A MASTERLY 25TH EDITION: ‘NATALE’ IN THE ‘MARCHE’
Christiane Keller – aka Christmas Chris, Founder of Christmas in Europe
The San Benedetto students - dressed up to the nines in their uniforms – and their teachers were the real creators of the 2016 Christmas in Europe – both in space and in time; whether it was in their school or elsewhere, their tasks were before the event (what a lot of preparation!), during the event (they were everywhere at once!), and certainly again after the event (yes, you have to maintain the links).
For all the meals in the restaurant shaped like a ship’s figurehead in the School’s highly original building; for the meals served in Offida in the former monastery transformed into the Vinea wine cellar; for those served in the premises of the local fishermen’s association; for those in the knights’ cellar in Ascoli – for all these meals the participants found an organising team: motivated students, a teaching team that was enthusiastic, polyglot and united around a project that brought them together, and around their School Director, Manuela Germani. Well done everyone!
What can we say about the cultural programme? It was a highlight, and there was a level of excellence which has so far never been equalled in this event; and it drew on internal resources (students, artists, musicians) which is precisely the objective of the event.
There can be no doubt that the preparatory work must have been considerable: the inaugural parade, the church concert with four choirs, the entertainment every evening – classical, pop, jazz, every available type, and everything presented in such a way that everyone found something to their taste; and finally the perfectly synchronised cultural programme. Very well done, Sylvia Ulpiani!
And what can we say about the food and beverages – the menus and the wines, everything locally produced, and everything prepared with the desire to do it well and to be good hosts? It was no surprise that the European buffets prepared by the invited delegations reached the same high standards!
And finally, what can we say about the destination city? There is such vitality in this region of the Southern Marches or the Palm-tree Riviera – such a fitting name with its microclimate belonging to the area ‘below Ancona’ which protects it from the winds, as well as its homage to the sea which takes various forms:
- the jetty which has been turned into an art gallery (what a good idea)
- the amphora museum, original and surely unique anywhere in the world
- the pedagogical museum of the sea
- its busy fishing port and morning fish auction
I should like to offer a ‘free hug’ to everyone who had the good fortune to take part in this masterly edition; and to those who prepared the event, I give my warm thanks, because this organising team has given the AEHT an event that was successful in every respect, an organisation that was faultless, and many an infectious smile which will illuminate the participants’ own Christmases and make them want to return.
I should like to take the opportunity to express my sympathy to the inhabitants of this region who suffered so much from the earthquakes in 2016. We can’t leave behind this region, so rich in human warmth, without a thought for them.
Very well done, bravissimo, to the Instituto Alberghiero IPSSEOA F.Buscemi!
Christiane Keller
Right at the end of the jetty, the symbols of San Benedetto del Tronto 
And of course the ubiquitous palm trees 
The entrance to the IPSSEOA of San Benedetto del Tronto
