{"id":881,"date":"2011-12-28T17:16:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T21:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=881"},"modified":"2012-12-07T10:23:24","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T15:23:24","slug":"out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-year","title":{"rendered":"Out with the old, in with the New Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-882 aligncenter\" title=\"Italian New Year\" src=\"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/misc_025-1-300x235.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/misc_025-1-300x235.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/misc_025-1.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>THREE&#8230;TWO&#8230;ONE! Happy New Year! Felice Anno Nuovo! Bliadhna mhath ur! While New Year celebrations in many parts of the world consist of fireworks, ball dropping and bar hopping, some countries ring in the New Year with pretty interesting traditions that date back hundreds, even thousands of years. This week, Explorica takes a look at some unique customs in Italy, the land down under and the lively Gaelic country of Scotland.<\/p>\n<p><strong>New Years, Italian Style<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When in Italy, food is sure to be on the brain \u2013 and in the belly. It&#8217;s not surprising that \u201cLa Fiesta di San Silvestro,\u201d New Years Eve in Italy, is full of feasting with friends and family. And what meal wouldn&#8217;t be complete without stuffed pig\u2019s trotter? The guests of honor for the New Years feast include lentils, which symbolize money and good fortune, <em>cotechino<\/em>, or spiced sausage and <em>zampone<\/em>, stuffed pigs trotter (the foot of the pig \u2013 yum!). The pork options symbolize richness in life and health for the year to come. There\u2019s no room at this table for evil spirits, so, to ward off any demons one Italian tradition involves lighting a fire on New Year\u2019s Eve. Once the evil spirits have been scared away plenty of room is left for good things to enter the home for the New Year. This Christian custom is also tied to the tale of the Virgin Mary entering homes to warm her newborn son.<\/p>\n<p>In some parts of Italy, one custom still practiced has people throwing old things out their windows as a gesture of readiness for the New Year. Things range from old clothing to even furniture. Don&#8217;t forget your hard hats! No protective gear is needed for the dazzling fireworks and music festivals that line the countryside. One particular celebration in St. Mark&#8217;s Square (which you\u2019ll see on our tour of Venice), has helped put Venice on the map as one of the most romantic cities in the world. Here, Italians and travelers celebrate with a lively celebration full of music, fireworks and, of course, a giant group kiss at midnight. This kiss, a relatively new tradition, has helped seal Venice\u2019s romantic reputation. In 2009 the event drew a record breaking 70,000 people. If you\u2019re as superstitious as some Italians, don\u2019t forget to wear your red underwear on New Years. It\u2019s known to bring great luck for the New Year. Ciao Bella!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THREE&#8230;TWO&#8230;ONE! Happy New Year! Felice Anno Nuovo! Bliadhna mhath ur! While New Year celebrations in many parts of the world consist of fireworks, ball dropping and bar hopping, some countries ring in the New Year with pretty interesting traditions that date back hundreds, even thousands of years. This week, Explorica takes a look at some <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-year\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,63,172],"tags":[58,197,198],"class_list":["post-881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-parents","category-students","category-teachers","tag-educational-travel","tag-educational-travel-italy","tag-new-year","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":891,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions\/891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}