I am way, way, way late on posting this topic!  Bafana visits Italian children on the evening of 5 January. This is the main day for gift giving and presents are brought for children by La Befana, a kindly old witch who fill children’s stockings in the night with sweets or i dolciumi if they have been good or with coal or il carbone if they have been bad.

I was prompted to finally get this posted because of this very cool poster I saw at random in Venice last Sunday. I love it!

 

I actually had a close encounter with Befana myself in early January, and here it is.  I’m the  one in the fur hat:

And, btw, she gave me some candy and no coal!