In search of Christmas

  For the past couple of weeks, we have had the sense that it does not feel like Christmas here in Rome. Unlike in the United States in which decorations are everywhere, here they are sparse. Several tourists we have met have had the same comment. There are approximately 2000 churches in Rome and we have visited about 100 of them (and many more were closed and locked when we tried to visit), but we have found only five of them that have displayed Crèches. Even in the public areas, there does not seem to be very much in terms of decorations. There were only three typically decorated Christmas trees; one by the Colosseum, another in Piazza Venizia, and the third in St. Peter's square in front of the Vatican. In the area around via del Corso, there were some streets decorated with overhanging lights, and a few stores with decorations around their storefronts, but of course, this is the high end commercial district. No one seems to be selling live Christmas trees, nor have we seen any being transported on car roofs.

Rome is not totally void of Christmas spirit, however, as evidenced by the following pictures.

The Crèche in the Basilica Sant'Andrea Della Valle

Also the tree being decorated in St. Peter's square.

The tree in Piazza Venizia.

The Crèche in the Basilica S. Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini.

The Crèche in Piazza Navona.

A Santa bicycling club visiting St. Peter's square.

The Fendi shoe store on via Tomacelli went all out on their decorations. This picture does not do justice to the tree out front. It is decorated with fancy pocketbooks.

And the via del Corso commercial district.

So we did find Christmas after all. We would like to wish all of our friends and blog followers the very merriest of Christmases (or whatever holiday you observe) and the happiest of 2015.

Carl and Lorraine