No "Ho Ho Ho" in Italy

Winter break has officially begun!   I finished my last final just hours ago and am now preparing for my last few days in Rome.  I am planning a farewell dinner tomorrow night at a restaurant called Rosso Pomodoro.  The past couple days in Rome has been freezing.  The current temperature right now is 0 degrees Celsius.  In fact tonight and then again all day Saturday it is expected to snow.  I have already received an email from my airline to be sure to pay special attention to flight delays because of the forecasted upcoming snow. 

All around Rome, in window shops and stores I have seen little fairy representations and I finally decided to find out what this little fairy figure was all about.  It turns out that while most of us would like to think that once we put Christmas Day behind us, the whole gift-giving, and presents thing is over, and we can breathe a sigh of relief until next December. Not so in Italy. Christmas may come and go but when it comes to exchanging present, the party’s just getting started!  In Italy I have not heard of single mention of Santa Claus or even a picture of him.  Santa Claus is a figure of the Holiday season all over the world, but in Italy, La Befana - Italy’s “good witch” ranks right up there ‘ol Saint Nick. The arrival of La Befana is on the eve of the Epiphany - January 5th to be exact. Legend has it that if a child was good throughout the year, the good witch will swoop down the chimney and leave a small gift. If the child was a real rascal during the preceding 12 months, the kid got a piece of coal.   In the days between Christmas and the Epiphany, Italian markets put out a wide variety of La Befana dolls. Italy’s witch with a heart of gold pretty much conforms to the image of witches that we all hold so dear: a wrinkly old lady hunched over and wearing a shawl. The broom in her hand her only mode of transportation.

Here is the legend associated with La Befana:

As legend has it the three Wise Men were in search of the Christ child when they decided to stop at a small house to ask for directions. Upon knocking, an old woman holding a broom opened the door slightly to see who was there. Standing at her doorstep were three colorfully dressed men who were in need of directions to find the Christ child. The old woman was unaware of who these three men were looking for and could not point them in the right direction. Prior to the three men leaving they kindly asked the old woman to join them on their journey. She declined because she had much housework to do. After they left she felt as though she had made a mistake and decided to go and catch up with the kind men. After many hours of searching she could not find them. Thinking of the opportunity she had missed the old woman stopped every child to give them a small treat in hopes that one was the Christ child. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child's house to leave those who were good treats in their stockings and those who were bad a lump of coal.

The next couple of days are going to be filled with packing and enjoying my final hours in Rome.  Most importantly, I am going to soak up my last days with my friends here before we head off to the airport and spread throughout the country.