Happy new year!

We would like to wish all our followers the best of times for the next year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are very happy that not only do we have our friends and family following us in the UK and Spain but we also have followers from other parts of the world. \in fact all corners of the world, such as Brazil, Russia and the United States of America. We really appreciate the time you spend reading our stories and we hope we are amusing your lives with our adventures. To all of you, we wish you all the best for 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our new years was different and quirky. We have spent it in Guisando. We are not particularly fans of new year. What is all the fuss about? It is just another day.

All these programs which are broadcast on TV for the entire week, remembering the year. What is the point? We prefer to look forward.

All these people exclaiming emotionally: “one more year” as the date gets closer. I like to replay: “one year less” – as my brother would cynically say – .

But we have had good new years. To be honest, the most remembered are the ones when we have been travelling. Mainly because we have hardly noticed them. Quite cool.

One year, back in 2001, we were climbing Toubkal, the highest mountain in Morocco.

Last year we were trekking in Sardinia. We did a very long trek on that particularly day. We were so exhausted that we went to bed at 10.00 pm. The fireworks woke us up at midnight, quite annoying! The next day, we went down to the beach and it was lovely and quiet. Everyone was still in bed resting from the night before.

Spain has a funny tradition to welcome the new year. People have dinner at around 22.00 and must finish by 23.30.This is because, at midnight, people have to be ready in fro,nt of the TV or in front of a clock of the main square of their town. They need to have twelve grapes in their hands. When the bells strike, everybody starts to eat the grapes, one grape per strike, until they have eaten them all. Thereafter, everyone hugs each other and wish them a happy new years. Then, the party starts.

Whenever we have spent new year in Spain, it has been in Talavera, at my parents’ place. We are bored of that. So, this year, we have invited my parents, brother and Nuria to spend it in Guisando.

What’s for dinner? We will roast a leg of pork that my mother has had in the freezer for a few weeks. With it, we will roast some potatoes. That should be enough for the six of us. For a starter, I will make a cauliflower soup from the left overs we had from xmas.

Below, the leg before it went into the oven. It is 16.00. As it will take good three hours to roast, we shall leave it in the oven and go and play ‘pocha’ in the meantime with my parents, Juani and Felipe (my parents’ friends). Check out the cute little tail, trying to escape the tin…GDR

My brother and Nuria turn up at 21.00. Dinner will be ready in half an hour.

We finish dinner at 23.00. Still one hour before new year, the peeling of the bells and the scoffing of the grapes. There is enough time to play the last game of ‘pocha’ of the 2014– gosh, we are so addicted to this game! – .

Five minutes before the strikes, and we are still playing. My mother is getting nervous. “Come on, let’s put the TV on. We are going to be late for the grapes” she says. Gary and I have a different suggestion. “Let’s go down to the square and eat them in front of the clock. There is no harm in doing something different for once”.

We take the grapes and drinks and run to the square. We get there a minute before midnight. My mother is not happy at all. She is not prepared to welcome in the new year. Such a disaster

The square is pretty much deserted. Only Juani, Felipe and Enrique a friend of theirs who has come all the way from Madrid. A family is also wandering around with children.

So, no crowd, no shouting, no fuss, just how we like it. Everything is so simple, rustic, modest and backwards in our precious little village, in our lovely little home.

The town hall has lit up a big fire in the middle of the square. We have heard from the locals that, when the party starts later on at night, the young people come down and gather around the fire with drinks to celebrate until the early hours of the next day. I don’t think we will be joining them.

Here is my mother (right) with Juani, her best friend, getting roasty-toasty by the fire. It is now 13.00, a few young people have now come down to the square. Guisando is getting ready for the big party!

We notice that some guys are looking at the nativity displayed in the nearest shop window.

This nativity has been put together by my father. He is a fan of nativities. When I was little, I used to help him putting them up at home every year. He even bothers to use real saw dust, grass and even water for the river.

I got into a bit of trouble regarding the nativity, but luckily we are still just about talking. Now there is a tradition in Spain to place a ‘caganet’ in the scene. This is the character all the children love to find. This character is a man, with his trousers down, taking a shit. Now I am not sure what jesus will make of this level of mockery while celebrating his birthday. I suspect he will be a bit pissed off on his return.

I also like to point out, electric lamps in the manger had yet to be invented, swans are not part of the wildfowl of the middle east, windmills, especially those very Spanish Don Quixote type ones are not prevalent in Bethlehem. They wouldn’t be eating pigs, they are Jewish and some of the buildings are just too small, the characters can’t get in them. Just asking for a bit of historical accuracy here, and any opportunity to take the piss out of religion….GDR

When my brother and I grew up, we cared less about his hobby. So now, as he is a member of the retired people’s association of Guisando, he has seen the opportunity to get into it again and has asked the town hall for permission to put one on display, here, in the main square.

Ok. We have had enough of new years. Let’s go back home and play a few board games. It is just too cold.

 

We would also like to talk about another tradition around xmas time in some South European countries: the magic kings. This legend comes from the bible. Apparently, three kings went to visit the baby jesus and offered him three presents: oro, incienso y mirra. This is where our tradition to give each other presents come from. We don’t get presents on xmas day.

The magic kings festivity is celebrated on the 6th of January. The night before, the town halls of Spanish cities,towns and villages organise the magic kings’ night. People dress up as magic kings and get on carrozas driving around the town, giving out sweets and presents to the children. Children go to bed really excited. They don’t get much sleep waiting impatiently for the next morning, when hopefully, there will be lots of presents for them around the xmas tree.

So tonight, we are going to see the magic kings of Guisando. Believe it or not, although a 300 habitants village, it has also a magic kings night, quite modest as you can imagine. Three tractors, driven by a king each go along the bottom road and end up in the square.

Children follow the tractors with torches in their hand.

We also follow them. We have noticed that the kings don’t throw out sweets to the children when driving around. We heard later that one year, a boy got so excited that he ran under one of the tractor’s wheel and got run over . jesus! this can only happen in Guisando.

Following the tractors is actually quite boring. Let’s take a left and go to the nearest bar in the square to wait for them. We won’t get any presents (too big and ugly for that) but we hope we will get hot chocolate and ‘roscon de reyes’ the typical Spanish desert at this time of the year.

We put together this funny video that hopefully, captures the ‘spirit’. Don’t get overexcited!

This is the Guisando’s xmas tree this year. Quite mean. Our taxes don’t allow for a more sophisticated one. The crisis has come to Guisando as well.

This is really ironic. They get one of the locals to go into the forest and fell a tree. It just so happened that he choose the mankiest, sparse, flea ridden tree he could find. GDR

The kings have finally arrived. Children are queuing to get their presents. We suspect it will be still be a while before that hot chocolate arrives. Forget it. Let’s have one back home.

SM