We know from living abroad before that you can’t recreate an English Christmas in a foreign country. It just doesn’t work so we knew that this Christmas was going to be and feel very different.
We decided that we would take 3 days off from Christmas Eve until Boxing Day and just go and do the things that we enjoy the most in those three days. For us this generally means getting out into the fresh air, walking and for hubby the most important factor – picnics!!
Christmas Eve saw us up bright and early to decorate the caravan, eat some mince pies and listen to some Christmas CD’s – all very traditional so far. Then we made up a picnic and headed off to find a little village called ‘Comares’ that is stuck up on top of one of the mountains behind us. Every night we look up at it from the campsite. The lights twinkle in the night sky and are so high up that you wonder just how anyone gets up there.
Christmas Eve was a perfect day, clear blue skies and sunshine so we knew the views would be stunning. It took about an hour to drive up, climbing and twisting along little lanes with ears popping every few minutes. We parked the car near the top of the village and got out to explore. It felt very old and medieval walking around the little streets. Once again we marveled at how fit you have to be to live in one of these villages as the alleyways are so steep and windy. Once at the top the views around us were as stunning as we had imagined and you could see straight out to the sea in one direction and across to the mountains in the other. We walked around for quite a while before making our way back to the car. As we got close we happened to look up and there were four eagles circling around overhead. We had read that they are quite common in this area but we never expected to see one let along four. They were amazing, just gliding around, never flapping their wings once, and sooooo big………
Back in the car we started to head off in search of a good picnic spot when we saw an old man and his donkey coming up the road. The donkey was laden down with sacks and bags just plodding along. I love donkeys and so out came the camera!! The man looked at us quite oddly as he went on his way.
Picnic over we headed back home to prepare for the following day.
Christmas morning dawned bright and sunny and after a hearty breakfast we got on the internet to talk to family back home via Skype. First up my parents and then one of my sister’s and her family. It was lovely to see my nephews who were full of excitement and been up for some hours it would seem. Then a chat with my best friend before we closed it all down and started to prepare lunch. We cracked open a bottle of champagne to get the celebrations going properly and enjoyed a day full of food, drink and relaxation. Perfect.
On Boxing Day we headed down to the beach and walked along the promenade for a few miles. Again it was a lovely sunny day and their were lots of people out and about, running, cycling and helping children with new bikes, roller skates and skate boards. Another picnic followed before we headed for the mountains and had another little walk around a reservoir. We parked up in a lovely wooded picnic area and laughed at the fact that there were loads of brick build bbq’s – health and safety back in the UK would have had a field day but here the attitude is more relaxed and it seems people are encouraged to enjoy the outdoors more.
So, we had a lovely few days enjoying the great outdoors with a smattering of festiveness added for good measure. Not our typical Christmas for sure but good fun just the same. Here a some pictures of our exploits…..
Christmas decorations
Comares
Eagles and Donkeys
The Beach
The Lake
Helen's European Journey 