December 26 in Italy
December 26 is celebrated in Italy as the feast of St. Stephano. The day is observed almost as holy as Christmas as he is the patron saint of Italy. Do you remember the song about Good King Wensaslaus he went out on the feast of Stephan, When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. That song was written for the day of December 26. Christmas 2006 we celebrated in Milan with our oldest daughter and family. Laura is the older granddaughter and Anna is the younger.
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Traditional food is served both days. Fish is served on Christmas day. Early the morning of the 24th, women hurry to the grocery store to select the freshest fish and the other groceries they will need to prepare the holiday meals. Our son-in-law Silvano is an excellent cook and assists our daughter Mary with the holiday meals. Our son-in-law's mother speaks no English and I speak no Italian and we truly do enjoy each other's company with the help of our granddaughters translating for us.
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We were truly impressed how the grocery stores as well as any other stores are closed December 25 and 26. Traffic is very light both of the days as time is spent with family. Traffic picks up in the evening of the 26th as family members return home.
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This year our youngest daughter leaves tomorrow for a flight to join Mary and family to celebrate New Years eve and day. How lucky we are with modern day travel that we can traverse this world in hours. It does keep our loved ones near.
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