Unusual Christmas Traditions – and Celebrating at Windmill Lodges
For many people, Christmas means presents, a chicken or turkey dinner, cards and advent calendars – although not necessarily in that order. However, there are lots of different traditions around the world. Here Windmill Lodges, whose lodges with hot tubs make for a quality holiday in the heart of Suffolk, look at a few of the more unusual ones – and how we can help families celebrate the festive season in a different way.
Unusual Celebrations Around the World
In Japan, Christmas dinner means heading out to the local Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. A marketing campaign by the American fast-food giant in the 1970s has spawned a tradition which endures to this day.
Instead of the usual Christmas baubles and stars, families in the Ukraine use fake spiders’ webs as tree decorations. This tradition stems from an old folk tale about a poor widow who couldn’t afford the usual ornaments – so the spiders took pity on her and spun beautiful webs all over her tree. The tradition has stuck and webs are supposed to be lucky across the country.
In the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, many people literally get their skates on in the run-up to Christmas. Many roads are closed to traffic so the church-goers can attend Mass, up to and including Christmas Eve, and many wear roller skates to get there on time.
In Finland, many homes have their own sauna, and on Christmas Eve families enjoy a communal bathe. Everyone enjoys the peace and quiet for several hours, with special candles and lanterns adding to the atmosphere.
After the sauna is over, everyone gets dressed up for the festive meal and to receive their presents from the Finnish equivalent of Santa Claus – Joulupukki. The Finns also leave presents out, not for Santa, but the legendary sauna elf; every sauna is supposed to have one, and tradition states they should always be respected and looked after.
Celebrating Christmas at Windmill Lodges – Lodges with Hot Tubs in Suffolk
At Windmill Lodges, we can’t promise the same kind of experience as Finland; but you can see in Christmas or the New Year in your own relaxing private hot tub. All our lodges have the facilities you need for cooking up a Christmas dinner, with a full-size cooker and a microwave, fridge – and a dishwasher if you are worried about the washing up!
You can also get away from it all in the heart of the neighbouring Suffolk countryside, where there are plenty of walks to enjoy along the coast. Suffolk’s Heritage Coastline forms part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The good news is that you can bring your dog with you too. The local beaches don’t have any restrictions on access for your canine companion during the winter months and we also have two pet-friendly log cabins, Woodpecker and Wagtail, at our Suffolk base. These are equipped with a lead and a couple of dog bowls.
A COVID-Safe Site
At Windmill Lodges we have put extra safety measures in place, which include additional cleaning protocols for both your hot tub and the items in your log cabin. It means we are asking you not to use your tub from 10am-12noon; we have also closed some of the communal areas. A full list of our new protocols can be found here.
If you would like to know more about the short break holidays we offer, you can call us on 01728 685338. You can also check our current availability of all our lodges by following this link.
And if you have any concerns about booking a trip due to possible Covid restrictions, we have a Book with Confidence arrangement in place that will cover you in the event of any national or local lockdowns.