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| Christmas in London! Beautiful tree in front of the Houses of Parliament |
The next day the three of us took a little trip to London and what a trip it was! Mother nature threatened to ruin our plans by giving us 20 mph winds and rain on that particular day. On our train ride to the city we were questioning our judgement of deciding to go haha as in "Are we crazy?!" and again as we stepped out of the Tube station . . . Just picture how our "adventure" started. . . my umbrella is attacked by the wind and breaks the second we step outside and Aaron almost face plants after tripping over a sign he didn't see. As I turn to ask him if he's okay I have to scramble to catch my scarf as it nearly blows away while also trying (and failing) to pull my suitcase behind me. The wind is blowing the rain sideways so we were getting wet no matter how much we tried not to and we're trying to figure out what direction to go to find the London Bridge. I couldn't do anything but laugh. "Who's idea was this?!" got passed around haha Our stomachs had been rumbling so we decided to help ourselves out and and escape the rain to find some food. We spotted a pizzeria and man am I glad we chose to go there! They had delicious pizza that was a lot like the pizza I ate in Italy (not quite as good of course) . .. thin crust and the size of plate but still only a pizza for 1. Sooo tasty! Then we indulged in some pretty great treats. Ice cream sundaes and snow balls that tasted like Mom's cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Mmmm mmmm gooooood! After we made our stomachs very happy, we ventured back out into the streets of London and were more than excited when we saw that it had stopped raining! Although still very windy, we could at least check out the sites without getting soaked. So we had a photo shoot in front of the London Bridge - okay I was being goofy and Meghann was experimenting with her new and amazing lens on her camera. Ohhh the looks we got from people passing by haha Then we entered the metro station to catch the Tube to go to the next destination and let me tell you- pulling a suitcase and getting on and off escalators is tricky business! Not to mention I've never been too enthusiastic to use an escalator (my general clumsiness doesn't mix well with the moving stairs) and I always think of one of my brother's classmates who got caught in an escalator and broke his ankle. I'd rather just take the stationary stairs...so anyway! we continued on to the Houses of Parliament/Big Ben and The London Eye which is a gigantic ferris wheel that overlooks the city. We were hoping to go in it but didn't have enough time. . . save that for another trip! :) I'm really glad we explored London at night. The architecture in that city is absolutely amazing and seeing the glow of the buildings at night was so beautiful. I think it just makes everything feel more....enchanted. After admiring the Houses of Parliament we went over to see Buckingham Palace. Something about standing at the gate of the Queen's house that gets you really excited. It was perfect going at night because we were practically the only ones there! So we got to go right up to the gate and poke our heads through the bars to check it out. They had a beautiful Christmas tree lit up in the front and it was a beautiful building to look at quite majestic- only fit for a Queen I guess :) Of course I had to imagine the Royal Wedding taking place, what a great day that had to have been. After spending a bit of time there we had to hurry back to the station to catch the metro so that I could get on a train to go to Luton to meet my friend Nic. Her family had invited me to stay with them for Christmas Eve/Christmas so she flew in from Barcelona and I met her and her family at the airport. What a sweet family they are! Welcomed me into their cozy home and made me feel comfortable right away. Christmas Eve was spent doing last minute shopping, playing Super Mario Bros on the Wii and meeting up with Nic's friends. . . not to mention a terrific Skype date with my family at the end of the night. Christmas morning was so lovely! Nic's niece Phoebe is 4 months old and totally precious so Nic's mom woke us up at 8 am with the best wake up call ever... "Nic! Maria! Wake up! Father Christmas came!!" and we all gathered in Sue and Brian's bedroom to open- what we would call- stocking stuffers on their bed. Watching Phoebe get her very first Christmas present was too precious. Then we headed downstairs so that they could open the presents under the tree. What a great morning! We lounged in our pjs until noon then had a delicious dinner. I spent the rest of the day snoozin and making Skype and phone calls back home :) It was really difficult being away from home during the holidays! I hated being away from my family. When listening to my Christmas music I could never listen to I'll Be Home for Christmas this season haha So terrible! Makes me realize how much I really do love an Indiana Christmas! but being in the home of such a great family and getting to spend so much time with Meghann made me feel more "at home" so I was very glad I made the decision to go to England.
The day after Christmas I headed back to Croughton to stay two more days with Meghann and Aaron where I got to experience the Bure Farm and it's delicious treats (you'll see in the pictures) and got to make a new friend, Ruby! We spent the night sipping cocktails, playing a new and modern game of UNO and rockin out to good music. Perfect ending to a great trip. The next day I had a grand photo shoot with Meghann and Aaron's amazing pups- Stryka and Sadie!... who made me realize I can't wait to have a dog of my own.... and then Meghann dropped me at the airport where we had to do my least favorite thing when going somewhere different, say goodbye. but I guess that part is always the worst. Aboard a 2 hour flight I made my way back to Spain safely and was happy to be back :)
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| Tió de Nadal |
Beginning with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, one gives the tió a little bit to "eat" every night (they usually place a plate with left overs from dinner in front of the tió and the parents remove the food on the plate while the kids are sleeping) and usually covers him with a little blanket so that he will not be cold at night.
On Christmas day or, depending on the particular household, on Christmas Eve, one puts the tió partly into the fireplace and orders it to "shit" (the fire part of this tradition is no longer as widespread as it once was, since many modern homes do not have a fireplace). To make him "shit", one beats him with sticks, while singing various songs of Tió de Nadal.
The tió does not drop larger objects, as those are considered to be brought by the Three Wise Men. It does leave candies, nuts and torrons. Roger and Anna got one big gift each, so it probably differs in every house. Depending on the part of Catalonia, it may also give out dried figs. When nothing is left to "shit", it drops a salt herring, a head of garlic, an onion or "urinates". What comes out of the tió is a communal rather than individual gift, shared by everyone present.
As it mentioned, they tend to celebrate the Three Wise Men coming more than they celebrate what we would think of as the birth of Jesus on Christmas. The 3 Wise Men come on the night of January 5th so the town has been preparing for them to come. A couple of my friends are on the 3 Kings committee so I've been getting the "inside scoop" haha On Friday they welcomed one of the King's helpers into the town with a small parade to greet the helper who rode in on a horse drawn carriage and was dressed in a golden robe. The children all went to see him to give him their letter that they had written to the 3 Kings for the presents that they want this year- much like what we do for Santa. On the night of the 5th, they have a parade through the village to welcome the 3 Kings and the families celebrate with dinner and the opening of presents. One of my favorite parts of travel- learning about different cultures and their traditions! :)
Although I wasn't here for Christmas and I won't be here for the coming of the 3 Kings- I was here for New Year's Eve which was a really great night/day. I slept in, went into Terrassa to do some shopping, came home and started making lunch for my family and another family, Ivet and Jordi who are great friends with Susagna and Toni. Their kids are 4 and 6 so they play really well with Roger and Anna. I made fajitas and homemade guacamole and we of course shared bottles of wine and ate until our hearts were content. The main meal is always followed by Cafe (coffee) and dessert and they never rush to get up from the table to clean up the mess or do the dishes. They sit and enjoy each other's company and chat for hours. After Ivet, Jordi and the kids left I took a siesta..and it was a good thing I did! They had all been telling me throughout the day that I would be watching the sunrise the next morning. This wasn't hard to believe. On a typical weekend I am always out until at least 5 am and have seen a few Catalan sunrises on Sunday mornings. These Catalans don't mess around with partying! So we began the night by all meeting at a friend's house to play some games and make dinner before midnight.... of course we didn't start making the food until past 10 o'clock which is not unusual. :) My stomach is finally getting used to the schedule! I think it's so great how they are always going over to each other's houses to make meals together. It's really nice and we never eat with plates or silverware on these nights. Only with our hands. I love it. So after dinner we had to get ready for midnight and their custom at midnight is to eat 12 grapes. One grape for every chime of the clock- now this doesn't sound like such a difficult task but when the grapes you are eating are the size of small golf balls it is not so easy! I was excited to give it a go and was anxiously awaiting the clock to strike twelve. . . all the while thinking that my family and friends back home still had 6 hours to wait until they saw the ball drop! When the clock finally clicked to midnight everyone gave a "Heyyyy!" and quickly started eating their grapes for every "dong" the clock made. The best part about this was watching each other eat the grapes. After everyone let out their cheer for midnight it got completely quiet because everyone was trying to practically swallow their grapes whole - no time for chewing - and as we watched each other eating them we all started laughing and grapes started flying out of everyone's mouths. Too funny! I was so far from being successful - I only ate 4 grapes I think :) After eating the grapes we all got in a circle, crossed arms and held hands and sang the "Auld Lang Syne" (them in Catalan, me in English haha) and cheers-ed with our Cava (champagne). Soon after that we had to run to catch the bus to Barcelona. We spent the rest of the night in the city and I did not arrive back home to sleep until TEN AM! Overall, a wonderful night with some great people!
So the start of the New Year has been great and I'm really looking forward to my first adventure of the year in The Gambia, AFRICA!!!!!!!! :) :) :) I leave in two days and couldn't be more excited! Getting to see Amber marry the man of her dreams will be wonderful and finally getting to see this amazing place I've been hearing all about for the past 2 1/2 years will be perfect. I finally get to actually be there and witness where Amber made her life for two years; get to meet her fiance! get to meet her Gambian family and see what home was for her. get to taste it, live it, breathe it and it's something I always hoped I would get to do. I am so so happy that I am getting the chance to do it! I'll be staying for 2 weeks. Obviously won't have much internet access but will update you all when I get back! :)
Here are my pictures! Picasa is acting up- so we're going with Facebook this time.
Christmas in ENGLAND!
Thanks for following me on my journey! :)
Love from Spain
xxxx
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