taken in August, on Singapore National Day, circa 2022.

Christmas in Singapore and Asia

I had a Christmas message from Singapore from my friend Jaya, who is Indian with a Chinese wife. He called me at 9 am UK time which was 5 p.m. in Singapore. He told me that he is going to work on Boxing day which is a normal working day for him. His wife is a teacher in a European school so for her Christmas is a long holiday, extending over New Year, January 1st.

The Chinese who are the majority in Singapore will be having their big New Year celebration at the time of the Chinese New year, which other Asian countries call the lunar New Year, which varies according to the lunar calendar.

When I was a teenager my parents could avoid giving Christmas presents and the inconvenience of no public transport on Christmas Day by going for a beach holiday to Spain to enjoy warmer weather.

Those who want to celebrate twice could stay in the UK for a British Christmas, then hop across to Europe to a country where Christmas is celebrated on January 6th, known in England as 12th night, celebrated in the Christmas carol, the twelve days of Christmas. 

We are still sending or giving Xmas cards in the uk. Although whatsApp messages and gifs aee taking over.

Jif forwarded to me by an Indian friend in London.

What about the USA?

USA

American flag. Picture from Wikipedia.

The Americans say Happy Holidays, which covers Christmas and New Year, those who celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday as well as those who don't.

In restaurants and malls in the UK and other countries you hear English language carols, as well as the bilingual song, in Spanish and English, Feliz Navidad. Easy to recognize, like the words felicity, happiness, and nativity, birth, as well as to remember as the song keeps repeating the refrain.

So, to everybody, everywhere, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. and Happy Holidays.

Useful Website On Christmas and The Birth Of Jesus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_of_the_birth_of_Jesus#:~:text=Based%20on%20this%20winter%20solstice,held%20on%20the%20same%20date.

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Friday Dec 23rd Xmas Shopping -Supermarkets Are busy -

Waitrose Xmas. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

 Everybody is out buying in supermarkets in London, my family tell me. I am at home with a cold, despite being double jabbed in Singapore, against flu and Covid, my 5th jab.

I was online in a toastmasters international meeting, Singapore International Dynamic, run by President Edward in Belize. Our theme was Xmas food around the world.

He had a great background of trees. In Belize their Xmas meal includes local food such as beans and rice.

President Edward of Belize.

 We started with a table topics or imprompty speech session, 2 minutes each on local festive food for Xmas or any other holiday we celebrate.  I showed Waitrose Xmas cake. I also had extra props. Stollen, the marzipan filled sweet roll cake, from Germany, but Waitrose haas their own brand. For Hannuaky, which this year coincides with Christmas, the food is latkes, grated potato pancakes, ike has browns or rosti, and donuts with dozens of kinds of fillings..

Donuts, for Hannukah. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

He warned us about procrastinating. Don't leave your shopping until the last minute. Some shops will close early, even lunch time on the 24th, so their staff can prepare for Xmas Eve.

Last year Edward went out to buy presents at a department store and food at a supermarket. 

Supermarket - Closing Time. 

All went well until his wife phoned and reminded him to buy the cranberry sauce. 

By now the traffic had built up, exacerbated by a minor, but inconvenient traffic accident. Unnecessary stress.

The supermarket was still open but had closed the doors as it was already full of customers. Luckily he spotted a friend inside and was able to get his friend's attention and shout, Cranberry sauce!

Nearby was a seller of local Rum Popo. He bought that to give to his friend as a thank you for the favour.

What is rum Popo? The brand name for Local rum, with added ingredients, like an egg nog. The lady who made and marketed it was credited with turning around the Belize economy. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rompopeop

Rum 

 As Shakespeare said, all's well that ends well.

The moral of the story, don't leave things until the last minute. 

I had left my back ground to the last minute. I hastily looked for a suitable picture to load up. I found one of myself with Christmas crackers.

Then I found a picture showing the candles for all eight nights of Hanukah with an increasing number of candles. The last night, number eight, is on Boxing Day, December 26th.

Christmas and Hannukah backgrounds for the International online Toastmasters meeting on Friday Dec 23rd.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rompope

https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

Summer's Over! What Holiday Fun now? Ice Hotels or Ice Wine?

Ice chapel in Ice hotel, Quebec, Canada. Photo by Chenslyuan in Wikipedia.

Problem
Yes, summer's over. I just missed the end of the Disney sand sculptures in Belgium, which ended Sunday 1st October. So what is going on in the winter months?

Answer
Now is the time to be thinking about Christmas and Spring, before everything gets booked up.

LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
In London in December there will be pantomime shows in theatres.

Restaurants will be offering Christmas lunches and dinner from December, with festive decorations, green Christmas trees hung with baubles, and red and gold Christmas crackers on the tables. For family and club and office parties, organisers buy gifts, Christmas cards, wrapping paper with bows, real of fake Christmas trees, decorations, Christmas crackers for tables.

Christmas crackers on sale in UK supermarkets. The price comes down after Christmas Day.

A red Christmas cracker.  Crackers usually contain a gift and / or hat, and a motto or joke.

A Christmas cracker with season decoration.

 Paper hats in assorted colours from Christmas crackers.

Christmas cracker photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I can look for carols and carol singers under the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. I could enjoy concerts in churches.

Red Santas will be in their white grottoes welcoming children in the shopping malls. English pubs will be serving adults warming red mulled wine smelling of spices.

I shall never tire of hot turkey with thick gravy and roast potatoes, followed by a little dome of hot black Christmas pudding with warm yellow custard.

Everybody at meetings will be serving mince pies, sometimes cold, sometimes hot. At home we will eat mince pies warm, with hot custard.

I could go to Midnight mass on Christmas Eve, looking for advertisements in local newspapers.

Christmas tree with baubles in public buildings in London.

Christmas greetings and silver snowflake decorations in a Waitrose supermarket in London, UK.

Christmas pudding.

Christmas pudding served with hot custard.

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

RUSSIA
If I don't want to partake of Christmas religious festivities I could take a trip to Russia and celebrate Grandfather Frost.

CHINA
Frost? Ice? Snow? From Dec 24 2017 to Feb 25, 2018, the city of Harbin in China holds the ice and snow festival with ice carvings. I have always wanted to go there.

SWEDEN
I could go to the Ice Hotel in Sweden. I have always wanted to go there. Only £1,154 for three nights including flights. I have plenty of choice. Ice hotels are built in Canada, Romania, Switzerland. You have to move out in March, when your hotel starts to melt!

No point booking the same room next year. Since they are starting all over again, they will probably do a different design.

How about an igloo?

LONDON, ENGLAND
Perhaps I shall settle for a cocktail in the Ice Bar in London. I have always wanted to go there.

New Year's Eve I expect to see the fireworks around the world on TV. I could drink ice wine.

New Year's Day if I am in London or Europe, picking up English TV,  I shall see the morning Concert from Vienna, Austria.

I shall be planning my year's travels.

ITALY - Carnevale (Carnival)
The Carnival in Venice, Italy, starts in January and ends in February. 2018 Carnival of Venice will begin on

Saturday

27 January 2018
and ends on

Tuesday

13 February 2018. (All dates are in United Kingdom Time.)

Watch the 2017 carnival on YouTUbe, with lots of boats moving towards the arched Rialto Bridge, to the sound of Italian music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q4NA5gJfIc (Venice carnival 2017)

A big carnival is held in the beach resort of Vareggio in Tuscany. (You can reach it by train from Pisa, Sienna and Florence.)

Other Cities  - also have carnivals.
A Carnival including a Battle of Oranges is held at Ivrea, Piedmont (Piedmont means foot of the mountain), Italy, Feb 10-13 2018. The word in Italian for events is e v e n t i. The letter i is Italian for plural. (I learned that from Duolingo.com . See my other posts on learning Italian.)

If you want to go south to the warmest spot, try Sicily which has a carnival with flowers.

SPAIN
I could go to Spain and enter the Christmas lottery, hoping to win the big prize El Gordo to fund umpteen trips. If I were in Spain in January I could see the three king's parade on their Christmas Eve on January 5th.

I shall go to sleep and dream.

More Information from:
UK
https://www.icebarlondon.com
www.visitlondon.com
www.visitbritain
AUSTRIA
https://www.austria.info/uk
BELGIUM
www.visitoostende.be
ITALY
www.visititaly.com
http://www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas/culture-and-entertainment/february-the-month-of-carnival.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q4NA5gJfIc (Venice carnival 2017.)
SPAIN
www.tourspain.org
RUSSIA
www.visitrussia.org.uk
ICE HOTELS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hotel
CANADA - ICE HOTEL
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-s1-g155033-d184516-Reviews-Hotel_de_Glace-Quebec_City_Quebec
SWEDEN - ICE HOTEL
https://www.discover-the-world.co.uk/destinations/icehotel-holidays
ICE WINE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_wine

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See and buy my books on Amazon.com and Lulu.com
Link to me on LinkedIn and Facebook. Watch for my forthcoming website on travel in Wordpress. lease share links to your favourite posts.

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Midnight Mass in London and Prague

Midnight Mass on Christmas eve is a tradition in Catholic and Eastern orthodox churches and cathedrals.

In London the glorious striped Catholic Cathedral near Victoria is one of the best known cathedrals. If you missed Midnight mass, look for the Cathedral if you are in the Victoria area of London, England.

In Prague, Czech Republic, members of my family went to the Midnight Mass.

A queue had formed outside.

The service was all in the Czech language. The prayer books were also all in Czech. The numbers of the hymns appeared in red on an electric sign board.

One hymn was recognisable by its tune, Silent Night. You can see the word night appears as n o c, repeated at the start. So it's possible to follow along. Stand when the others stand.Sit when they sit.

Prepare for the collection of money at the end with some coins.

If you miss the Midnight Mass, you can walk uphill to the monastery, on cobbled streets past hotels and buildings. The view from the top over the city is called Bella Vista by a receptionist at the nearby hotel, Golden Star. She used to work at the monastery and thanks to her we added the view to our list of things to do in Prague. The Golden Star has good food, and an indoor restaurant and bar and an outside terrace right next to the giant walls of the 'castle' palace complex.


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.