How does the world celebrate Christmas?

SPAIN: The streets are lit up with colourful lights. There are many shops with typical Christmas products, all the family get together on Christmas  Eve. The typical dishes are lamb, turkey, walnuts,  Christmas sweets (turron, marzipan...). On New year Eve, at five to twelve Spanish people get ready to eat 12 grapes, one after each stroke of the bell.

GERMANY: After the Christmas Eve´s dinner, the children wait for  the presents nervously, but they can´t open them before they sing the traditional carol "Silent night".

BELGIUM: Their habit is going ice-skating after the typical family dinner. Saitnt Nicolas visits the children of the city on the 4 of December to check if they have been good or bad.

ITALY: On  New year's Eve, "Notte di Capodanno", it's typical to go  to discos after eating a lentil dish. Women wear red to be lucky during the year.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's day is on the 14th february. It is a traditional celebration of english speaking countries that has been taken in other countries along the 20th century principally in that the lovers, boyfriends or spouses express his love and fondness mutually.

In Spain the tradition begins in 1969.

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In some countries it is known as St Valentine's Day and in others as Day of the Love and the Friendship.

From the 10th century,in England all the men started to give cards of love and chocolates, roses...

 Some of them believe that it is a holiday Christianized of the paganism, since in the former Rome the adoration was realized to the god of the love, which Greek name was Eros and who the Romans were calling  Cupid. In this celebration the favors of the god were asked across gifts or offerings to manage to find this way the ideal lover.

CURIOSITIES

-In the northern countries, in these dates one is in the habit of producing the matching of the majority of birds, of there that this period sees as symbol of love.