No-one celebrates Christmas the same, whether you live next door to someone or on the opposite side of the world. We all have our unique traditions but some of them are arguably weirder than others. Here are five of the strangest Christmas traditions from around the globe.
Father Christmas and his trusty elves are a classic yuletide image that brings warmth to the hearts of millions. However, if you’re from the Alpine countries, the thought of meeting one of Santa’s little helpers is a scary one. In this region St Nick is accompanied on his rounds by two demonic figures known as Krampus and Perchta. If Children are bad, legend has it that Krampus would put them in a sack and drag them to hell. Yet, believe it or not, this is the best of the two options as when Perchta gets involved, she rips open the abdomen of naughty whippersnappers, pulls out their guts and fills them with straw.
Roller blading and Christmas are two things you probably don’t think have much in common but in Caracas, Venezuela, you can’t have one without the other. Early on Xmas morn, people take to the streets on their roller blades to skate to mass.
This isn’t the only slightly odd tradition going on in Caracas: children will often tie a rope to their toe before they go to sleep, hang it out of the window and when people skate by in the morning, they will tug on the rope to wake the children up.
In the former Yugoslavian republics, Christmas can be slightly more stressful for mothers than normal. In the two weeks before the big day, they essentially live in fear of their children sneaking up on them, tying their feet to a chair and demanding presents by singing “Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day, what will you pay to get away?”. If she wants to be free, she has to give them presents. Not to leave out Dad, the following week the kids do the same to him to get even more presents.
If you’re single in the Czech Republic, Christmas Eve is when you can find out what your love life has in store for the next 12 months. A woman would simply stand at her front door, turn around and simply throw a shoe over her shoulder. If the toe points towards the door then it’s time to celebrate as she’ll be married within the year. However, if it’s pointing away from the door it’s another year in singledom.
December 8th in Catalonia marks the day when children bring a log into the house, start to feed it and cover it up to keep away the cold. Why? Because on Christmas Eve if you beat it hard enough it will ‘poop’ out presents. Aah, festive.
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We were recommended Kadie by friends and has now been our holiday representative for the last 4 years travelling throughout Asia, she is always so helpful, friendly and available to answer queries. Everything always runs very smoothly. Thank you Kadie, we would always recommend you too
Asked for a specific itinerary for Sicily - Emma came up with one, plus all transfer options; we then did some changes and she put together exactly the holiday we wanted! Very easy and pleasant to talk to; very professional.
I always feel that eShores listen to what I want from my trip and put together a package that suits my needs. Anna has been charming to deal with. She put together a wonderful tour of Malaysia and Borneo for me and has just arranged a trip to Costa Rica for me which I am…
Book every time with Dave at eshores always excellent service, wouldn't go anywhere else
We haven't had the holiday yet but the booking process was excellent. Looking to see several of the smaller islands of Greece the suggested itinerary met our requirements exactly. Each location had an option of three different hotels but our in depth research of each island just confirmed that the suggested one was the best.…
Used Eshores earlier this year for a trip to Venice and Florence. Excellent holiday. All arrangements by Eshores were brilliant. Have recently booked another holiday with them. Again, easy to deal with. They take care to ensure everything arranged to your wishes.
Claire at eShores was friendly, professional and creative in setting up a multi-centre holiday over Christmas and New Year, including all international and inter-Caribbean flights. Nothing was too much trouble and our whims and wishes were all taken into account. Ongoing support is excellent. We cannot recommend eShores highly enough.
Good communication, prompt service, love the way the quote is laid out all details are included also with the option of upgrading your hotel. So far so good.
Very friends staff always available to answer my questions re availability and costs . Willing to research my requests and advise possibilities .
We have now used eShores probably 6 times and every time they have been so informative and helpful, thoroughly recommend
Kadie delivers with professional, empathetic and prompt efficiency. She always goes that extra mile, making us feel confident and reassured as oldies with our travelling plans.
Emily was very helpful she gave me different options till I got the right holiday for me abd my family.
Great value and Emily the consultant was both knowledgeable and efficient . Will definately use this Company again
Kadie went over and above and it wasnt her working day she responded to evey email .It was really easy and communication has bern great so far
Having made enquiries about a year ago for a Greek trip we had to put trip on hold. Recenetly we were in avposiitionto book and e shores had held pur original itinerary and were able to update it swiftly. Rob and Cath Pusey excellent
Booked a holiday to Canada with e-Shores. From the first moment we spoke to Hannah, I felt confident that we would achieve the type of holiday we wanted. Hannnah was invaluable in putting together an itinerary that will take us to all the places we want to visit and nothing was too much trouble for…
It is the third holiday we have booked through Claire Smith at e-shores. We give her a budget, wish to fly in or out of different airports, discuss itinerary/journeys to be booked, often by train or ferry, airport transfers, any excursions. She takes time to get to know you and the types of accommodation you…
Third trip booked with Michelle.Excellent service. Lots of patience to get our perfect trip and at a great price.
Booked tours with eshores a few times Andy goes out of his way to plan everything flights hotels transfers everything always done to perfection highly recommend
Great advice & knowledge given by Andy. Nothing to much trouble and we have now planned our perfect 17 nights in Thailand
