The holiday season in Spain officially and finally ended on Tuesday, January 7 – the day after “Tres Reyes” (3 Kings, and/or the Epiphany feast day), when the three kings brought presents to baby Jesus. Here in Spain, this is when most children get their presents instead of on Christmas. So, it is only this week that the holiday decorations are finally coming down.
Since returning from our CA visit, we have enjoyed the holiday celebrations in our own way. The season started here on December 21, with Santo Tomas, which is a local San Sebastian tradition. It represents the day that local farmers came into the city to pay rents to the landowners, sell their goods, and buy other supplies. The whole town commemorates this by dressing up in traditional dress and celebrating agrarian traditions. But, in the end, like most holidays, it is another excuse to eat and drink to excess. Of course, we joined in, meeting friends in the old city area for cider and chorizo, music, and laughs.
This year’s pig was named Ximona, the Basque version of Simone, and you can tell she had a lot of personality and seemed to enjoy her “15 minutes of fame.” It was a fun day that got cut short (for us) by a torrential downpour.
We “celebrated” Hanukah, Christmas, and New Year’s mostly by cooking at home and keeping it mellow. We’ve been fortunate to have decent weather – not a lot of rain, and plenty of sunny days, which allowed us to take several strolls along the beaches to enjoy the sunshine. And in the evenings, we enjoyed the extensive decorations that seem to improve each year. For the first time, the city decorated the Maria Christina Hotel (a favorite of ours), and there was a lighted globe that you could walk through.
We also enjoyed the local Christmas market, which had more than 40 stands. Our favorites were food related, of course, especially the ones selling candied nuts, homemade empanadas, and a special raisin bread we only see sold on festivals. On the evening of Tres Reyes we saw a super-fun magic show at the Kursaal, which was also lit up for the new year. The show included magicians from Spain, China, Germany, France, and Italy.
Now it’s back to reality – Spanish classes started up again this past Wednesday and the gym schedule will be back to the normal routine. Of course, Monday, January 20 is yet another holiday here with our third Tamborrada drum festival on the city’s patron saint’s day – 24 hours of drums and music. So, another day without class – which is ok with us. But before that, Jeff will celebrate his big birthday.
We have lots of travel plans in 2020 and we look forward to sharing those adventures with you.
Hasta pronto,
Shana & Jeff
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