In Scandinavia we celebrate Christmas Eve. A big dinner, then after coffee and cakes, Nissen comes and brings presents. I say we, but really I’m a voyeur. My family celebrates Christmas Day, not Eve, and though I’ve celebrated several lovely Christmas Eves with Norwegian families I’m far more attached to mornings ripping presents open in pyjamas, and turkey in the afternoon. This evening I walked home in the snow and the streets were completely empty. Flickr shows me that they were in Oslo and Copenhagen as well. Tomorrow will be anything but silent: my daughter and niece and nephew and sister and brother-in-law and mother and the day even more of my family. There’ll be noise, all right.

(Photos by me, Vinterstille and Timo. As Caterina said, it’s like having your own personal tv station. Merry Christmas!)