National Day and Mos Nicolae

December is the month for celebrations here in Romania. December 1st is Romanian Day (Ziua Romaniei). It's like America's Independence Day / July 4th. It is celebrated all over the country with flags and parades. In the capital city of Bucuresti, they celebrate with a huge fireworks display and the lighting of the tallest tree in Romania.


December 5th is a favorite day for children of all ages! Common to the legend of St. Nicholas, Mos Nicolae comes on the night of the 5th and delivers goodies to the shoes of boys and girls. A good boy/girl will receive candy in a shoe (or other things if they've been REALLY good), and naughty boys and girls get a stick in their shoe. The bigger the stick, the naughtier the child has been. Gee ... candy or stick ... I think I'll be good!!!





Mos Nicolae left Delona a bag of goodies including chocolate, other yummy candy, and cookies. Adi got a stick (in the brown pair of shoes) ... and a big one at that ... it was about 3 1/2 feet tall! Poor thing ... maybe he'll be a better boy this next year!




I guess a little birdie told Mos Nicolae that I was in Romania this year. He left me some chocolate with hazelnuts and snowflake coasters for my tables. He was a little disappointed that he couldn't find my shoes (which were actually put away for a change). Oh, well, the doorway of the bedroom was a good choice, too.