Three Kings on display
"Belen" in Madrid
Christmas Market in Madrid
Snow in Madrid....and the airport is in complete chaos!
Christmas --- champagne lunch on the sea wall in Puerto de Mazarron
Palm tree Christmas TreeFeliz Navidad….too bad the sound of those words always brings a really lame Christmas song to mind…..because that’s not all there is to Christmas in Spain!
Alison arrived on the Monday before Christmas. Airports across Europe were shut down because of a snow storm, she got to know Heathrow in London pretty well and Nelson spent from 6 pm to midnight waiting for her in the airport in Madrid. With her long dark hair and fasionable clothes Alison fits very well into the Spanish scene and she has almost equalled her Dad in the number of people who have asked her for directions.
Madrid was easy to get around using the metro, and we enjoyed the Christmas lights everywhere and the Christmas markets. The highlight for me was the Puerto del Sol, the pedestrian square in the middle of the city, where everyone was busy shopping, buying their "el gordo" lottery tickets, and checking out the scene. The "Three Kings" bring gifts to the children here on January 6/7th, so instead of sitting on Santa's knee the children visit the Kings....There are "belens" everywhere too, which are elaborate minature (or life sized, or even living) scenes showing the birth of Christ.....with embelishments such as Spanish villages in the backgrou nd.
We did not experience Christmas day in a Spanish way, though everything did have a special adaptation. The “tree” was Nelson’s inspiration - palm fronds raided from the ravine near our apartment and decorated with chocolate truffles! (For the first time ever I did not have to ask for help to take the tree down). Christmas dinner began with champagne on the sea walk outside the restaurant. If the picture were taken from the other side you would see palm trees and the sea shore in the background. We really appreciated all the Christmas greetings and packages that we got from family and friends in Canada. We were thinking of you too!
Don't know if you rec'd our e-mail but, in case you did not, belated seasons greetings. Glad that Alison got there safely. We've been enjoying your blog since Ryan got the address from Alison. Nice that we caught up with you in Spain - we spent three weeks in Andalusia in October and really enjoyed it. We look forward to following along the rest of the trip. Marg & Don
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