Why do Italian children put out their shoes on January 5th to be filled with candy? Why are there so many witches and witch-related accoutrement after Christmas? And what can you do on January 6th in Italy to celebrate (or just partake) in Epiphany? Well, free candy galore, for one! In this episode, we dive in and give you everything you need to know about Epiphany.

If you’re planning on going to Rome this year, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk.

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*.

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money.

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing.

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference!

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠.

This week, we take a look at some of our favorite wintertime desserts, treats, and pastries. From the popular panettone to the less-known fried chiacchiere (or, chit-chat), we take you down the sugary path of what to look forward to in Italy this time of year.

We also want to extend a huge "thank you" to everyone who listened to us this year, who followed the show, left a review, and enjoyed it. It means the world to us and we're looking forward to 2025! We hope you have a Happy New Year!

Darcy and Nathaniel

Only A Bag

www.onlyabag.com

Why is Christmas celebrated on December 25th and is it because of a Roman Emperor? Did Romans take off work and celebrate the winter holidays like we do? We'll tell you all about that as well as how Christmas is celebrated in Italy today. We'll answer questions like who brings gifts to Italian children on Christmas eve and do Italians have Christmas trees?

With the Jubilee coming up we highly recommend booking hotels in Rome as soon as possible, if you're planning on visiting in 2025. If you're visiting other parts of Italy in the coming year and want to know when to book hotels and flights, check out our episode ⁠When to Book: Hotels and Flights ⁠ and even ⁠When to Book: Trains and Buses⁠.

If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk.

For hotels, we tend to use ⁠Booking⁠* since we’re already a part of their member program, but ⁠Expedia⁠* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out ⁠Agoda⁠*.

If you're looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠⁠Expedia⁠⁠* or ⁠⁠Booking⁠⁠* before purchasing.

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use ⁠Trusted Housesitters⁠* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money.

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference!

You can find more at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and contact us via email at onlyabagpodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram at ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠.