One of the most delightful times anyone can visit Italy is during the holiday season. In the U.S., the Christmas season begins pretty much the day after Halloween. In Italy, it arrives in a much more concentrated package, meant to be savored like a fine Chianti. I have been to Italy twice for Christmas. The first time was in 1999 as a tourist in Rome, anticipating the new millennium.

On subsequent visits, my Italian friends encouraged me to return another time to truly experience Christmas as Italian families do. My husband and I arrived in early December 2021 and settled in the small town of Guardiagrele, burrowed between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic Sea in south-central Italy.