The Italian Christmas crib

The tradition of the Christmas crib dates back to the period when Saint Francesco of Assisi lived. He produced the first living representation of the Nativity in Greccio in 1223.
Even if there were some representations of the birth of Jesus Christ even before that period through pictures, icons and images, it was during the medieval age that the liturgic representations took place.
The first crib to be sculptured was that made by Arnolfo di Cambio between 1290 and 1292.
The statues which survived are collected in the Museum Liberiano of the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome.
In the XV century a tradition began to take place: that of putting some big statues in the churches ; this tradition spread even in the XVI century.
One of the first ancient cribs is the monumental one of the Basilica of Saint Stephen in Bologna which is done every year at Christmas.
From the XVII century on the tradition of the crib began to be spread in the houses of the aristocratic people too as "objects of the furniture" or mini chapels.
In the XVIII century in Naples there was a real competition among thee aristocratic families that wanted to have the most beautiful and precious crib. Statues were dressed with precious clothes and put on valuable jewels. In the same century in Bologna,which is the other city which boasts the most ancient tradition of Christmas cribs, the famous fair of Saint Lucia took place as a sort of annual market where the handmade statues by the local craftmen were sold. This fair takes place every year even today after more than two centuries.

Christmas postcards

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in this way:

Hello! my name is Ermes, I’m sixteen years old, I attend a Catering School I’m tall and I have short and black hair, and brown (hazel) eyes! I live in a big city Catania but not as big as Milano! I have a lot of hobbies, I love playing with video-games for example Action Game, my favourite game is Devil May Cry I love this!!! I love watching tv, for example I love reality shows. They are very stupid, but so crazy and funny! I don’t like soap operas, they are very boring!! I also love listening to house music! I love spending my free time with my best friends.. Often we go out to drink or eat something! My favourite food is pizza with a lot of rocket (rucola)!!! And so I love baking cakes for example sacher and birthday cake!
My favourite colour is Electric Blue.

Hi! I’m Flavio, I’m sixteen years old, I’m very tall and I have short and brown hair, brown eyes! I live in Scordia near Catania! I have many hobbies for example I love going to the swimming pool! I love plaing with video-games for example soccer game my favourite is Pro Evolution Soccer! I love listening to music! In my free time I go out with my friends, and we go to the square of Scordia! Often we go out to drink something!

Hi my name’s Enrico, I’m 16 years old, I go to a Catering School.
I really like going out with my friends especially on Saturdays.
I love football and when it’s possible I go to the stadium and I like surfing on the net, chatting with my friends and going to the disco, I’m a generous person but something a little bit stubborn. My favourite hobby is travelling!

Hi my name’s Ivan and I’m 16 years old, I go to a Catering School.
I’ve got a twin brother, his name’s Michael, When is possible I spend a lot of time with my friends but in summer time can’t go out because we and my family have a bar.

Luca, Valentina, Diletta.

Federica, Lorenzo, Enzo, Graziella, Giuseppe

-Hello, I’m Federica, I’m sixteen. I Live in Catania
My hobby is dance. It is my passion.
Hi, my name’s Vincenzo, I’m eighteen.
My hobbies are acting, singing and dancing.
And my job is Animator.
Hello, I’m Lorenzo, I’m fifteen, and I live in Catania
My hobby is playing with the computer. It is a passion.
Hello , I ’m Graziella, I ’m sixteen, I live in Catania.
My hobby is singing and playing volley.

Hi , my name’ s Giuseppe , I’m seventeen … live in Catania. My hobby is playing football.

peppe 3t cucina

Hello, my name’s Giuseppe but my friends call me Peppe!!!!!
I like playing football , I love dancing and cooking!!!
“I’m lively and gentle”!!!!!!!!

The "opera dei pupi"

One of the most famous and peculiar traditions of our beautiful land is the "opera dei pupi".

Nowadays these special puppets are famous all over the world telling us the adventurous stories and the exploits of king Arthur and the knights of France performed by a famous family called Napoli, whose brothers build these puppets (sculpturing some pieces of wood sewing dresses, capes and knitted skirts using beautiful and valuable cloth). The origin of pupi is uncertain.

At the end of 1700 in Naples and Palermo appeared the first puppets which were not yet the real pupi since they were rudimentary puppets built mainly of cardboard and tinfoil.

We have to wait the middle of 1800 to have the traditional pupi thanks to the skill and intuition of Sicilian artisans whose work of art transformed that rough piece of wood and cloth in a precious sculpture of wood, metal and cloth. The thread that commanded the right hand of the pupo was replaced by an iron , so that the pupo could move better, embrace a girl, fight. This evolution determined the making of more beautiful and refined pupi. For centuries pupi animatd by generations of pupari were the only source of education and one of the few opportunities for recreation and entertainment to the most humble classes; however, in the 19th century, the new middle class took an interest in what could be defined the memories of a nation and the opera dei pupi was seen not as a simple pasttime, but as something much more serious as Ettore Li Gotto writes: " the soul of pupi became the expression of feelings and aspirations for justice of a social class". Nowadays adults and children still remain impressed and astonished during the performances of the "opera dei pupi".


This wok has been written by Rosalia, Carmelo, Michael and Luca.

About our cooking experience

Today in our cooking room we have prepared some desserts; among them there is a cake whose main ingredient is pistachio. The latter is very famous in Sicily and there is a small village called Bronte which is at the foot of Etna where pistachio is grown. Here is the recept of the pistachio cake; we suggest you to prepare it: it tastes delicious!!
Ingredients: 150 grams of pistachio, 4 eggs, 150 grams of butter, 80 grams of flour, 300 grams of sugar, one teaspoon of yeast, a teaspoon of vanilla, liqueur.
Procedure:
Beat eggs and sugar, add the sieved flour to the compound; after that add the melted butter, the yeast, vanillin, liqueur and pistachio.
Finally, put in the oven at 180° for 30 minutes.

If you want you can decorate with castor sugar and pistachio grains.

Jenny, Claudia, Agata and Desy

Hello, we are Jenny, Claudia, Agata and Desy. We attend the fourth year of the Hotel Management and Catering school in Catania. We are very funny; our hobbies are the following: Jenny loves doing crosswords and practising volleyball, Claudia loves chatting and playing at computer; Desy loves cooking desserts and she is very good at it; Agata loves dancing and singing. We have got many friends and we would like to know other friends from different countries. We think that friendship is a very precious value and helps us to grow well. After having got a diploma we would like to find a good job so as to be economically independent and have a family one day. Bye-bye!!!

Alessandro, Agata, Veronica, Jessica and Giulia

Hi ! We are Alessandro, Agata, Veronica, Jessica and Giulia. We attend the fourth year of the Hotel Management and catering School in Catania. In our school we have a big cooking room and a very nice bar. The first three years of our course you do many practise lessons but in the last two years you have to study a lot (there are so many subjects!).
I am Ale, I am seventeen years old, my hobby is playing football and wrestling. I am Agata , I am seventeeen years old and my hobbies are dancing, playing football, chatting. I'm Veronica and I am eighteeen years old; I enjoy going out with my friends and chatting.
I'm Jessica and I am twenty years old; my hobbies are writing, playing music, cooking. Moreover, I love pets. I'm Giulia, I am seventeen years old and my hobbies are singing, cooking, practising gym: I like to go out with my friends. As you can see all of us are fond of cooking.
Many events and national, international competitions take place in our school and we are very happy to take part in them. Bye- bye!!

Alessandro, Luca, Carmelo and Rosalia

Hello! We are Alessandro, Luca, Carmelo and Rosalia. We attend the fourth year of the Hotel Management and Catering School in Catania. We are students but we enjoy having our hobbies or practising a sport too.
Alessandro and Luca play football, Carmelo practises swimming and Rosalia loves dancing.
We would like to know more about your countries, your sparetime, your opinions about young interests.
Bye and see you soon on our blog!!

ourselves

Hello to everybody! We are Salvo, Ignazio,Claudio, Giuseppe and Carmine. We attend the fourth year of the hotel management and catering school. Salvo, Ignazio and Carmine have got a specialisation in catering while Claudio and Giuseppe as barman. We share a common goal: to get the diploma. We are very happy to know boys and girls from other countries. This is a way to know and share together lots of ideas. All we hope is that one day we'll find a job abroad maybe in your country and one day we'll become friends!
We are all from Catania, an Italian city in the south of Italy as you will see soon in one of our presentations. Bye then!

Life at the foot of Etna

Etna, the "good giant" as it is called, is the highest active volcano in Europe with its 3.350 m.
It has become one of the symbols of our region, Sicily. Sicilian people are so proud of it that they often compare their strong temper and passionate nature to the strength and to the colours of the volcano.
In the past centuries our city has undergone many terrible events among which the earthquake of 1693 which took place on the eastern coast of Sicily destroying part of Catania and the terrible eruption of 1669 when the lava reached Catania, destroyed most of it and it advanced till the sea. However, in spite of that, people feel so affectionate to it that they could never live far from its "breath".