Photo of the Day – Mele Kalikimaka to all!
The holiday lights of downtown Honolulu
When Captain Cook arrived in 1778, the Hawaiian people did not celebrate Christmas. In 1820, Protestant missionaries from New England first introduced the holiday to the islands. The missionaries translated the Hawaiian language into written form and, since the language only contained 12 Latin letters, words with no clear Hawaiian equivalent were translated phonetically. Such was the case with the phrase “Merry Christmas” which translated to “Mele Kalikimaka.” In 1950, Bing Crosby recorded a song by the same name and a Hawaiian holiday theme song was born. These days, Honolulu treats visitors to an expansive holiday light show through the downtown streets and there’s no better way to view them all than by running the annual Honolulu Marathon. Wishing a very Merry Christmas to all the readers of RTWin30days…may all your travel dreams come true!
