Festividades Navideñas En Italia -En Inglés-

Christmas in Italy In Italy, the arrival of Christmas is celebrated with different customs, and just the diversity of regional and family traditions makes it difficult to define a typicalItalian Christmas. Anyway, I tried to select some of the favorite traditions.
The crib.
On December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the last day before Christmas holiday. Schools close andfamilies gather to decorate and start the countdown to Christmas. This time also preparing the crib or manger Christmas (also known as birth), one of the children's favorite traditions. Generallycontaining miniature figures, houses, landscapes, shepherds and sheep, but each family adds its own details. In Naples, for example, these figures are updated every year: the artisans create figures likecelebrities. This year we will find, for example, Obama, Michael Jackson or even Julian Assange of Wikileaks.
The Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree is another tradition that begins on December 8. Ingeneral, evergreen trees are used. The Italians prefer to use live trees. One who does not have a real tree, you can decorate a plastic one, but the latter is rare in Italy. The decorated tree remainsindoors until Jan. 6 when it completes the Christmas period in Italy.
The food.
It is impossible to refer to a unique culinary tradition in Italy because every family, every city and every regionhas its own Christmas dishes. Some people prefer to meet for dinner on 24 December and those who choose to have lunch with the family on December 25. However, there is arguably a main feature andunique Italian food: plenty.
One thing that is always present is the Panettone or Pandoro and Mascarpone sauce. The Panettone is a sweet bread baked with fruit and raisins, while the Pandoro no fruitbut often contain chocolate chips. One of these two is covered with mascarpone, a cream made with egg and cheese (very soft and tasty). This combination is the best Christmas dessert.

“La Befana.”...