Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Three Kings Day

I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it, but I managed to get two weeks off of work for Christmas, which was nice because my parents came over to visit.

Here are some pictures of all the festivities and trips we've taken over the past three weeks.

Over the years Jose and I have created our own Christmas and New Years traditions and every year we add some new ones. This year I made gingerbread cookies from scratch for the first time. It was fun. Now I have a new Tojo Edwards family tradition :)



We spent Christmas Eve with Jose's parents and Christmas day with the whole gang. There were 14 of us total. Christmas with the Tojo Ramallo family is very different than with the Edwards family. There's lots of noise, lots of arguing and shouting, and lots of food and partying. For someone who doesn't understand Spanish, one might think everyone was angry with each other from all the yelling and strange facial expressions, but no, just the opposite. That's just the way everyone is...no one's angry or upset, it's just a typical, boisterous spanish conversation! But maybe the most shocking are the various 6 course meals we eat on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day. We all need to go on diets now.

Between Christmas and New Years we took my parents on a 3-day tour of Portugal. The four of us drove down in a small 1989 Volkswagen Golf to Lisbon and then worked our way back up stopping along the way at Fatima, Aveiro and Porto.

Lisbon is a giant city like Madrid that's pretty much in ruins. But like I told Jose, it's falling down, yes, but it does it so gracefully. We took a trolly ride through the old city and got a glimpse of life in Lisbon.

Fatima is where the virgen supposedly Mary appeared to three kids in the woods. Now it's a tourist attraction like Myrtle beach full of glow in the dark virgen Mary's.



Aveiro is Portugal's "Little Venice". A small beach town with canals and typical portuguese fishing boats.

We stayed the second night in Porto, which is most famous for it's Vinho do Porto wineries. We took a tour of two of the most famous ones, Ferreira and Sandeman.

After our Portuguese tour we came back to Santiago and rested up for our big New Years Eve bash. Prawns, lobster, fish, beef, mousse, wine, champagne, liquour, music, dancing, 12 grapes, party masks, hats, confetti and noise makers.

After all that partying we needed a little peace and quiet so we headed off on a day trip to the Ribeira Sacra (my favorite place in Galicia by far).

And last, but not least, the "Reyes Magos" (Three Kings or Three Wisemen). On the night of January 5th the 3 Wisemen come on camel and leave toys for the children. The kids write them letters telling the wisemen what they want and they give the letters to the Royal Postman who delivers them. Just like with Santa, the kids leave cookies and milk (or brandy :))for the wisemen and water for the camels. Then on the morning of the 6th all the kids run to the Christmas tree to find what the wisemen left them. The wisemen were in Santiago last night :)

(pictures taken from the newspaper, El Correo Gallego)