24 December 2016

XMAS: Win a city break for 2 in Venice

First of all I want to wish you happy holidays and a happy new year and I want to let you know that today we are launching a new contest for your guys. We are giving away a city break for 2 to Venice, one of my favorite european destinations. I want you to #JoinTheConversation and share a funny #holiday moment with us. Tell us which is the most hilarious moment you had in your holiday season (no matter the age) for a chance to win. Like Arcadia Travel ‘s facebook page and start writing! Should I start? I will.

Santa’s Wardrobe Malfuncion

The cottage from Salard holds most of my precious childhood moments and we have old photos from the vacations we were spending there every season. Nothing compares with a breakfast prepared there by a squad of skilled moms. Just to help you paint a picture, imagine smelling mint, scrambled eggs, bread, smoked cheese, pasty, eggplants, fresh vegetables and pretty much everything someone could eat for breakfast. Covered with festive tablecloths and stuffed with goodies and steaming cups, the table at the cottage was always an occasion for joyful meetings and wonderful stories. I remember how I used to come down the stairs in pajamas right in the middle of the action. We used to wear wool slippers, they were mandatory and always kept our feet warm. Often, we would enjoy hanging our feet across the warm brick of the stove while watching film slides projected on the wall behind the stairs. I think we also used the pantry door once. It was a dream land.

So it was December and we were at my uncle’s village with my auntie Maria and my cousins Georgiana & Mircea. It was the 24th and Santa was about to come. Sidica, my aunt who lives in Sweden, was then in the country and came with us to the cottage and because she wanted to entertain us, she dressed as Santa Claus. I was sitting on the wooden box under the stairs when someone shouted: “Santa is coming”. I don’t know exactly what crossed my mind at that time, but I took a run to the window to see Santa and in all that rush and excitement I tripped, my feet went first and somehow I managed to fall on my belly right in the middle of the room. Then I got up as if nothing has happened and ran to the window. Naturally, this story comes from my mother’s perspective, which told it to me on a countless number of occasions.

…and then there he was – Santa Claus slowly came on our way on the serpentine path that my father and my uncle had just finished preparing earlier. It’s Santa! He knocks on the door and you could actually feel our hearts beating way louder as we were asking ourselves who could be that person knocking on the door. Luckily for us, the adults were also there and they reminded us that Santa was at the door and we should let him in. In the meantime, on the other side of the door you could hear: Ho, ho, ho, Santa Claus (as an answer to our innocent “Who is it?” questions).

I think you can guess how the story goes from this point: saying the poems, receiving the gifts, maybe pull Santa’s long beard to see ¿Qué pasa?… Santa used to sit down with us in order to share some stories and then he would quickly point out the old convenient excuse about “all the kids that need to receive their presents.” Nevertheless, you can imagine our excitement, we were visited by Santa after all! Even in this situation, something weird was happening at the same time. My aunt was missing for a while now, leaving the cottage just before Santa’s arrival motivating some things that she had to do outside. This was not necessarily my problem back then, I actually had a big problem with Santa’s outfit – and why exactly was he wearing my aunt Sidica’s red velvet boots? So there goes Santa Claus with a clear task of making each and every child happy in one night and I ask my mother: Why was Santa wearing Sidica’s boots?

#JustSayin’ #SantasWardrobeMalfunction