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18 Tips for the Christmas Traveler to Sleep Like a Baby
Christmas is almost here, with all the wonder and flurry that it
represents. Traveling to other destinations to celebrate can be
both exciting and tiring, too, if not adequately prepared. These
18 sound suggestions will encourage you to have...
Christmas Joy
Christmas comes and goes at the same lightening speed as the bank balance. We put on a few pounds as the wallet is shedding its. Then comes the January sales "hooray" that s if I had any money to spend on them. Never mind I’ll just look and drool...
Christmas Toy Shopping Online – 10 Reasons
With the Christmas season approaching, here are 10 reasons to do your toy shopping online.
1. Child free. Trying to shop for the Christmas presents with your children in tow does not really work. Why not shop on the Internet when they are in...
Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes
One Recipe - Many Variations
There are so many Christmas cookie recipes around but often so little time to bake during the busy holiday season.
The solution? A great tasting basic cookie recipe that quickly and easily turns into such a variety of easy to make Christmas...
How To Give Great Christmas Gifts Without Spending Much Money.
Christmas is just around the corner and you are flat broke.
There are so many gifts to give. People you really want to
pamper, but you don't have the money to buy decent gifts for
everyone. So what do you do?
Well, you can make your own...
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Christmas in Spain
Christmas is a deeply religious occasion in Spain. The country's
patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season
officially begins on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate
Conception.
For those of you planning to spend Christmas in Spain, you will
find it is a far less commercialised affair to what you have
become used to in latter years in the UK. Unlike, in the UK
where the build up has already begun, the shops don't actually
start filling up the Christmas stock until December and you
certainly won't find a tree in anybody's house until the second
half of December.
I can understand the urgency to create a festive feeling early
in the UK. Imagine the grimness of winter without the glow of
shop windows, and the exciting countdown to the celebrations.
September to December can be a pretty mundane time of year and
we certainly need those mini festivals such as Halloween and
Bonfire Night to keep us going until Christmas. This year will
be my second Christmas in Spain and I kind of miss doing it the
UK way. However, what I certainly won't miss is that huge
anti-climax feeling that you experience post Christmas as we
endure the drudgery waiting for spring.
The main difference between a Spanish Christmas and the UK
version is the importance of the feast of the Epiphany on the
6th January. This is the day that the Three Kings arrived in
Bethlehem, on horseback. In Spain this is when presents are
given and the three "magic" kings, not Father Christmas give the
children presents. Parents encourage their children to write to
the Three Kings, in the same way that ours write to Father
Christmas. It is on this day, that people gather in the town's
streets to watch the cavalcades of the Three Kings in all their
glory, throwing sweets for all the children. In recent years
many families have started to give their children their
presents
on Christmas Eve because children have to go to school on the
7th January and they don't have time to play with their new toys.
Spanish Christmas is known as Navidad. It is still regarded as a
time to go to church and of course, exchange presents. Christmas
Eve is known as Nochebuena, "the Good Night". Families usually
gather around Nativity scenes (a belen) in their own homes. The
meal eaten on Christmas Eve is one of the most important meals
of the year. Seafood is widely eaten and families often hang a
'pata de jamon' in their kitchen and slice off cuts of cold ham
over the Christmas period. You won't be eating mince pies at
Christmas in Spain; here you find cupboards stacked with
Polverones, a cake/biscuit made with almonds, flour, and sugar,
and turron, similar to nougat, made with toasted, sweet almonds.
f you are thinking of spending Christmas in Spain, it is far
less stressful than in the UK as there is hardly any hype, think
UK Christmas in the seventies. However, for children it is
probably not anywhere near as exciting as in the UK. Everything
closes down over Christmas and you don't have the Boxing Day
sales to escape from the house to.
As Spanish television is pretty dire, even for us who can speak
and understand Spanish, my recommendation would be make sure you
have satellite television installed, bring some new DVDs and
some family board games, oh and don't forget the Sainsbury's
mince pies for festive homesickness.
About the author:
Susan Pedalino is Masters degree qualified in Intercultural
Communication and teaching English as a foreign language. Susan
regularly writes for Eye on Spain (www.eyeonspain.com). Having
moved to Spain to set up a business and buy property, she has
gained invaluable experience in buying off plan property in
Spain.
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