Written by Ivonne of Creampuffs in Venice.

The other day, I was working away at the computer when a coworker popped in and asked me if I was going away for Christmas.

I responded that I wasn’t and then she continued by saying, “Didn’t you go to Austria or something one year?”

That one question instantly transported me back to December 2006 when I went on a tour of Berlin, Prague and Vienna. While I loved both Berlin and Prague, the last few days of my trip were spent joyously wandering around the Austrian capital.

I experienced such a sense of nostalgia that for the rest of the day, I found myself thinking back to those amazing days, over and over.

Besides being among the most beautiful cities in the world, what captured my fancy most about those three cities were the Christmas festivities. I visited each city about two weeks before Christmas and each one was in the midst of pre-Christmas festivities that put our own celebrations here in North America to shame.

Written by Agostina of Pane, burro e marmellata!.

In Italy, Christmas time begins in the first week of December, when you can see all the shops with a new look, the streets are more enlightens and, above all, the people have got a more happy and kind mind.

On the 8th of December, the Immaculate’s Day, we make the Presepe (crèche, in english) - that represent the night that Jesus born in Bethlehem - and then it can be a miniature with the Holy Family, an ox, a little donkey, the Angel, the Comet and the Magi or it can be also a big representation with a country of papier – mache or cork, a little lake with a fountain, the shepherds with their little sheeps, some typical characters (as, for example, fishermans, an old woman that spins the wool, musicians, angels, etc.) - and / or the Christmas Three.

All the month until the 6th January, there are poor people that go house to house, piping Christmas songs and ask for a charity.

Christmas is a great moment for all…