An incredibly wonderful gift that can be received on the eve of the most anticipated and delightful holiday in the world is a Christmas vacation in the UK, the birthplace of this magical event. To witness how the English are preparing and celebrating Christmas is an unforgettable experience, a few days of real sincere happiness surrounded by hospitable and prosperous people, acquaintance with curious rituals and traditions, carefully preserved by Britain for many hundreds of years.
Preparation for the family celebration begins in good time, with the advent of Advent - a 4-week pre-Christmas fasting, as well as with a careful decoration of the house and yard with holly, ivy, tinsel, ribbons and garlands, holly wreaths .The main square of London - Trafalgar - also does not remain without a special decoration, which every year since 1946 in England sends the royal family of Norway..A 20-meter-long Christmas tree from Oslo is chained to thousands of rapturous looks on the day of its lighting ceremony, which takes place on the last day of November or the first day of December..Tower, Palace of Justice, Somerset House, Kew Gardens on New Year's holidays turn into noisy colorful ice rinks, lit by bright torches, filled with childish laughter and the sounds of the Christmas world famous song Jingle Bells .Passers-by with pleasure linger in London squares, keen on theatrical performances, concerts, pantomimes, which every evening give residents and visitors a festive mood .
Turkey, Christmas pudding and mistletoe
In each house the day before Christmas, everyone is in anticipation of some miracle, and in the kitchen there are culinary revolutions .Shkvorchat pans with potatoes, in the oven languishing spicy turkey, smoking saucepans with sauces, fruit fillings for pies, but the main thing is witchcraft - baking Christmas pudding, which before the 18th century was a special oatmeal porridge plum-ass..The tradition of putting a coin, a thimble, a button, or a ring in the pudding dough has remained so far, and so everyone at the festive table is tremblingly trying the Christmas treat, hoping that in his piece will be one of the items predicting important events of the next year ±$ br >.
Lunch begins at one o'clock in the afternoon of December 25 with the solemn flapping of a kind of cracker Christmas Cracker, from which, under the cheerful cries of the guests, serpentine, confetti, small souvenirs and comic messages are sprinkled .After this custom, you can safely fill the living room with a clatter of cutlery and cheers for delicious, satisfying food .A little later, drinking a traditional light light ale and a strong black porter, family members sit down in front of the TV, because, as is customary at three o'clock in the afternoon, the whole of England hears the festive conversion of his queen .Then comes the time of games, intimate conversations by the fireplace, kisses under the mistletoe branch, inconspicuous flipping into the scarlet Christmas socks of coins for the joy of the small inhabitants of the house, walks through the central streets of London, where the holiday is in full swing, and the happy smiles of the surrounding are contagious ±$ br >.
For gifts!
But the most pleasant part of the dinner is the exchange of gifts, carefully decorated with wrapping paper, ornaments and presented with special wishes. To be honest, in London, the process of buying gifts, for which everyone goes to shops, is a special pleasure, suddenly turning into fantastic sparkling locks. Begin to work New Year markets, where on the shelves can be found and old brooches, and Indian turbans, and Kenyan bags.
The largest department stores in the West End and Oxford Street open their doors, it is here that malls, such as Department stores and Selfridges, do not stint on discounts of .Another popular store Liberty's also at half price sells its wealth .The real gentlemen have the opportunity to dress up by looking at Simpson's .But most of all visitors these days meets in the fashionable, expensive halls the most magnificent supermarket of Britain - Harrod's .And it's not even about 75% discount, because the purchases in this luxury store can be palpably punishable, regardless of the sale, just at Christmas everyone in the shower wants to please themselves with something unattainable, and let it be a tiny scarf, but from Prada or Chanel .
| St. Paul's Cathedral at Christmas |
| Christmas in London |
| Harrods Department Store at Christmas |
Interesting facts
- It was the Roman church who insisted that Christmas celebrate on December 25 - the day of the pagan holiday of the invincible sun.
- Germans were the first to use spruce as a holiday attribute, and Martin Luther even guessed to decorate her top with a star.
- The first greeting card for Christmas was printed in 1843 in London.
- The prototype of the good Santa Claus is a person who once lived - St. Nicholas, bishop of the city of Myra in the IV century. Over time, his name has transformed into a modern, so familiar and fabulous.
- In the middle of the 17th century, the threat of extinction looms over the Christmas holiday: on the orders of Oliver Cromwell, who believed that the customs so warmly welcomed by the inhabitants of London, contradict the religious canons. Christmas safely returned to British homes when Cromwell lost power.
| All articles on the topic "Event Tours" |
|