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Posts Tagged ‘Festive Period’

Snow or Sand This Christmas

December 22nd, 2009

Arn

Many people like to fly off over Christmas and the New Year, preferring to spend the break relaxing in a holiday resort rather than enjoying the usual festive traditions at home. Some people just don’t like the chilly temperatures and like to go to warmer regions where there’s a good chance of sunny weather. Others prefer to go to places that are fortunate to have some real winter weather and where snow makes the Christmas celebrations extra special.

In 2009 there seemed to be lots of places around the globe expecting a white Christmas and not just the typical mountain resorts in countries like Austria, Southern Germany or Italy. Places like New York and Chicago are reporting with almost certainty that they will have snow this year and in the UK and Ireland almost everywhere is reporting a better than 50 per cent chance of snow this Christmas. Even Madrid in Spain predicts a 25 per cent chance, which is very unusual in this city.

Naturally some of the best winter Christmas resorts are the picturesque villages in the European Alps. Places like Klosters and Verbier in Switzerland are classed as exclusive, which does not mean that some people are excluded from going there, but presumably refers to the cost of taking a break there, and does not make them an option for all but the very rich. Both are small villages with permanent populations of around 5000 and 3000 people respectively, but those numbers can treble or quadruple over the festive period as the hotels and chalets fill up with holidaymakers seeking that extra special Christmas holiday.

Other places that offer cold winter weather and magical Christmas atmospheres are some of the European cities like Prague or Geneva. Both offer a fairly good chance of a white Christmas but also provide a range of affordable accommodation and a full events schedule that includes Christmas markets, concerts and sports events. Some of the most exclusive tickets in town are for the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Years Day concert at the world reknowned Musikverein concert hall. Tickets are assigned by drawing lots during January a year in advance. If you are fortunate enough to be allocated a ticket then you are faced with the choice of which ticket to purchase. These can vary in price from a reasonable 30 Euros right up to an amazing 940 Euros. However such is the demand for the tickets that many people regard it as a once in a lifetime opportunity and put aside any worries about the cost.

If a white landscape is not your idea of a perfect Christmas then travelling to a destination that provides the opposite in weather conditions is likely to be your choice. For people living in Europe the option of a trip to the other side of the world, where they are right in the middle of their summer is possibly the best way of getting some hot Christmas conditions. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and perhaps even South American countries like Brazil are all in the middle of their summer season which promises average daytime temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and no possibility of snow. In cities like Buenos Aries, Argentina and Johannesburg, South Africa, December and January are also two of the wettest months of the year, so anyone travelling there should prepare for odd rain shower too.

A closer and drier alternative for Europeans might be be the Canary Islands and thousands of Brits choose to spend their Christmas and New Year in these sunny islands off the West African coastline. Their location makes them easy to travel to from the UK, and there is a wide choice flights taking passengers to the main resort islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura from various UK cities. Being part of Spain there are no issues with complicated travel visas and traditions are familiar to those in the rest of Europe. Daytime temperatures during December and January are normally at least 25 degrees Celsius.

The resorts along the Southern Turkish coast may be much drier than Northern European places at this time of year, although they may not be as warm as the Canaries or the popular resorts of the Red Sea. In Sharm El Sheikh Christmas visitors can look forward to warm sunny days, water temperatures of over 22 degrees Celsius and almost no likelihood of rain.

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Tags: Chance Of A White Christmas, Chilly Temperatures, Christmas Celebrations, Christmas Holiday, Christmas Markets, Cold Winter Weather, European Alps, European Cities, Festive Period, Festive Traditions, Klosters, Magical Christmas, Mountain Resorts, New Years Day, Picturesque Villages, Southern Germany, Special Christmas, Sunny Weather, Typical Mountain, Vienna Philharmonic

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Winter Holiday Festive Delicacies

December 1st, 2009

Arn

For many people their holiday choice is as much about other attractions as it is about the kind of weather a location has to offer. For sure the poor British Summers of recent years have placed a greater emphasis on resorts and countries that are likely to provide warm sunny days, as opposed to the mix of average and poor weather the UK has been able to provided. But in addition to weather there are other aspects that people look for.

Location or geography is one feature, affordability, local culture but also food or cuisine. For the traveller taking a winter break in December, during the festive period for many countries, there is the added opportunity of being to sample all kinds of traditional Christmas food that would otherwise be unavailable at other times of the year.

In Britain when you think of traditional Christmas food you immediately think of roast Turkey, Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies. Just like we do, other countries have their own food customs that emerge over the festive period and they make interesting choices for anyone interested in trying the customs of other countries.

In Spain whole sections of supermarkets become stacked with boxes of turron, an unusual Christmas speciality. Made from a mix of almonds and honey and formed into block-shaped cake, turron looks very average and unfestive on first impressions. But it can taste wonderful and the stories of how this became to be a favourite of the Spanish at Christmas are also interesting. The Ancient Greeks were the first to make turron according to some tales. Its dense mix of dried nuts and honey packed into cake form was used as nutritional food for Olympic athletes, who were said to have favoured the high nutritional value of the combination of nuts and honey. Nowadays energy bars come in hundreds of varieties and are used by all athletes, so it’s no surprise to imagine that the Ancient Greek athletes also had something similar. In other stories it is claimed the origins of the delicacy were linked to the nomadic Arabs. Turron remained fresh, was easy to transport, provided much needed energy and had no unpleasant characteristics. Most people believe the history of the snack is linked to a Spanish king in Jijona, or Xixona, whose homesick Scandinavian princess was comforted when the king planted thousands of almond trees so that the blossom would remind her of the snow covered landscape of her homeland. With such a huge amount of almonds the local people decided to invent a use for the crop and invented Turron.

The varieties of Turron are many, with all kinds of flavouring added from pineapple, whisky, apple, chocolate and even truffle. On the island of Lanzarote the Turron treat is a feature of Christmas for local families, who will buy boxes as presents for friends and relations.

In Germany the Christmas period is full of customs, with the German Christmas Market a sight in many towns and cities for hundreds of years now. At these festive events food and drink are high on the agenda, with Gluhwein and Egg punch being used to wash down all kinds of edible delights. German Gingerbread or Lebkuchen as they call it, is a staple part of festive celebrations. Originally it was made by local organizations under government control. These guilds, such as the Nuremberg guild, became well known and their names remain today as indications of the humble gingerbread’s past. The Nuremberg guild also decorated their bread with icing and, since the seventeenth century, it has been recognized as the standard by which other brands of Lebkuchen are measured.

In Greece Christmas food will always include Christmas bread or Stravropsomo that is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve. This is a fruit-filled loaf that is decorated with a cross symbol on top and is sometimes called Chistopsomto or “Christ’s Bread”. It includes sesame, spices, orange, cloves, peel and cinnamon. The Germans too have a similar bread called Stollen, while the Dutch also have a Christmas fruit loaf called Kerststol.

Anyone visiting Germany, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Mallorca, Menorca, the Greek Islands or places like Malta and Madeira will have a wide choice of unusual Christmas cuisine to sample and enjoy.

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