The Christmastide Carols The Christmastide Carols it’s a Greek custom that remains unaltered up to the present day and young children wander around visiting houses on 24th of December, 31st of December and 5th of January, in groups of two or more singing the carols to the sounds of the music of a metal triangle or even guitars, accordions, lyres or harmonicas. In the past, they used to carry a small model boat which is the Greek symbol for Christmas. The Christmas tree The Christmas tree made its appearance in Greece in 1933 and since 1950’s the tree began to be an essential part of decoration to all Greek houses. Santa Claus On Christmas Eve the children hang their socks by the fireplace (if the own one) and patiently wait for Santa Claus who is travelling all over the world overnight. The “podariko” ( “lucky foot” ) Most people are really concerned about who is going to do the “podariko” at their house i.e. who is about to enter the house first, the New Year. So, they tell one of the family members, who is known to be lucky, to do the “podariko” the day of the New Year expecting to have luck throughout the year. The break of the pomegranate The time the year changes, outside of their front doors, people use to break open a pomegranate by throwing it down with force and then they enter the house one by one, always with the right foot to do the “podariko”, so the New Year brings luck. The Christopsomo ( Christmas pie ) The bread of Christ as you may also call it, is made by housewives with much reverence and by using a special yeast. A must is to remember to make a cross on the up side of it and decorate it with some carved drawings. On Christmas Day the househusbands take the ‘Christopsomo’ and curve the shape of a cross on top of it before cutting it into pieces and share it with every member of the family. .