Christmas in Catalonia 2

Christmas Markets
The fair runs from early December until Christmas Eve and can be found in some streets and squares. Here you will find all sorts of hand made gifts, intricate nativity scenes and the Caga Tió log.
Christmas Eve
Midnight mass as Christmas Eve becomes Christmas Day is very important in Spain (presumably as the Catholics rush to confess to their Christmas gluttony!)
The biggest 'misa del gallo' is at the Benedictine monastery at Montserrat near Barcelona

Tió de Nadal or Caga Tió
A log painted with a smiley face and cared for from after El Dia de Inmaculada, which is December 8. Then, either on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve (it varies), the children beat the log (and throw him into the fire, if they have one) and sing songs enticing it to 'shit some presents', 'tió' is Catalan for 'log'.

Christmas in Catalonia 3

Three Kings Procession
On December 5, as is the case throughout Spain, the Three Kings lead their procession through the city. The procession starts shortly after five o’clock.
On the night of December 5, children leave a shoe out for the Three Kings to fill (stockings clearly aren't so common in this Mediterranean climate!)

Nativity Scenes

The Catalan word for 'nativity' is 'pessebre' while in Spanish it is 'belén'.

Bayram and the beginning of the new year in Turkey

Our religious bayram (festival) is about helping eachother and sharing. its name is Kurban Bayramı in Turkish. the people who have enough money make the animals (like cow , sheep) cut and they share the meat to the people who haven't got money.and in most of the houses the meats are cooked and are eaten.and also the people meet eachother (relatives, neighbours and friends), the younger people visit the older people ,they give presents eachother , they give candy and money to the children , the children kisses hands of their older relatives,and the people eat sweets especially baklava and şekerpare all together.

In Turkey , we celebrate 31th of December as a beginning of new year. we meet with our relatives or friends in houses or somewhere in outside,if we meet in houses we listen to music or watch tv programmes which are prepared for celebration new year , and we play tombola ( drawing the numbers and making all table with the numbers ),some of us drink alchol and we sleep that night very late...if we meet in outside we dances, make several animations which are prepared ...etc.Some of us decorate the pine trees, give presents eachother.

Penfriends!!

Marta and Alessandra, the teachers, and their students of the classes III A of the primary school of San Lorenzo in Campo -Italy and the 4th class of the primary school in Girona, have started to exchange postcards, letters and messages.
This is the first e-mail message from Spain to Italy....

Hello boys and girls, the students of the 4th class of Bambini school in Girona sent you a letter yesterday by ordinary mail. We were very happy with your postcards..they were lovely!We have another surprise for you!!!!...as Christmas is coming very soon we send you this handcraft to do with Alessandra...we hope you like it and enjoy it...let's show us the results!!!! Hugs and kisses!

Marta and the 4th. class students.

Christmas in Slovenia- from Slovenj Gradec

There are so many customs, beliefs, superstitions, traditions and magic related to Christmas in Slovenia that they would barely fit into a thick book. Christmas is the most popular religious and family holiday, its celebration having a long tradition. Slovenians are still keen makers of Christmas decorations. Archaic decorations include the marking of "god's corner" and the hanging of green wreaths (made of evergreens, box tree, ivy and mistletoe), branches or paper wreaths from ceilings or walls. Crafted doves hang from the ceiling to represent the Holy Ghost, as well as crowns and "chandeliers" made of paper and straw. Later, the hugely popular nativity scenes appeared. In Ljubljana and elsewhere, exhibitions of the most beautiful nativity scenes are staged each year. In the Postojna Caves, one of the most famous karst caves in the world, we have a live nativity scene accompanied by baroque music.Not only are Christmas decorations - and naturally the Christmas tree -characteristic of Christmas in Slovenia, food is very important too. Pigs are typically slaughtered before Christmas, so pork dishes are often on the table. There are also special Christmas breads and pies, with many different fillings, forms and names. One cannot but mention the most typical of Slovenian dishes, the potica. This nut roll can be sweet or salty, round with a hole in the middle like in the old days, or a single long roll. There are over 50 different types of classical potica, but people's imagination has increased their number so there are currently about 110 kinds of potica. The Christmas and New Year’s holiday season is a time that everyone awaits with special joy: children, because of the presents they expect to receive, and because they know they will not have to go to school for at least a week; adults, because they know they will bring people joy with their gifts, for giving is indeed a rewarding experience.

Christmas in Italy- from Pergola

CHRISTMAS IN PERGOLA (ITALY)

Christmas time is a wonderful here!
At home we make Christmas trees decorated with balls, angels, bells...
Under the trees we usually put our Christmas presents and we open them at Christmas.
By the fireplace there are some Christmas stockings in which the “BEFANA”will put lots of small presents for the children on the 6th January.

On Christmas Eve we usually have a “great” seafood dinner.
At the end we eat lots of typical Christmas sweets: panettone, pandoro and torrone.
After dinner we sometimes play cards or other board games with our family.
On Christmas Day we have lunch at home with our relatives. We usually eat “cappelletti”(pasta filled with meat) with broth, meat, vegetables and sweets with “spumante”(sweet and fizzy wine).

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF AZUR AND ASMAR IN ITALIAN

This is the official website of the film "Azur and Asmar" in Italian:

http://www.luckyred.it/azureasmar

and another interesting website about it in English

http://palais.wikidot.com/azur-et-asmar