Last week I called my mum , my friends, my aunts and uncles to announce that Christmas in Rome would be awful. I hadn’t had any mulled wine, I had seen no Christmas lights and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park was a distant memory. Rather than find myself watching ‘The Holiday’ on repeat in bed eating my Advent Calender content I decided to make a stand. Therefore, I gave myself a week to dedicate to the Italian Christmas celebrations and this was the outcome.
1. The Pope: I couldn’t leave out the Pope. After all, Christmas isn’t purely about exchanging gifts and the Christmas Day meal. In fact, Italians celebrate on Christmas Eve by attending midnight mass. “When in Rome” should keep you going and if you are a culture vulture like me then going to “Urbi et Orbi” shouldn’t be missed. If you can’t achieve that though, the Pope greets citizens every Sunday morning.
2. Christmas markets: The most important Christmas market is held in Piazza Navona. You may not see the traditional Christmas treats but meat is always available at stalls , there is a tree in the centre of it all and it does look ever so twinkly.
3. Ice-skating: The Auditorium is not the only place available to skate, slip and side! It is possible to skate underneath the iconic silhouette of Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo. But there are others held at Re di Rome and Villa Giordiani. Somerset House could learn a few more tricks.
4. The Nativity scene: In true Italian fashion, Rome boasts both a museum of more than 3.000 nativity scenes every year. Particularly at Christmas though, Â there is a temporary exhibition of 200 presepi from all over the globe.
5. Christmas lights: There are some neighborhoods that hold competitions for the best Christmas decorations. To be honest, it is an unwritten rule though so it is no surprise that lights and decorations are becoming more elaborate. You can head to the very centre or even the biggest station; Termini. If you need an excuse to visit Tiffany’s they have the best lights up Via del Corso for sure.
6. Christmas food: The typical Italian cakes at this time of the year are panettone (which you can actually have wrapped up to give as a gift, that is how yummy it is). Torrone and Pandoro are equally amazing and they can be bought in a any supermarket even though, I would personally recommend Porta di Rome.
7. Give back. In past years, there is a Christmas market located in  Palazzo Velli withing the Piazza Sant’Egidio 10, in Trastevere. You can purchase anything and all of the proceeds go to charity. Everyone needs to give back at Christmas so this is the perfect opportunity.
8. I am a child when it comes to Christmas, I am pretty similar to Kevin from ‘Home Alone’ (if you haven’t seen this Christmas classic then you need to!) and because of this I always search for the best Christmas tree no matter what country I am in and this year was no different. Ladies, picture a Christmas tree in the shape of gold handbags. If this wasn’t enough it had been donated by Louis Vuitton and can be seen outside the shop close to Piazza di Spagna. It is just that spectacular!