We spent New Year's Eve at a church dinner with new friends. Amazingly, 18 different countries were represented. We were the only non-native Spanish speakers (though to call us Spanish speakers is still a stretch).

Here are my boys waiting on the subway platform, at 3am, on our way home. The event began at 9pm, which sounds just right for a New Year's Eve party, right? This is, actually, the normal time in Spain one would meet for dinner, though it's a bit on the early side.

We enjoyed a traditional meal of paella, thinly sliced sausages and flan. The tradition here is to stuff a grape into one's mouth for each dong of the clock striking midnight. Apparently the official dongs of the clock in Madrid (like our Times Square) are slowed down a bit to accommodate grape-stuffing. It was hilarious. The seeds threw Duane off a bit, so he only made it to 6 grapes. Charles and Daniel made it to 9 and 8, respectively. Sarah filmed the event so she enjoyed the grapes later with the champagne.

Celebrating "Dia de los Reyes" (Epiphany) was the final holiday celebration. The day before, we attended the "Cabalgata de Reyes" and flocked, along with the other 4 million residents of Barcelona, to the marina to see the three wise men arrive by boat, supposedly passing through on their way to find Jesus. Though it was overcast and near dusk, it was a magical event and excitement hung in the air as children anticipated the many gifts the kings would also bring to THEM! A grand parade followed.



On "Dia de los Reyes" Charles and Daniel awoke to find the kings' journey to Bethlehem had even brought the wise men through our apartment. Perhaps the poop-centered Catalonian traditions are getting to me, or perhaps it's the influence of 2 young boys, but breakfast included a crepe star which, no doubt, is what led the kings to our apartment, and pee (apple juice) and poop (chocolate spread which is Spain's equivalent to peanut butter) left by the kings' camels.





The kings left better presents than their camels: not gold, frankincense, or myrrh, but more Spanish Pokemon cards!

Our Barcelona holiday celebrations came to an end as the final piece of the "roscón de reyes," a special cake eaten on "Dia de los Reyes," disappeared into Daniel's mouth. Fortunately he took out the hidden faba bean first. He'll be buying the cake next year!

Happy New Year!

Here are a few pictures from the holiday season in Barcelona. Our Christmas tree was a paper tree taped to the wall and decorated by the kids. It worked well enough as there was plenty of space under it for presents!

On Christmas we hit our well-cared-for Caga Tio who delivered favorable droppings. Fortunately Daniel had celebrated Christmas with a Caga Tio at school, so he was able to teach the rest of us the song.

The translation of the song is,

"Poop log, Christmas log. Don't poop herrings, which are too salty, poop turrón, which is much better!"

Turrón is like peanut brittle. A curious Christmas tradition that will most certainly live on in our family. Here's a video of our Caga Tio celebration.

Apparently a common hostess gift around the holidays is a dried, whole pig leg. Actually, one finds them hanging around all year, but at Christmas time, the legs seem to take over grocery stores. Whole walls are covered in them and Christmas tree displays are formed out of them. Each leg pictured here is about 2.5 feet long...We opted for the turrón.

Spanish nativity scenes include a whole countryside, much different from the manger in a stable to which we're accustomed. Here is Escola Augusta's giant scene. However, this one did create a bit of disappointment. We couldn't find the traditional Catalonian caganer anywhere! The caganer is a figurine of a pooping person hidden in the scene. The idea is that he's fertilizing the earth which will ensure a good crop next year. Think this is strange? It's a Catalonian tradition from the early 18th century. If you want to read more about it, click here.



Duane and Sarah sang in the Christmas choir at church. Two of the songs can be heard on youtube. We also sang the Hallelujah Chorus in Spanish. That was fun, but nobody stood up.

Mas allá by Gloria Estefan

Es Navidad by Marcos Witt