I don't even know why he had to ask. He should have just booked me a ticket then and there, except it was in DECEMBER. I still haven't recovered. I usually send John's family caramels for Christmas. I'm shooting for Valentine's day. I was also going to shoot for Valentine's cards instead of Christmas cards with a brand new shiny family picture on it. I wouldn't ask how that is coming along. For that to work, all six of us would have to be in the same place at the same time. At this point looking well groomed and dressed would be optional.
My life in December felt like that book John Grisham wrote- 'Skipping Christmas' or the movie made from the book 'Christmas with the Kranks' or whatever it's called. "Sorry, we're not doing that this year, we're going to SPAIN instead!! Merry Christmas!"
Honestly, I'm not sorry though. It was awesome.
For starters, I had hot chocolate at least once a day. Sometimes more. With churros when I could get them.
 |
| Blood Orange hot chocolate. Orange and chocolate are my favorite combo. |
 |
| So thick you can rest a spoon on it. It was like drinking good quality melted dark chocolate. I was a wimp and had to add lots of extra sugar. |
Just a little bit of info- Although technically speaking, Barcelona is located in Spain, they don't consider themselves Spaniards. They are Catalonians. From Catalunya. Which is not Spain. Even though the map says it is Spain. They don't even speak real Spanish. (Which I was so disappointed in. I took three years of Mexican Spanish, which is slightly different than Spain Spanish, and have never been to Mexico, so I was really excited to finally be able to use my mad skillz.- Words like "Hola!" and "Gracias!" and "No hablo Espanol.") Catalonians speak their own version of Spanish, which is more like a crazy mash-up of French and Spanish. And then supposedly some Prince at some point had a lisp, so now the whole region has a lisp and it's not 'Barcelona' it's 'Barthelona' and it's not 'gracias' it's 'grathias'. (which, forever reason, I couldn't say. I would totally stutter trying to say "grathias".) Anyway, don't expect to find any Flamenco dancing, or Bull fighting, or anything else traditionally Spanish. They like to have their own customs.
And that includes Christmas.
I've always wanted to travel abroad during the Christmas season. I thought that would be so cool to experience another culture during Christmas time. I did some research online before hand so that I could more fully appreciate what to look for when I was there. I think I got more than I bargained for. It was a little disturbing.
One thing I did think was pretty cool were all the Christmas markets. Most of the stalls in the markets were selling pieces you could add to your Nativity. Here in America, we have a little Nativity with Mary and Joseph and Jesus, and then we might add the Three Wise Men, a shepherd or two, and maybe a couple animals. And that's pretty much it. Near as I can tell, people over there take their Nativities pretty seriously, and seem to add on to them each year. You could add almost anything 'a-la-carte'. Bridges, and wells, and people, and animals, and buildings. Their nativity isn't just one stable, they have Bethlehem itself on display. So that's pretty cool. I would have liked to seen someone's display in their home.
What I thought was a little weird though, were the Caganers. A Caganer is a little figure that is supposed to bring good luck in the next year. Something about fertilizer and fertile fields and crops and all that. He's a traditionally dressed Catalonian farmer who is, well, squatting and pooping.
I bought this Christmas ornament because it combined the weirdness of it with the Gaudi style. (a huge architect in Barcelona. More on him in a bit.) My kids don't like it. I put it on the Christmas tree and would find it hidden behind other ornaments or on the back of the tree, etc.
In America, we have Santa. We take our kids to the mall, stand in line, have them sit on some strange guy's lap, they tell him what they want for Christmas, pictures are taken, and the kids usually leave with a candy cane in hand.
In Barcelona they have Caga Tio.
It's a log with a face and a hat that kids take care of. They wrap it in blankets and keep it warm all December, then when the appropriate day comes they sing it a song and beat it with a stick and hope that it will poop out candy and toys. The song (translated into English) goes something like this-
"Caga Tio hazelnuts and turron
If you don't want to poo
We will hit you with a stick"
They had a giant one at one of the Christmas markets, (probably their version of a mall Santa) I watched kids sing to it and beat it with a stick and then a girl reached under the blanket near it's rear end and pull out a sucker for the kids.
Wow this is getting long and all I've covered is hot chocolate, interesting Christmas traditions, and some random artwork I stumbled across. Wait until I get started on Gaudi. He's my new favorite architect. Weird as he is, I couldn't get enough. That will have to wait until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment