Christmas in Dublin is surely one of the prettiest I have ever experienced.

Almost every street is a wonderland of Christmas lights with all the trees, buildings and lampposts glittering.

There are massive Christmas trees on every corner which are glittering from the ground to the very top. It is really something amazing and definitely something you must see for yourself.

The street artists are also in a lovely Christmas spirit. Whether they can play guitar, tambourine or piano, each sings his best version of the most beautiful Christmas songs. And not the usual “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” stuff that you would usually hear in Checkers or Pick n Pay, either: Real, beautiful Christmas songs. It just calms you and leaves you with a warm feeling – even if the temperature is close to freezing point.

That is the other strange thing about Europe: You are coated and scarfed from head to toe. But not even the icy cold can take away the beauty of the Christmas scenes in the streets.

Cute Christmas traditions for children
One of the cutest traditions I only heard of for the first time here in Dublin, was that of Elf on the Shelf.

The idea is based on a children’s book. It tells the story of the way in which Father Christmas determines which children must be on the naughty or nice list. He therefore sends one of his elves to inspect each home and keep an eye on the children.

Irish parents would buy their family a little elf doll. The myth is that the little elf only receives his magical powers when the family gives him a name. The elf then needs his magical powers to quickly fly back to the North Pole every night, when everybody is asleep, to report to Father Christmas what the children in his house were up to after he kept an eye on them the whole day.

He would quickly, before everyone wakes up, see to it that he is back at home. Each morning he can be found in a different place: On the bookshelf, or in the Christmas tree, in the bread bin, or any other place in the house. There where he can keep an eye on the children during the day.

Little do the children know it is actually their parents behind it all. Some parents become very creative and will place the elf in the children’s room in strange ways, or in the bathroom or any other place in the house so that it looks as if the elf gallivanted quite a lot during the night. It keeps the children on their toes and provides for very cute photos over Christmas time.

Apart from Father Christmas then delivering the gifts to each house on Christmas Eve, the tradition here in Ireland is also that every household leaves out a plate of cookies and a can of Guinness (obviously). A man’s throat is dry when you have flown all the way from the North Pole to hand out a whole bag of gifts.

Phoenix Park – the largest fenced park in Europe – which is in the heart of Dublin, is also very popular for the reindeer that lives and walks about there. They are fairly tame, and one can come quite close to them to take the prettiest photos.

On Christmas Eve the parents will take their children to Phoenix Park to wish the reindeer good luck with the big evening that lies ahead for them when the fly around the world with Father Christmas to take gifts to all the children.

Other Christmas traditions
Because you will find a pub on each and every corner in Ireland, it will be strange not to visit one during the festive season.

Although no-one is obliged, several businesses, groups of friends, sport clubs, and so on take part in the 12 Pubs of Christmas – which is actually just a nice festive name for a pub crawl.

The group of friends would select 12 pubs to visit in one night. Each person would usually be dressed according to a theme.

12 Pubs of Christmas usually takes place on any evening between 1 and 25 December. If you are lucky (or unlucky, for some), you can be invited to more than one 12 Pubs of Christmas.

During the evening there will be a string of rules – which are discussed by the group beforehand – to follow, for example:

1. In the first pub you may not drink with your right hand.
2. In the second pub you may not speak to anyone you already know.
3. In the third pub you may not use the bathroom.
4. In the ninth pub you may not sit or lean against anything, etc.

If you break one of the rules, you will be penalised by having to gulp down an entire drink in one breath. A group would typically spend a maximum of 30 minutes in a pub. One person is also appointed to make sure that everyone follows the rules and to be the evening’s whistle blower.

The short version: On the evening of 12 Pubs of Christmas, don’t expect to get home very sober… Rather use the bus/train/tram or ask someone who didn’t drink to drop you off at home.