#13 Cuccía: a Sicilian tradition on Saint Lucy’s day
On the calendar, December 13th appears a day like any other, but in Sicily many are waiting for this date. The day of Saint Lucy (also celebrated in other parts […]
The true story of Trim, the adventurous cat belonging to navigator Matthew Flinders
Outside Sydney’s Mitchell Library stands a statue of Matthew Flinders, the celebrated English navigator and cartographer who helped map Australia, declared it a continent, and was influential in giving it […]
12# the Christmas tradition of making Tamale
For Latin Americans, making tamales is a Christmas tradition and every family has their own secret recipe. The basis is a corn dough, wrapped in a banana leaf or corn […]
11# Chicken Bones: the story behind an uniquely Canadian holiday treat
In the riverside town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, sweet tooth still speak with reverence about an almost 140-year-old candy known as Chicken Bones, a vibrant pink candy made of […]
Vyborg: Once Finland’s 2nd most influential city, now only a small provincial town somewhere in Russia
In Vyborg, Russia, time seems to have stopped. The city has a long history behind it that the ruins of its past never cease to pass down. Once Finland’s second […]
10# Struffoli: Neapolitan Christmas Tradition
Of the many pastries and dishes that Italy has gifted to the world, the Neapolitan delicacy known as struffoli are the quintessential festive dessert on Neapolitan tables and for Italian-American […]
9# The Tradition of Christmas Pudding
Christmas pudding, known also Plum pudding, or simply “pud” is a type of pudding traditionally served as end of the Christmas dinner in the UK, Ireland and in other countries […]
Poveglia: the “cursed” Venetian island between history and legend.
If we think about the islands of the Venetian lagoon, immediately come to mind Burano, Murano, Torcello and maybe some other less known, such as the beautiful Sant’Erasmo, or the […]
8# The delicious history of the Yule Log Cake – or bûche de Noël
Paris at Christmastime is heaven for sweet tooth. Even if, patisseries on virtually every street corner is attractive at any time of year, there’s something magical about windows packed with […]
7# Ul Boov: the Mongolian “shoe sole cake“
We are in Mongolia. Tsagaan Sar, arguably Mongolia’s most important holiday, is the celebration of the Lunar New Year, held a month after the first new moon following the Winter […]
Oymyakon: the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth
The Russian village of Oymyakon is one of the coldest inhabited places in the world, which has recorded the lowest temperature in any place inhabited by man and which sees […]
6# Samichlaus, the beer from Austria brewed only on Saint Nicholas’s Day.
Like Santa Claus, the brewers of Samichlaus beer carry out a very special task each December, when Austria’s Schloss Eggenberg brewery prepares a batch of Samichlaus on Saint Nicholas’s Day, […]
5# Sinterklaas Pepernoten – Netherlands
Pepernoten (literally pepper nuts) are little, brown spice cookies very popular before and during the Dutch holiday Sinterklaasavond, or Saint Nicholas’s Eve. Sinterklaasavond occurs on the night of December 5 […]
An alternative side of Brooklyn: Gravesend’s Accidental Park
It seems like every square inch of New York City has been categorized, labeled, and put in more or less probable tourist guides. But if you know where to look […]
4# Christmas Cake and Cheese: a big deal in Yorkshire – England!
Yorkshire, a historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom, has its a curious variety of weird and wonderful traditions often unknown on the rest of […]
The sunken city of Pavlopetri: the oldest submerged city in the Mediterranean
Pavlopetri, in Greek: Παυλοπέτρι, is an anonymous village opposite the island of Elafonisos, on whose beach, in 1967, an exceptionally important discovery was made for world archeology: an ancient submerged […]
