Christmas Abroad—Share Your Stories

In Traveler magazine’s November/December issue, writer Raphael Kadushin returns to Amsterdam, where he experienced Christmas as a five-year-old. His most vivid memory:

“Holland was the first place I had a clear sense of place and my clearest Dutch memory, and one of my earliest revolves around my own original sighting of Saint Nicholas, known as Sinterklaas in Dutch,” says Kadushin.

“The Saint Nicolas who led the Christmas parade into Groningen—the northern Dutch town where we first lived—rode through the streets on a white horse, and when he dismounted he passed his golden cane to the first onlooker he saw,” he says. “The onlooker happened to be my slack-jawed father, and the passing of the golden baton was a seismic moment for me.”

“For several years after the hand-off I thought my dad was Saint Nicholas’s closest personal friend, a sort of Saint Nicholas-in-waiting, and that he was going to inherit the office one day. In his own way, he did.”

This month we invite you to share your Christmas experiences abroad by e-mailing us at hmorgan@ngs.org. (Your response may be selected to appear in a future magazine issue or online edition.)