Buon Natale! 

Merry Christmas at Gioia!

May your holidays be merry and bright and full of la gioia, the joy! 

Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10, we will have our traditional Christmas Open House and we welcome you. In preparing for Christmas, we have been involved with several local charities fundraising efforts: Homelessness, Mental Illness, Italian American Heritage Foundation for the Opera San Jose, Montalvo Arts Center, Little Italy San Jose, Santa Clara University Scholarship Fund, and Notable Music and Arts. Gioia was built on the slogan “Joy for Those Who Give and Those Who Receive.”  We are feeling the joy. We work hard to be able to support small artists in Italy and in the USA. We thank you sincerely for your support and friendship and are looking forward to seeing you on the 9th or 10th. 

We also celebrate along with the Italians. In my twenties I was very fortunate to experience Natale (Christmas) in Piazza Navona in Roma. Many cities in Italy and many other European countries have Christmas Markets where the attendees will bundle up rain or shine and go to the square to purchase toys, candies, bakery items. This is a very traditional part of Christmas in Italy.

In Roma, the Piazza Navona Christmas Market is the most popular and loved by the Romans, though you will find outdoor booths all around the city. The markets are held every year from the last weekend of November to January 6, the Christian celebration of the arrival of the Magi to the baby Jesus, Epiphany. In Italy it is a feast day. The Christmas Market booths are filled with colors and aromas of Christmas and offer traditional decorations, Christmas souvenirs and gifts, cakes, caramel apples, cotton candy, and chocolates of all kinds!

The Torrone candies you will find in abundance in Roma during the Christmas and winter seasons but are very difficult to find in the summer and warmer months.  It is an enchanting atmosphere with a meandering Santa Claus, elves, and befana who walk around the square and pose for photos with passers-by. If you have children take a ride on one of the oldest and still functioning wooden horse rides (Click here for more: https://youtu.be/meR3gMhtfPE)

In addition to the Christmas tree and the gifts underneath, the traditions include the manger scene where baby Jesus was born, and laid in a manger, the cribs, the presepe. The crib is a fundamental element in Italian culture and is celebrated in Rome with an exhibition hosted in the Bramante Hall, near Piazza del Popolo. This International Exposition of the Cribs offers to the public more than 200 cribs from different Italian regions, but also from European, African, and South American countries, gathered in the name of peace, brotherhood, and respect of the values of other religious denominations.(More information: https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/rome/the-most-jaw-dropping-churches-in-rome-that-arent-called-st-peters-a-pilgrimage-to-rome-guide )
 

Firenze Florence

The biggest Christmas market in Florence is in Piazza Santa Croce, and generally begins the end of November and continues to the end of December. This market is fashioned after the traditional German markets and offers different items from artisan crafts to food products, small furniture, and Christmas decorations. It hosts foreign exhibitors as well as Italian. Every year on January 6 Florence celebrates Epiphany with the "Cavalcade of the Magi," a grand parade in the historical center which evokes the journey of the Magi and the delivery of the gifts to baby Jesus. The reenactment, in magnificent costume, involves many people from all over Italy and is a traditional and special event.

If you're in Florence during the Christmas holidays you can visit the marvelous Chapel of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli, inside Palazzo Medici Riccardi. It is a small and precious frescoed chapel which traces the journey of the Three Wise Men. It's of course open all the year, but in this season, it is special!  https://www.visitflorence.com/what-to-do-in-florence/christmas-in-florence.html

Another Christmas tradition of Florence involves the famous Zampognari, the shepherds that came down form tending the flocks in this time of year to play their bagpipes for the townspeople to make extra money. Take a look at these videos for an idea of the fun you could have:

Italy Magazine: http://www.italymagazine.com/news/zampognari-keep-alive-tradition-festive-bagpipe-playing 
You Tube: https://youtu.be/RCEyN1pCm3E 
Rick Steve’s European Christmas in Italy: https://youtu.be/UFEQ68K4_zs 
 

Naples Manger Scenes

In the Christmas Season in Naples all the attention is turned towards an ancient and historical street of the city, known today for the many artisan shops that made it famous in the world: via San Gregorio Armeno, the street of the artisans of the crib. The cribs of San Gregorio Armeno are inspired mainly by the eighteenth-century tradition with typical characters such as the sleeping shepherd, who many call Benito, the gypsy, the monk who makes the quest, of which the artisans are available to tell stories and stories.  Over the years the manger scenes became personalized by adding some symbolic figures of the city of Naples such as the pizzaiolo, The Pizza Maker and the maccheronaro, The Pasta Maker. Click this link to learn more:  http://www.foodtravelitaly.com/en/naples-street-food/ 

The shops of Via San Gregorio Armeno are opened throughout the year, but the greatest opportunity to show their creations to the world is during Christmas period!
 

New Year’s Eve Capodanno 

Florence offers the grand celebration in the main squares of the city with concerts of various kinds, from classical music (Piazza della Signoria) to the Gospel (Piazza Santissima Annunziata) and other events in Piazza del Carmine and Piazza San Lorenzo. The main pop concert on 31st of December 2017 will be set in Piazzale Michelangelo.

Calendar

DECEMBER 2017

REMEMBER! Gioia is opened at your convenience ANY DAY in December by appointment.
 

UPCOMING and ALWAYS...

GIOIA ITALIAN ART AND PRODUCTS always opened by appointment in Los Gatos. Call Kathy 408.640.6628 or Contact kathywinkelman@gioiacompany.com

TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES 2017!! Save the Dates!!

 
Sorrento Emotions and Dreams Presents 
Andrea Bocelli in Concert in Tuscany
We invite you to be enthralled by the amazing voice of
Maestro Andrea Bocelli performing in Laiatico at the “Teatro del Silenzio”,
an exclusive theatre created by Maestro Bocelli in the beautiful Tuscan hills.
Click here to learn more.