December vibe by Alexis Callus
Malta is a wonderful island to discover. Every month offers a number of events or public activities which bring you closer to the people and the culture of this 7,000 year old land.
December is no exception. The main island of Malta is full of activities that start around the 6th of the month and lead up to the Annunciation Public Holiday of the 8th. The baroque city of Bormla hosts the spectacular feast in honour of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Colours, fireworks and bands together with highly decorated houses and streets welcome both locals and tourists alike to these few days of both religious and cultural celebration.Right after this, Christmas officially starts. Lights go up on houses and streets. Public events also take place from village to village. Real life nativity plays featuring the life way back then in Bethlehem come to life on our streets. The week leading up to the 25th December gets even more intense, with exhibitions and concerts all over the island from morning till late. Most of these are possible due to the hard work of volunteers and usually no entrance fee is even applied. Palaces and grand homes which usually have restricted access are opened to the public. How many times have you been invited to a crib exhibition at the Office of the Prime Minister?! Well in Malta you will get to be.
The island of Gozo offers all this in a more mystical way too. The crossing with the ferry makes this even more enjoyable and the weather is never as bad as it would be on the continent! We never manage to call in ‘sick’ with excuses such as being snowed in or unable to travel!
What about the food? 7,000 years of seeing leading cultures come and go from the Mediterranean have lead us to such abundance in the kitchen that you are sure to be kept warm. You can have turkey for Christmas, but rabbit, beef, pork and fresh fish all find their place to the table together with locally grown vegetables, pasta and endless appetizers… oh, and also the sweets!
Don’t get confused when people start talking about Christmas Early Breakfast, this does not take place at the usual post dawn time. This is a post Christmas Eve Midnight Mass appointment, which as the event indicates, takes place during the early hours of the morning and is as obligatory as the Mass itself! Hotels and places known for their traditional breakfast are booked to capacity way in advance and are obliged to offer the most lavish of breakfast set ups, that goes as far as offering fine wines and beef mignons!
Before you ask, yes we do have breakfast when we get up and we also have the endless family lunch and the tea parties that follow… all in a good days work! So I would guess the ‘magic’ of Christmas for us is in how we manage to get it all done! I hope to survive and let you know all about it in my next blog!
Have a very Merry Christmas and I wish you many blessings in the New Year!
Ale x
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