Christmastime in Spain
As Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas, during winter time, it is cold. The temperature has been getting lower and lower, though some days we're blessed with relatively warm weather (but still cold), around 14º-16ºC. It's normal now for it to stay below 11ºC, and so far I've only encountered -1ºC for the negatives, and just the once. On particularly nice days the sun comes out, and it's strong so we get a little bit of warmth.
But winter also means the start of Christmastime and it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here in Granada. We had been seeing the Christmas lights being set up all over the city for about a month now, but they lit up for the first time around December 6. (And they'll light up each night until January 6, the Feast of the Three Kings). All the major roads and the bigger side streets have their own design of Christmas lights, and they really are very pretty. They make the city quite festive.
While walking around one night, I also found out that Granada was recently awarded "City of Literature" by UNESCO. It's the first Spanish city to be awarded this honor. Granada certainly has a rich history of literature, especially for poetry. The famous Federico García Lorca was born in Granada and his contributions have been significant. There is a Federico García Lorca prize for poetry, and it is the most prestigious Spanish poetry prize, even on the international poetry scene. The city also hosts a poetry festival each Spring called the "Festival Internacional de Poesía de Granada." The city itself has also been a recurring theme in literature for writers, most especially the Alhambra.
Back to Christmastime in Spain... winter also means castañas or chestnuts. On every other corner of the main streets you'll see vendors roasting chestnuts which you can buy for €3 or €5. Getting a freshly roasted batch does the trick and warming you up a bit and making your tummy happy.
There are also several Christmas markets set up around the city. Though they're not as fancy or big as the ones in Paris or Germany, they still add some Christmas spirit to the city. Most of the stalls sell dulces (sweets) and toys or handicrafts that make ideal gifts.
Several stalls also sell figurines for making a belen, a nativity scene. Belens are another integral part of Spanish Christmas celebrations.
In many Spanish cities you will see life sized belens displayed. The one below is above a store, but they are more commonly found in churches, religious institutions or town squares.
While Lyle and I were doing some Christmas shopping the other day, we found a belen being housed in the Museo de San Juan de Dios. Entrance was free so we went in to check it out.
They had a whole village scene set up to depict the nativity.
Took a picture of the courtyard because it was pretty as well.
Last Sunday, Elisa invited me to check out another belen at the plaza near our house. This one was housed under a tent, but there always seemed to be a line to go in. Intrigued, I went with her to check it out.
I thought the other belen was big, but this one was something else. It had an even bigger village set up, most of which didn't seem to actually have to do much with the nativity scene, but eh, I guess they just wanted to go all out. (We weren't entirely sure if we were allowed to take pictures, so the ones below are sneakily taken blurred ones).
It's been fun walking around the city seeing the Christmas lights, so of course, we had to make our own apartment more festive for the holidays. We certainly don't have the means to buy a Christmas tree for our apartment but we improvised a bit. We some garland, ornaments, Christmas lights, and wine corks, we made our own Christmas tree. :)
Last Friday Elisa hosted a small Christmas get-together in our apartment. We prepared some snacks -- devilled eggs, mini pizzas, baked brie with raspberries, chocolate turrón and leche flan...
...and our Irish friends Paula and Orla made some mulled wine. It was warm and cinnamon-y, just perfect for Christmas.
We also did a small gift exchange. It was a lovely night hanging out with these girls chatting and listening to Christmas songs (which turned into reliving childhood memories with 90s music, haha).
But winter also means the start of Christmastime and it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here in Granada. We had been seeing the Christmas lights being set up all over the city for about a month now, but they lit up for the first time around December 6. (And they'll light up each night until January 6, the Feast of the Three Kings). All the major roads and the bigger side streets have their own design of Christmas lights, and they really are very pretty. They make the city quite festive.
While walking around one night, I also found out that Granada was recently awarded "City of Literature" by UNESCO. It's the first Spanish city to be awarded this honor. Granada certainly has a rich history of literature, especially for poetry. The famous Federico García Lorca was born in Granada and his contributions have been significant. There is a Federico García Lorca prize for poetry, and it is the most prestigious Spanish poetry prize, even on the international poetry scene. The city also hosts a poetry festival each Spring called the "Festival Internacional de Poesía de Granada." The city itself has also been a recurring theme in literature for writers, most especially the Alhambra.
Back to Christmastime in Spain... winter also means castañas or chestnuts. On every other corner of the main streets you'll see vendors roasting chestnuts which you can buy for €3 or €5. Getting a freshly roasted batch does the trick and warming you up a bit and making your tummy happy.
There are also several Christmas markets set up around the city. Though they're not as fancy or big as the ones in Paris or Germany, they still add some Christmas spirit to the city. Most of the stalls sell dulces (sweets) and toys or handicrafts that make ideal gifts.
Several stalls also sell figurines for making a belen, a nativity scene. Belens are another integral part of Spanish Christmas celebrations.
In many Spanish cities you will see life sized belens displayed. The one below is above a store, but they are more commonly found in churches, religious institutions or town squares.
While Lyle and I were doing some Christmas shopping the other day, we found a belen being housed in the Museo de San Juan de Dios. Entrance was free so we went in to check it out.
They had a whole village scene set up to depict the nativity.
Took a picture of the courtyard because it was pretty as well.
Last Sunday, Elisa invited me to check out another belen at the plaza near our house. This one was housed under a tent, but there always seemed to be a line to go in. Intrigued, I went with her to check it out.
I thought the other belen was big, but this one was something else. It had an even bigger village set up, most of which didn't seem to actually have to do much with the nativity scene, but eh, I guess they just wanted to go all out. (We weren't entirely sure if we were allowed to take pictures, so the ones below are sneakily taken blurred ones).
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| In fairness, the whole village scene had some pretty interesting parts. The well over there had real water, and some figurines had mechanical parts that made them move. |
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| This was the actual Nativity scene which was probably 1/20th of the whole belen |
It's been fun walking around the city seeing the Christmas lights, so of course, we had to make our own apartment more festive for the holidays. We certainly don't have the means to buy a Christmas tree for our apartment but we improvised a bit. We some garland, ornaments, Christmas lights, and wine corks, we made our own Christmas tree. :)
Last Friday Elisa hosted a small Christmas get-together in our apartment. We prepared some snacks -- devilled eggs, mini pizzas, baked brie with raspberries, chocolate turrón and leche flan...
...and our Irish friends Paula and Orla made some mulled wine. It was warm and cinnamon-y, just perfect for Christmas.
We also did a small gift exchange. It was a lovely night hanging out with these girls chatting and listening to Christmas songs (which turned into reliving childhood memories with 90s music, haha).
 |
| Yea, I don't know what's up with my sweater in that picture... |
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