On the 5th day of Christmas... unexpected guests

On the 5th day of Christmas we received unexpected guests at twenty minutes past four in the morning...

Five Wild Boar

Christmas has started...

Christmas doesn't really happen here in Asturias until this week, that is, the hype and madness that is associated with the run up to Christmas doesn't start until a few days before Christmas day. The street decorations, nativity sets, shop displays and Christmas tunes have been around for a couple of weeks but until this week, it wasn't really happening. It is a very different experience to Christmas in the UK, so quiet and very little of the frenzied must have mindset...thank goodness.

We drove to Oviedo this week to buy in supplies that we can't get here. Oviedo is about 50 minutes away by motorway. The roads were busier than usual and we must have seen... oh, at least 40 or 50 cars and vehicles....

The shops were well stocked with traditional Christmas foods and prices of key items such as seafood had risen sharply. The market was busier than normal with customers waiting patiently to be served their joints of meat, fruit and vegetables, fish and shellfish.

There was the usual display of Nativity sets outside Oviedo's wonderful Cathedral. Many shops in the area are dedicated to selling figures, miniature buildings, scenery and electrically operated effects that are built into nativity scenes in every church, many homes and numerous shop windows around town. One piece particularly amused us, it was a woman wiping a babies bottom - animated of course, with her arm moving up and down in a wiping bum sort of way...only in Spain.

There were a couple of Christmas markets and fairs open which we visited. There were sited near the central park. One was the usual bought in jewelry, leather goods, clothes and gifts which wasn't really up to much but the other was an Artesan Fair where craft workers display their creations with a few offering live demonstrations. There were some lovely items including pottery, jewelry, treen, games and puppets.

There was a demonstration in the city by Bomberos (fire-fighters) who were rallying support to prevent cuts in services, all was calm and many people were signing their petition.

The main event for many families will be Christmas Eve when a family meal is cooked. Some people will give presents on Christmas day but for the majority, presents will be given on the Epiphany on the 6th of January when the three Kings bring their gifts to baby Jesus. There will be grand parades in most towns and cities on the evening of the 5th January.

We take this opportunity to wish all of you who take the time to visit our blog, a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2015. We aim to keep telling tales from Asturias next year and hope you continue to pay us a visit from time to time either here on the blog or if you're passing....

Best wishes

Ian and Luis  

Happy Christmas - Feliz Navidad

To everyone around the world who takes time to visit our blogs, we wish you a happy Christmas.

We hope you have a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling 2014 - keep it simple.