Liechtenstein Edition
Noche Buena leads today's complete edition for Liechtenstein.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
The real Christmas. Families gather, the Viejito Pascuero (Santa Claus) leaves gifts under the tree, and the pan de Pascua and cola de mono flow. The meal is late, the conversation is long, and at midnight everyone hugs. Christmas in Chile is Noche Buena. December 25th is just the aftermath.
The real celebration is the 24th, not the 25th. The whole family gathers at midnight for vitel tone, pan dulce, and sidra. The heat is brutal, the fan is on high, and someone always sets off fireworks in the street. At midnight, the toast happens and kids run around with globo lanterns.
The most important evening of the year in Liechtenstein, and the celebration includes the Christmas tree (lit with real candles in many households), the exchange of gifts, and the traditional meal of sausages with potato salad or fondue. The church service is at midnight, and the singing is in German. The Christmas is quiet, intimate, and Alpine : in a country of 38,000 people, the churches are small, the congregations are familiar, and the candlelight service in the Pfarrkirche St. Florin or the Kunigundenkapelle feels like a family gathering. After the service, families walk home through the snow, and the only sound is the bells of the church tower.
You witness the resplendent quetzal in cloud forests, the pink river dolphin in the Amazon, and the jaguar prowling through diverse ecosystems. You find that Colombians commonly keep dogs and cats as pets, with many also keeping birds like parakeets and canaries. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.