A Very Spanish Christmas and New Year

This Christmas, my boyfriend and I chose to remain in Madrid. We had considered returning to the UK but the prospect of confronting; the packing of many suitcases, the crazy airports and masses of people, delayed flights, bad weather, the hustle and bustle of the usual Christmas shopping frenzy (in ALL stores, but especially supermarkets, where food hoarders fight over the last Turkey!), the lack of personal transport and general malaise of UK Christmas cheer – in short, this bedlam really didn’t hold its usual appeal! So, we decided, sensibly, to stay put and experience a Spanish Christmas.

I admit, I was pleased and relieved to be staying in Madrid for Christmas, so too was my boyfriend. It saved us a lot of angst and hassle, plus, it has been great just having time to ourselves. We don’t seem to have enough quality ‘us’ time, and being here meant not having the usual obligations to please anyone, but ourselves!!! Selfish, it might be, but true!

In all, Christmas here hasn’t been such a culture shock. We have managed to buy the food we needed without hassle, without pushing and shoving and fighting in the aisles for the Brussel Sprouts or pigs in blankets! I did feel slightly peeved; I couldn’t buy any Mince Pies, Cranberry Sauce or my beloved Bread Sauce (the Spanish don’t know quite what they are missing out on!), and my home made gravy lacked its usual pizazz due to me forgetting to buy in extra stock cubes. Yet, regardless of this and the fact Spanish Christmas cakes and sweets just aren’t all that, we managed to survive!!!

We listened to Christmas songs and carols from King’s College Cambridge (the best Christmas carol choir service). We opened our presents, even though the Spanish wait until the Three Kings (6th January). We didn’t have a tree or any decorations, but then I knew we wouldn’t be buying those this year. We celebrated Boxing Day (26th December) by going out for a fabulous dinner and indulging in some lovely cocktails, although the Spanish don’t celebrate Boxing Day.

So, we didn’t miss out on anything really. However, I did think that it would be a quiet Christmas, as it was going to be just the two of us, but I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Nearly every night we have been out and about, far more actually than we would have been in the UK. On our doorstep are cafes, bars, clubs and restaurants. It has been easier to have fun and celebrate the holidays just because we are in the heart of the city. We can, on a whim, just go where we want, when we want and don’t need to rely on anyone else or fit into anyone else’s schedule. It has been great!

Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and friends to bits!! I also enjoy spending time with them, and miss them dearly!!! Yet, Christmas in the UK can sometimes become, well, a little bit claustrophobic. Let me explain; I think people get stuck in a Christmas rut, a routine whereby every Christmas ends up becoming the same, without any real changes. Most importantly, the fun factor is often left out of the equation for one reason or another. This Christmas though, hasn’t been in anyway ‘rutified’ (Definition: to be put into the mould of a rut – I know it isn’t a genuine word!).

This Christmas has been a change of scene, it has been something different, we have come and gone as we pleased and we’ve had fun. This is why for me, in many ways, this Christmas has been one of the best. I always wanted to go away for Christmas, but hadn’t felt I could before, because of not wanting to upset my family and make them think I didn’t want to be with them. It is considered to be somewhat selfish, doing your own thing at Christmas; it is after all fundamentally about being with family and friends.

Yet, by living in Madrid we had a legitimate reason for not being there with them at Christmas time, even though for the previous two Christmases we returned to the UK to be with them. This time, we wanted a change though, we wanted to make the most being in Madrid. We haven’t got that long a time remaining here, this time next year we will in fact have already moved back to the UK. So, understandably we wanted to maximise every opportunity that being here affords us, which includes, a Spanish Christmas.

Hopefully then, we haven’t been deemed too selfish, as I do know our family and friends have enjoyed their Christmases too (even without us there with them)!

So, now Christmas time is over (very nearly over), I have, as most people do, been remembering all that has happened in 2013. More specifically, the life I have lived here in Madrid during this time. Although being out here for these few years hasn’t been all plain sailing, I feel that this year has been a year for positive changes. I feel quite good about things. I am also feeling quite saddened by the prospect of not being here in Madrid for next Christmas. It does seem as though this chapter of my life will soon enough come to an abrupt close, and without any fanfare I will be back where I was, as though these few years in Madrid never happened. How weird!

So, for my boyfriend and I it is even more important than ever before to enjoy the time we have left living in Spain!!! This Christmas sort of encapsulates that momentum we feel, the fact that we want to have fun and experience life to the fullest without feeling bad about about doing so!!

Anyway, before I become maudlin, and I don’t even have New Years Eve as an excuse, let me say I have thoroughly enjoyed the ups and downs of my time in Madrid (and hopefully will enjoy the year to come)! When the time comes and we depart for the UK, I can take back with me a whole new perspective and life experiences. As someone, at sometime once said; “nothing good can last forever”; maybe not, but I can of course treasure the memories forever!

So, here’s to a fabulous New Year – for me, you and everyone out there in the world!!!

I shall be celebrating my New Years Eve in Puerta del Sol, drinking some alcohol and some eating grapes (not as strange as it might sound – it is a Spanish tradition to eat grapes as the clock strikes to signal the new year).

Where-ever YOU are and what-ever YOU do, have fun and enjoy every last minute of 2013!!!!!!

Madrid’s 3 Kings Parade – Cabalgata De Reyes

Last night I got to witness the celebrations, and parade of the 3 Kings or Cabalgata De Reyes here in Madrid.

By the teeming crowds and absolute bedlam, I think all of Madrid and then some showed up too! I think last years parades pulled in over 500,000; but standing there amongst so many people it certainly felt as though much more were present this year!

It was lovely being able to inhabit the roads leading down to Plaza de Cibeles without the usual multitudes of cars. The people of the city reclaimed the streets for themselves and the celebrations. The sun setting over the Metropolis building was lovely, with the soft glow of the Christmas lights hanging from the trees.

I couldn’t believe the crowds as we got ever nearer though; a sea of people were waiting patiently and without trouble for the night to begin and the arrival of the 3 kings.

The night began with choirs singing out carols in Spanish and English, then came the colourful and lively parade with beautifully decorated floats. It is customary for sweets to be thrown into the crowd, and this year was no exception. Apparently, during the parade 7000 kilos of sweets are thrown into the eagerly awaiting crowds. Many onlookers came prepared with bags and umbrellas to catch the tasty delights.

Here are some photos of evening, along with a couple of the firework display that ended the evening with a bang.

The view to Plaza de Cibeles as dusk falls.

One of the choirs singing beautifully to the masses.

Just a small glimpse of the massive crowd surrounding the area – which covered many, many of the streets.

The first of many parade floats.

Awwww, a Ballerina.

Alice In Wonderland – I saw but couldn’t photograph the wonderful Mad Hatter walking alongside the float. He was Johnny Depp’s replica from the movie!

Angel and the North Star – beautiful acrobatics from a girl attached to, and suspended from a floating balloon of massive proportion! I felt sorry for her in the freezing weather!

One of the 3 Kings

Another crowd shot after the parade ended.

The beginning of the fireworks.

Belated HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK people I am back in Madrid, and looking forward to resuming my online presence!

I trust all of you had a fabulous Christmas?? How about those New Year celebrations, were they wonderful and joyous??
May I ask, has everyone sufficiently recovered from the festivities?! I feel fresh as a daisy, well, at the moment anyway!

I thoroughly enjoyed returning home to see my family, unfortunately time escaped me once more and alas I wasn’t able to meet up with any friends. Regardless of that my Christmas was good and enjoyable 🙂

I have to admit though, since returning to Madrid I have become ever more increasingly aware that this MY home. Well, I get mixed emotions still; as I love the scenery of Wales, but I love my life here in Madrid. I think returning to Wales confirmed that I want to keep moving, travelling and exploring; I don’t enjoy a static existence! I also realise, more and more unfortunately, that there is so much I dislike about the UK!!!! The NHS, the welfare state, unemployment and the general misery – doom and gloom (or what I perceive as misery and doom and gloom)!

In short being back in Madrid for 2013 makes me happy 🙂

I am optimistic for this year, don’t know why, but I am! I feel for the first time in a long while that anything is possible and I am hoping to move on and up and firmly commit the past to THE past!

Hope you can all join me in this positivity (whilst it lasts)!!

Día de los Muertos y Dia de Todos Los Santos

This will be my first year experiencing Day of the Dead, All Soul’s Day/All Saints Day in Spain. Funnily enough I haven’t spoken to any of my friends here about what is usually done to celebrate in Madrid. So consequently I have done some research, and this is what I have come with.

Oh, an interesting note to add before hand; Día de los Muertos has an uncanny resemblance to original Celtic celebrations, which were also celebrated on November 1st. The Celtic peoples honoured their dead; believing that November 1st was a day of transition between the old and the new. The people made offerings to their dead of fruit and vegetables; as those who had died (the spirits) would travel to the land of the dead together.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) it is traditionally a Mexican holiday on November 1st; family and friends come together to pray for, and remember friends and family members who have died.

Traditions connected with this holiday include building private altars to honour the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, along with favourite foods and beverages of the departed. Visiting graves with these as gifts is part of the celebration too. They also leave possessions of the deceased at the grave.

This holiday has its origins dating back hundreds of years; Aztec festivals for the Goddess Mictecacihuatl were the inspiration.

Day of the Dead has connection with the Catholic holidays of All Soul’s Day on November 2nd.

In Spain Dia de Todos Los Santos (All Saint’s Day) is celebrated on November 1st. In Madrid the 1st has been declared as a holiday, and most businesses will be closed.

Ofrendas (offerings) are made on this day to the dead. Friends and families visit the graves of their loved ones; to pray for them, leave candles and flowers. People will travel back to their home-towns, and villages to offer their respects also.

Presents are often given to children too; usually sweets and toys (similar to Halloween).

Streets are congested with cars heading to the cemeteries, out of the city. Florists sell more flower arrangements than at any other time of the year. Bakeries produce special orders of specific pastries like Hueso de Santos (Saint Bones). This pastry is traditional and made of marzipan, egg and sugar syrup.

People in Spain are frequently named after a saint. As is the case in many other Catholic countries; consequently people have their birthday, as well as their saint day, in honour of the saint they were named after.

Another little fact to add is that the play ‘Don Juan Tenorio’ is also traditionally performed during this time in Spain. In fact, once a year for over a century this tradition had taken place!

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Happy ‘Fiesta Nacional de España’ Everyone!!!!

Happy National Day!!

Hispanic Day (Día de la Hispanidad) or National Day (Fiesta Nacional de España) is an annual national public holiday in Spain on October 12. It commemorates when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas in 1492.

The oh so severe looking Mr Columbus.

What Happens?

The King of Spain supervises the raising of the Spanish national flag in the centre of Madrid. He and the Prime Minister will then lead a military procession. This parade includes representatives from most of Spain’s military units and various military vehicles. Armed forces’ planes perform aerobatics above the parade route and display yellow and red smoke to represent the Spanish flag. Radio, television and Internet news services broadcast live on these events.

Another day off then?

Absolutely! Did you know that Madrid has celebrated 16 Public Holidays this year?! So many I feel I may have lost count and missed a few in-between!

Hispanic Day IS a day off work!!!! I would say normally spent at home, quietly, with family members and close friends, but, knowing Madrid I’d say more like an opportunity for a PARTY!

However, this afternoon, it is oh so quiet……

Generally many businesses and stores, except Opercor (super market) are closed. Public transport services have a reduced schedule too.

If National Day happens to fall on a Sunday, regional or local authorities can move the public holiday to a different date. Example: If October 12 falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, then many businesses and organisations will be closed on Monday October 11, or Friday 13 October.

Some people may use the long weekend to take a short vacation in Spain or abroad during these days. Either way it is ANOTHER excuse for a, party! ‘When in Rome’, well, Madrid anyway, it would be rude therefore NOT to follow their lead!