Girona and the Feast of the Three Kings
In the evening I headed to Girona to visit one of my very good friends from Pamplona, Maria. It was the 5th of January and the city was getting ready for the Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos ("Three Kings/Three Wise Men Parade") which would take place in the evening. In Spain, the Three Kings is huge, even bigger than Christmas for children since it's from the Three Kings that they receive their presents, and not form Santa Claus. They even write their letters / send their wish list to the Three Kings. In the cabalgata, the three kings would parade around the city in floats called carrozas and throw candy to the children watching from the streets. It's quite the elaborate parade with many floats, costumes, and candy.
The next day, the 6th was el Día de los Reyes Magos ("the Feast of the Three Kings"). We all woke up early (early being 9am), and Maria and her brothers had their gifts from the Three Kings in the living room. They were nice enough to surprise me with some gifts too! After opening our presents, we had some hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast. During lunch we had the traditional roscón de reyes, which is a ring shaped bread cake with dried or candied fruits. Traditionally, The roscón is divided among everyone, and hidden in the roscón is a bean and a miniature figure of one of the three kings. The one who receives the slice with the king becomes the "king or queen" of the day and wears the crown that all the roscones come with, while the one who gets the bean is supposed to pay for the roscón.
Speaking of traditions, Maria shared another one with me that is celebrated in Catalunya: Tió de Nadal ("Christmas log"). Tió means "log" and what happens is that a tree trunk is decorated with a face and some short legs so it looks like a sort of pet. The children the take care of it so that on Christmas day it will give them presents.
The day after the Three Kings is another day popular with the Spanish: it's the start of Rebajas or Sales. On the 7th, almost all of the stores in Spain go on sale, and you can get discounts anywhere from 20-70%. People usually save their money for rebajas or use the money they receive from the three kings to go shopping. The sales also last anywhere from 1-3 months. In Granada I saw several stores that said they're on rebajas until March 7th! Maria and I went out in the morning in some shops and there really were a lot of people. She told me though that there would be more people in the afternoon after teenagers were home from school and parents from work.
In the afternoon Maria had work so I walked around Girona by myself. It's a very very small city so I was able to wander around without really getting lost. Plus, Maria lives just 2 minutes from the train station so I just have to make my way back there and I know where I am. I walked around the old quarter of the city and went about exploring the smaller streets.
On my last day we walked around and I helped Maria practice her english before her lessons. (It actually felt a bit weird switching to English after speaking only Spanish for a couple of days). Then we headed to the park for a last drink before I left in the afternoon.
I had the best past few days soaking in the sun and spending some time with Maria. I really love how travel lets me reconnect with old friends. :)
The next day, the 6th was el Día de los Reyes Magos ("the Feast of the Three Kings"). We all woke up early (early being 9am), and Maria and her brothers had their gifts from the Three Kings in the living room. They were nice enough to surprise me with some gifts too! After opening our presents, we had some hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast. During lunch we had the traditional roscón de reyes, which is a ring shaped bread cake with dried or candied fruits. Traditionally, The roscón is divided among everyone, and hidden in the roscón is a bean and a miniature figure of one of the three kings. The one who receives the slice with the king becomes the "king or queen" of the day and wears the crown that all the roscones come with, while the one who gets the bean is supposed to pay for the roscón.
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| Picture of a roscón (from Wikipedia) |
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| Maria's brother Jordi was crowned the king |
Speaking of traditions, Maria shared another one with me that is celebrated in Catalunya: Tió de Nadal ("Christmas log"). Tió means "log" and what happens is that a tree trunk is decorated with a face and some short legs so it looks like a sort of pet. The children the take care of it so that on Christmas day it will give them presents.
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| Tió de Nadal |
In the afternoon Maria had work so I walked around Girona by myself. It's a very very small city so I was able to wander around without really getting lost. Plus, Maria lives just 2 minutes from the train station so I just have to make my way back there and I know where I am. I walked around the old quarter of the city and went about exploring the smaller streets.
On my last day we walked around and I helped Maria practice her english before her lessons. (It actually felt a bit weird switching to English after speaking only Spanish for a couple of days). Then we headed to the park for a last drink before I left in the afternoon.
I had the best past few days soaking in the sun and spending some time with Maria. I really love how travel lets me reconnect with old friends. :)
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