Belen

What you are looking at in these photos is a "Belen", which means a re-enactment of Bethlehem. The Spaniards love them. Most people create one in their home by buying little figures and animals. Kids make them at school with bits of moss and other Blue Peter like utensils. Jose apparently, being a budding architect, used to create amazing ones in his youth.

These pictures were taken in Valencia. We went down there on Wednesday to look for a flat and to do a few jobs at Jose's new office .......and we cames across these great Belens. The first three photos are from the life size Belen which has been erected in the Mercado Colon. The last two photos are from the mini civilisation that has been set up inside a shopping centre very close to the Mercado Colon. They were both really worth a look. The one in the shopping centre was so well thought out. There was a whole village set up with tens of narrow streets and homesteads. I loved it! I don't normally bother much about Belens but these two have really got me interested now and I am going to look out for other good ones over the remaining Christmas days. I can see myself getting into making these in years to come when we have little children. I'm sure Jose will be better at it though - he'll be calculating the weight bearing on the bridges and all sorts!

Exciting news on the Valencia front is that we found a flat that we both want to buy - jus two streets away from Jose's new office. I made an offer yesterday and so we now have to get into the game of numbers backwards and forwards. However, the owner is away skiing so we won't be able to move forward and reach a deal until after the holidays. Fingers crossed everyone.

S xx

"Oranges and Lemons" say the bells of Saint Clements

Hola,

As you can probably see, we spen thte weekend at the family farm. It was just the two of us and we had a really lovely relaxing time. Jose was actually ill - suffereing from bad cold / slight flu type symptoms ....but he still managed to have a good time. You'll see that he is not very smiley in the photo. I think he was having a poorly moment and I forced himto get off his bike and lean against teh hay in a farmer type manner. Poor lamb.

Its the season for oranges and lemons so our favoured bike ride route was sweet smelling and slightly more colourful than usual. We actually invented a new sport - bicycle polo - which involves trying to kick a stray orange whilst cycling past. Good fun but a bit messy as they often splat all over your trainers.

The first picture is not our farm house. We don't rough it that much! I'm sure I have posted pictures of the farm house before - its slightly more luxurious than the house in this blog! No, the house in this blog is one that we pass on our bike ride and I love looking at it and imagining what has gone on in there over the years. I thought I'd take the picture in sepia to add to the mysterious vibe that it has.

The second picture shows the rice fields. The Tortosa area is an important rice growing area but its not the season at the moment so what you see are empty rice fields. Its interesting to see all the water though. There simple yet efective irrigation system running all over the area. The area is a couple of miles from the largest Delta in Europe so the water is not a problem - hence the rice growing and hence Jose's family having the farm out there even though they don't actually come from there.

When we got back from the farm we booked tickets to go to San Francisco for New Year. You will remember that Juanita Banana is living out there - so being desperate to see her I ahve managed to pursuade Jose to come over there for a week for a spot of sight seeing and skiing in Lake Tahoe. I didn't have to try too hard to pursuade him, as you can imagine. He has never been to North America and has always wanted to ski there since he was a little boy. So he is just as excited as I am. I've been to San Fran twice, and North America millions of times ....but I'm literally jumping up and down with excitement to see Juanita. She doesn't actually know we have tickets yet - due to the time difference I am having to wait a few hours before I can call her. I'm sure that will cheer up her Monday.

So, photos of Goldne Gate to follow in a couple of weeks!

Happy Christmas everyone.

S xx

Christmas hampers, boxes and lotes!

Hi Bloggers,

Its nearly Christmas! Whoo Hoo! It really does feel like the festive season is upon me because I received our Christmas "lote" from Jose's Dad's business today. To you and I thats a Christmas hamper but there isn't any actual hamper. Its just a big cardboard box tightly packed full of goodies - a "lote".

Lote actually means: batch; lot; portion; share, or idiot.

Jose recieved our "portion" about three days ago but it has been sat in the boot of his car until now. These things are obviously not as important to him as they are to me. Maybe thats because he has been receiving his christmas "portion" for the last 12 years (oo er!). However, I have only ever recieved the following in the way of christmas hampers: 1. the spanish "lote" last year, and 2. a box full of lovely cheeses and chutneys from Fortnem and Masons the year before that from a client in London. So its all still quite new to me.

I have just opened up the box and here is what I found inside:

Jamon (obviously!), chorizo, cheese, red pepers roasted in olive oil, dates, salchichon (sausage), sobrasada (big suasage), walnuts, chocolate truffles, a box of chocolates, chocolate cookies, turon (typical desert from Alicante), marzipan shapes, chocolate turon, pina colada flavoured prailine, strange buns appearing to have hailed from a monestry, turon cake, almonds, "christmas buns" which don't seem at all christmassey to me, bottle of sweet white wine, bottle of normal white wine, two bottles of red wine, bottle of cava, bottle of vintage cava, bottle of chivas regal whiskey, bottle of gran reserva brandy.

Pretty good hey?! But, to me not at all christmassey. Where are the mince pies, the proper christmas pudding, the brandy sauce, the packets of sage and onion stuffing and bisto gravy, brussel sprouts (which I cooked last night by the way to warm Jose up to a week in the UK over christmas)?

Christmas is different in different countries (obviously) and until you live abroad you don't really realise how much you miss your own traditions. I don't miss seeing christmas cards being sold in August and shops totally decked out by October .........but I do miss seeing christmas trees with tacky tinsel everywhere. I do miss seeing pissed up youths and old people alike swaying through town with a santa hat on. In fact I miss santa! He doesn't really feature here. He is around but saying you are going to see santa is kind of like saying you are going to be your three year old a mobile phone. You are a modernist gone mad. Over here its the three kings that bring the presents - on the 6th of January! Personally I think this is rubbish for the kids because they have two weeks of school and then get their presents the weekend before they start back at school! My future kids are going to get there presents on Christmas day - regardless of what my spanish family thinks or says. They can have a few more when the old kings come. What do Kings ever give the people anyway - tourism?!

There is no real set christmas dinner here as far as I can see. In Britain you could bet your house, car and entire savings account on the fact that 80% of Britain are eating certain things (the other 20% percent are abroad). Thank God we are going up to Navarra for christmas (at Jose's aunty's) because here in Catalunya the tradition is a soup. A soup for crying out loud! I am not eating soup on Christmas day unless it is followed by all the trimings! I have no idea what will be served in Navarra .....but they are all big people up there so it must be more than soup. Musn't it?

Another thing I miss is seeing Christmas cards everywhere - which used to actually wind me up. Here no one sends them! I do, and the recipients all smile and laugh and look at each other and say "oh yeah she's English, she sends cards." They don't send them back though. Eusebio, our usher, actually had last year's Christmas card from us up on his shelves in the lounge until about August of this year - it being so special and all!

I have been receiving Christmas cards from English friends - thank you for those! But I must say the amount reaching me out here is definitely less than when I lived in London. You see I am out of the rounds of every Tom Dick and Harry at work sending you one. Also it is evident that some friends just don't know where the post office is - you know who you are!

We were supposed to be going skiing this weekend but due to global warming there is not enough snow! Bummer. Jose thinks that in a few years we might not even be able to ski in Spain, not before Christmas anyway. To console ourselves fro not being able to go skiing we are going to the farm to do a bit of moutnain biking and veggie picking. I'm hopeing for artichokes, oranges and lemons and anything else that is still growing. I may well take some photos and do a blog next week if the pickings are good.

Have a lovely weekend

S xx