IBERIAN TEMPORADA DE FIESTAS
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| He's Got A Tough Job |
Before it's a faded memory, let me enlighten you about our first Spanish Festive Season, our first Iberian Navidad (Christmas). Firstly, a bit of history - Although it was once occupied by the Moors, and moorish influences abound, this is obviously not the case now; Spain is a predominantly christian (Catholic) country, a point I am sure is not lost on Monty Python (and Don Quixote) fans. Therein endeth the history lesson.
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| On The Buses - Moi Frio! |
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| Madrid Lights - Puerta de Alcala |
Despite being a Christian stronghold, the Spanish do not celebrate Xmas in the manner it is in Australia, or indeed most other Christian countries I can think of. The fundamental difference lies in
WHEN the big ticket celebrations occur. The hardest thing to adjust to is that Father Christmas (Papa Noel) coming on the 25th is pretty much a non-event. Of course, all other religious elements of this day are celebrated, indeed it is a deeply religious occasion,but not the gift giving. That is reserved for the
Feast of the Epiphany, the arrival of
The Three Kings (Magi) on 6th January when gifts are delivered by putting a boot beside the fireplace, which is filled by a mouse (Don't ask me, I know not why!). There are street parades everywhere celebrating the arrival of the Magi and it's a joyous time. Interestingly, there have been attempts to convert to the 25th December (unsuccesfully at this point) primarily because children return to school on the 7th January, thus leaving them no time to enjoy their gifts and toys.
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| Roscon de Reyes |
Christmas Eve is still very important. It's called
Nochebuena (the 'Good Night') and is a time when families gather together to go to church and dine at home; it's one of the most important feasts on the calendar and usually consists of copious amounts of seafood and, of course, jamon. A
'pata de jamon' (hind leg of ham) is often found on a stand in the kitchen, from which the ham is sliced as is your whim. Don't expect to find mince pies or traditional ruit cake anywhere. The traditional Christmas cake of Spain is called the
Roscon de Reyes and is traditionally eaten on the 6th January. It's a large, round bundt bread that is covered in glaze and topped with fruit jellies and powdered sugar. Two special surprises are baked inside: either a coin or a baby Jesus figurine and a dried bean (called
“haba”). According to custom, whoever finds the coin or baby Jesus figurine will have good luck and whoever finds the haba pays for the
roscón. It tastes
GREAT! Other sweet delicacies that feature prominently are
Panettones, Mazapan (particularly from Toledo - the world's finest),
Turron (nougat) and
Polvorones (like a biscuit, but with a drier consistency. They crumble into an almond and butter flavoured powder that dissolves in your mouth on the first bite, hence its Spanish name “powdery cake”. They are
REVOLTING!).
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| Nativity In Granada |
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| A Very Handsome Tree |
Probably of more importance than the symbolic tree is the Nativity scene (known as a
belen), and most houses display them. Indeed, I've never seen so many as I have on our travels around the countryside. Some aspects are fantastic, others curious. Things don't kick off until the 8th December when the lights are literally switched on, and Xmas trees don't appear until mid-month. Retail outlets don't gear up months ahead as they do elsewhere, in fact there is little commercialisation of the season. And of course, there's no such thing as Boxing Day Sales (Boxing Day is not a public holiday), instead the sales start on the 7th January; same mindset, just different timing. One of the absolute toughest things to grapple with is 'presentation'. Firstly, the Spanish do not give cards, pretty much for any occasion. Secondly, gift wrapping (again, for any occasion) is almost superfluous. Finding a roll of decent wrapping paper is akin to discovering a lost Faberge Egg. When you buy gifts from certain chain outlets, they have free gift wrapping stalls where you take your purchase and wrap it yourself in paper that usually has no apparent link to Christmas (unless you consider Mickey Mouse et al a part of Xmas!). Thankfully, my swell sister Sharon mailed us several reams of wrapping (and a few cards) and, on Xmas morning, under our tree looked spectacular - thanks Shaz.
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| Granada Plaza Mayor |
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| Plaza Mayor Christmas Market |
The Spanish do Christmas lights
MAGNIFICENTLY. Madrid positively glistened as did Granada and any hamlet or suburb we ventured into. Every tree is an excuse to hang up lights. We did an open top night bus tour of Madrid - it was bitterly cold but oh, so spectacular. And then there's the Christmas markets which, whilst not on the scale of neighbouring countres such as France, UK, Germany, Austria, were great fun, filled with stalls and happy people - even in tough times, the Spanish are delightfully cheerful and friendly.
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| See my new vest! |
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| Now I can Do Some Real Woman's Work |
Christmas Day for us was spectacularly bitter/sweet. There is
nothing like the unadulterated expectation, joy and, ultimately, elation (thank goodness!) on a child's face on the morning of the 25th (and I just
LOVE it that, even a worldly 10 year old was totally swept up in the moment and was clearly a
TRUE BELIEVER - you know what I mean!).The four of us huddled around the iPad to Skype with our families and friends back in Australia, and they were special, albeit a little sad, moments. The big ticket items from Santa included the Millenium Falcon Lego for Buzzy, the latest whizz bang Kindle for Dulcinea, a sewing machine for the Aimster (she seems serious about the fashion design thing!), and tickets to see John Murry for Don LegsyBoy - we all concluded that Papa Noel knew we had tried our best to be good. Then, in the finest tradition of the Spanish (they really are very well dressed and certainly have a sense of occasion), we then donned our finest (los ninos both had special new outfits and looked utterly fabulous, as did Dulcinea in her Xmas frock from 2011 - Santa didn't deliver any new clothes this year) and headed into The Westin Palace Hotel for
Brunch De Navidad under the stunning centenial dome of the La Rotonda restaurant. We enjoyed an outstanding, mouth watering smorgasbord banquet of traditional Christmas fare that was simply divine, from the first flute of Laurent-Perrier fizz, via the light-as-a-feather truffles,the shellfish, the jamon iberica, the gastrnomic sweet delicacies, I could go on and on. The staff were brilliant - never obvious, but always attentive. A quiet stroll up to Plaza del Sol to admire the lights and festivities capped off our day.
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| But Did The Oysters Work? |
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| Sibling Love |
You know, Christmas (indeed, anything) is what you want to make it. It can be as simple as the look of genuine delight on your housemaid or the security guard upon receiving a small gift. Life's too short to dwell on anything but the positives, and the LegsyBoys were truly blessed to be able to experience a Christmas in a foreign land, with a foreign culture. Did the white Christmas that los ninos (and grown ups!) were hoping for eventuate? No, but there's always the next one and we'll tick that box some other time. For the LegsyBoys, 2012 really was a memorable Feliz Navidad; I hope yours was too.
Onward towards 2013.........
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| Westin Palace Foyer |
DAY 2: Bayonne is only 8 km from the famous seaside resort of Biarritz, once the playground of the royalty and the aristocracy, but now even allowing the LegsyBoys On Tour into town. Let's get this on the table now - Biarritz is magnificent; it is deserving of more than the 4 hours we spent there. After finding a stable for Rocinante, we walked through the narrow streets down to the main promenade and seaside walk. Despite being a fine day, there was a constant haze in the air. Never mind, we found a promenade cafe and waited to place our breakfast order....and waited....and waited. Someone in our party 'cracked it' - alright, it was moi (see how easily I switch from Spanish to French) - and so we got up and left to test the service level at the cafe next door. Our order was obligingly taken and so we sat and absorbed the beauty of the place - the wide golden sandy beach, the architecture, the rocky outcrops of the shoreline, the rolling waves and the cavalcade of passers by....this is more like it. The bill came and I contemplated a second mortgage to cover it! (Travel tip: we had been warned, but France can be VERY expensive - yes, I've already said that, especially when coming from south of the border. The cost of a coffee has just gone up 150%!!).
