Nativity Scenes by children... too cute!
My favorite travel quote is by James Michener, "If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home".
Part of what I really wanted to do, while in Italy, is learn about its customs and Christmas time is a great opportunity!
Being as I'm a huge fan of the pasta, it was wonderful to see the use of this delectable treat. There are roughly 350 different shapes and varieties of dried pasta in Italy, even more counting regional differences. Shapes range from simple tubes to bow ties (farfalle, which actually means "butterfly"), to unique shapes like tennis rackets (racchette). The children cleverly used dozens of different shapes and we were so impressed by the creativity.
Part of what I really wanted to do, while in Italy, is learn about its customs and Christmas time is a great opportunity!
Traditionally, the main focus of Christmas decorations in Italy is the Nativity scene, presepe or presepio in Italian. Every church has a presepe and they can be found in squares, shops, and other public areas. Displays often go beyond the manger scene and may even include a representation of the entire village.
The Nativity scene is said to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 when he constructed a nativity scene in a cave in the town of Greccio and held Christmas Eve mass and a nativity pageant there. Greccio reenacts this event each year (we will be going there the day after Christmas).
The school children of Spoleto created some really darling presepe and put them on display. The three we enjoyed the most are the one made of "sand bottles", the 'Outer Space' Nativity and our ultimate favorite, The Pasta Presepio.The Nativity scene is said to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 when he constructed a nativity scene in a cave in the town of Greccio and held Christmas Eve mass and a nativity pageant there. Greccio reenacts this event each year (we will be going there the day after Christmas).
Being as I'm a huge fan of the pasta, it was wonderful to see the use of this delectable treat. There are roughly 350 different shapes and varieties of dried pasta in Italy, even more counting regional differences. Shapes range from simple tubes to bow ties (farfalle, which actually means "butterfly"), to unique shapes like tennis rackets (racchette). The children cleverly used dozens of different shapes and we were so impressed by the creativity.
2 comments:
It's like the Seinfeld episode where Kramer makes a statue of Jerry out of fusilli pasta...because he is 'silly'.
Yep, I could talk about Seinfeld ALLLL day! :)
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What a talented group of children! Great work and thanks for sharing the true meaning of Christmas!
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