Christmas is a time for sharing and here at Temple Row we wanted to share some of our favourite Christmas traditions with you. Get to know us a bit more, from top to bottom, Michelle, Bart, Sonia and Julie tell their experiences below.
“So much thought and effort goes into choosing Christmas gifts and each one deserves gracious consideration. In our home we take gift opening very seriously, and slowly. One gift is selected by each person and then we sit comfortably and watch each other open their gift. Then we share and enjoy it for a while, maybe have a cup of coffee or food for an hour or so, before everyone opens their next gift. It has become a bit of a competition each year to extend the gift-opening time – last year we took 15 hours to open all of the gifts!” Michelle
“It seems so funny creating our traditions, having lived in US, UK and Spain I have built some cross border traditions. At Christmas you will have seen the marathon gift unwrapping that we challenge ourselves to on Xmas day. Some of the other items that we work on is trying on as many silly Christmas jumpers as we possibly can. This year 15 year old Max and I have matching Grinch outfits. We also have adopted the Spanish tradition on New Year’s Eve of eating a grape on each bong of the clock. We are also building a tradition of international fondue event all New Year’s Eve night. I still miss the times in Washington going out to the U-Cut farms and riding around on the tractors in the forest of trees to pick the special one for the house. I love trying to unwind at Christmas, which is always hard, but this year I would like us all to make that tradition of just being thankful.” Bart
“In my hometown, Punta Umbria, during the 24th of December in the later afternoon (we celebrate the night of the 24th of December instead of the 25th of December) the majority of the town get together in one of the main streets to sing Christmas Carols, dance and share the pre-Christmas spirit before we get back home to enjoy a wonderful dinner with the family. There is live music played by local orchestras and bands, snow shower and drink toasts. Sadly this year this will not be possible, but hey ho! we will make it a special one anyway.” Sonia
“Our Christmas tradition is to get our Christmas Tree from Cannock Chase. I have adopted this from my Dad who used to take us to get our tree from there every year when I was little – it was always extra special when it snowed on the way there. I have carried this tradition into my adulthood and my children love to go too – probably due to the donuts and hot chocolate they have when we’re there!” Julie
