On this last day of the holiday season, I think back to the day which starts the season for Swiss children – San Nicolao. In the Middle Ages, St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra and became known for his acts of generosity and piety. Legend has it that he gave 3 poor children red apples which where transformed into gold; centuries later his holy day, December 6, has become the traditional day for St. Nicholas to visit children all over Switzerland, bringing gifts of sweets and fruit. My first Christmas here in Switzerland was spent in Berne, my home for my first three years in this country. In the Swiss-German part of Switzerland December 6 is the day of ‘Samichlaus’, and parents enlist the aid of their male friends to dress up as Samichlaus so that their children can have a personal visit from St. Nick. My husband Giancarlo played just such a role for the two children of good friends; the little boy in the photo is his godson.

I found the whole idea enchanting. And it’s not just a jolly little visit – the children all know that St. Nick will know if they have been naughty or nice. They just don’t know that it’s their parents who have provided Santa with a list, so that he can look into their eyes and say ‘I hear that you have been fighting with your brother’ or ‘I hear that you have been cleaning up your toys nicely’. The book that Samichlaus is looking at is a volume of the Encylopedia Britannica with the list stuck to one of the pages. In the photos, you can see the children looking up a bit anxiously to Samichlaus. But of course it always ends happily, with Samichlaus pulling out sweets from his bag for the children. In the German part of Switzerland, grocery stores are full of chocolate laden branches which are given to the children. Naturally I was keen to participate so I hand sewed special chocolate treats to branches that I had collected in the nearby woods, embellishing it even more by using different colored embroidery thread. Another traditional St. Nick sweet that it seems every household buys are the Grittibanz, or Pupazzi, little dough men with raisins for eyes, some holding little pipes or shovels.