Christmas season in Rome brought out the best of the city. Getting the taffy made in Piazza Navona Christmas Market was our favorite activity. Shown here are the evening Festivities.
Another tradition and part of Christmas Season in Rome is one that I remember well. It is what Romans do on New Year’s Eve. It is actually throwing old things out the window into the streets at midnight. To us kids it seemed like a very strange thing to do. But for Romans, it was a perfectly natural way to bring in the new year. In fact the most amazing part of all was the clean up first thing on New Year’s Day. How different that was from things back in New York.
Throwing out old things on New Year’s Eve from Toledoblade.com
What does throwing away old things mean in Italian New Year?
Throwing away old things, or at least some of them, even if only symbolically, is another Italian New Year’s tradition. A superstition, symbolizing the abandonment of the past. In ancient times, this ritual was put into practice by throwing old things out the window.
There is nothing like the charm of how other countries do everyday activities and celebrate special occasions. In fact some things are even more special when seen through the innocent eyes of youth. Actually in the year that we spent living in Rome, just about everything was a novelty to us.
Almost nothing had become a habit is such a short time. As a matter of fact, the only thing that was a repeat was sailing on the SS Constitution twice. The first time was when we sailed on it going to Italy. Then the second time was sailing on it was when we returned to New York.
