Merry Christmas! Nadolig Llawen! Joyeux Noël! Frohliche Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad!
Ever wondered how other countries celebrate Christmas? In collaboration with travel bloggers around the world, PackThePJs has compiled this A – Z to give a taste of festivities across the globe. Today we are focusing on G – I: Goa in India, Haarlem in The Netherlands, and Istanbul in Turkey.
G: Goa, India
Christmas in Goa is a very traditional affair. Usually a few days before the big day, a lot of families clean their houses and decorate them with buntings, lights and wreaths. Many even have a big Christmas tree outside the house, so that’s decorated as well. There’s never snow but it’s usually slightly chilly.
On Christmas Eve, almost everybody will head for midnight mass. Some who instead prefer sleeping, attend mass in the morning! Once mass is done, there are many tiny stalls selling festive goodies outside the Church and people socialise and wish each other well.
Once home, there are many traditional food items that families specially prepare for Christmas like Chicken Xacuti, Biryani’s etc., in addition to sweets like cake and Bebinca. Sweets are exchanged with neighbours and friends too by personally visiting everybody’s houses.
There are numerous things to do in Goa. Depending on where you plan to visit. In the north you could visit the Aguada Fort, the Basilica of Bom Jesus or Dona Paula for the viewpoints. In the South, there’s Dudhsagar Falls and numerous Churches and temples.
Celebrating Christmas in Goa is unlike many other places as it’s more religious and all about spending time with friends and family and it’s pretty warm during the day!
Thanks to Continent Hop
H: Haarlem, The Netherlands
Traditionally, Christmas in The Netherlands is celebrated on December 25 and 26. We call them Eerste Kerstdag en Tweede Kerstdag (lit. first Christmas Day and second Christmas Day). Christmas used to be a family celebration but, influenced by the United States, it’s becoming more and more commercial. For most Dutch however the Sinterklaas celebration on December 5th is still the main occasion for exchanging presents.
In 2004 Dutch radio station 3FM started a new fundraising event in the week before Christmas, called Serious Request. Three popular radio DJ’s are locked up in a glass house (a mini radio studio) for a week with no solid food, to raise money for various International Red Cross initiatives. Serious Request has become a national December tradition by now. The Glass House is in a different city each year, in 2014 this event took place in Haarlem.
In Haarlem the traditional Christmas market takes place the second weekend of December. It’s one of the largest Christmas markets in the Benelux with over 300 market stalls. At the St. Bavo Church at the Grote Markt (the central town square) there’s a special mass on Christmas Eve and another on Christmas morning. A fun event after the mass on Christmas Eve is a huge sing-along (Kerstsamenzang) with a band that plays Christmas carols.
Thanks to Flip Flop Globetrotters
I: Istanbul, Turkey
Christmas in Istanbul, where the majority of people are Muslim and, thus, do not celebrate Christmas, might be odd. However, it’s during Christmas time when Istanbul reaches its absolute peak of romanticism and beauty. The city is located right on the Bosporus and is so scenic, only few other cities can actually compete with it. Sit down on one of the ferries that connect the Asian with the European side, warm up with a Cay and simply watch the seagulls circle over your head and the glittery facades of Istanbul pass by.
Apart from that, a couple of Christmas-ish things can be found in the city, even though it is not really celebrated. The main shopping street, for example, is fully decorated in Christmas colours, golden bells and more. In Turkish, “Merry Christmas” means “Noeliniz Ve Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun”. The 25th and 26th December are ordinary working days and despite the fact that today a couple of Turkish families do put a Christmas tree in their living room, you won’t find known Christmas traditions. However, Saint Nicolaus, who fills up boots on the 6th December, was actually born in the Turkish city Patara – irony, right? The big party, however, starts on the 31st December, “Yyl-baby” – New Years. This starts at the popular Taksim Square and goes on all night.
Thanks to Travellers Archive
We hope you have enjoyed reading this post of our A – Z Series. Please come back tomorrow for the next three letters of the alphabet!
