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Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

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Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Tue Dec 05, 2017 11:43 am

Good Morning from Madrid ..

We have National Holidays here in Spain and are on a brief whirl wind of last minute Christmas shopping and tapas crawling ..

December 6th is Constitution Day and the 8th is Saint Immaculate of the Military. The 7th, most people have taken a long extended 5 day weekend if they could get time off from their jobs ..

We left Monday the 4th at 7am for a half hour flight to Madrid to catch up with dear friends who live in Madrid and do some last minute shopping ..

We shall return on Monday the 11th to Barcelona at 9am in Barcelona Prat Airport ..

One of the highlights of this get away is to see the Christmas decorations, go shopping, dine with some dear Friends and see a film (comedy) we had missed in Barcelona, with Actor Eduard Fernandez, called Perfectos Desconocidos, The Unknown Perfects ..

Have a wonderful day ..
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Dec 05, 2017 12:04 pm

I need to do more shopping but not much

They haven't put the winter lights up on the local High Street yet, seems late.

The ones on Oxford Street and Regent's Street are up, same as last year. Quite good, but oddly only every alternate block on Oxford Street which to me doesn't quite work

Tomorrow (6th) is St Nicholas (Santa Claus!) day, so children in the Netherlands and Germany will be putting their shoes out for presents, I have friends and relatives over there so tend to bear this in mind

My tree will go up in a couple of days
Have a good trip

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Renée » Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:55 pm

It's so nice to see the displays of Christmas lights on houses in my area and the towns are nicely decorated.

I shall be away, staying with my man friend Colin, for a couple of weeks at Christmas and he wants Hampshire pork loin for the Christmas meal.

I am quite organised and just have the Christmas cards to write.

Have a happy time in Madrid, Alexandria!

:chrissytree1

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Joanbunting » Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:21 pm

Have a lovely trip Alexander. I used to love Christmas in the city - just about any city.

These days i tend to buy presents when and if I see something that makes me think of the person I'm buying for - so all year really. Postage is so expensive these days I now order on line a lot too

Yesterday i planted the wheat as is traditional. Today we have put up the tree - always a real one and decorated it with lights. The decorations, some of which are as old as me,will be added later in the week.

At the weekend Pere Noel will visit the hameau to give the children small gifts, but before that the children will decorate the village Christmas tree. The adults will provide goodies - i alsways make mulled wine, vin chaude and mince pies. These days they are well known here and they are pronounced maince peas.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Pampy » Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:24 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:
Tomorrow (6th) is St Nicholas (Santa Claus!) day, so children in the Netherlands and Germany will be putting their shoes out for presents, I have friends and relatives over there so tend to bear this in mind


I remember the 6th being called "Sint's Dag". The 25th December was a day for religion, rather than giving presents. It always amused me that in the Netherlands, Santa Claus comes from Spain in a boat rather than the North Pole in a sleigh - probably because they've so many canals!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Gillthepainter » Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:09 pm

Added complications chez noo.
Tony's ordering gifts via my own Ebay account and Amazon.

So I'm having to ignore the email confirmations, and deliveries have my name on them. So far, I've avoided finding out what they are.

New antique table has just arrived via manvan delivery.
New Danish chairs bought at the weekend.
My Tiffany candlesticks will look wonderful on there.

Enjoy your travels Alexandria, and everyone else have fun doing your prep and plans.

Basket weaving tomorrow .......................... Tony wants me to make some placemats, but I've weaved a nut platter before, that's enough.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:08 pm

@ The Gilt Painter,

Thank you very much .. And thanks for all the feedback ..

:chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:16 pm

@ Stokey Sue,

Wow, interesting customs in The Netherlands & Germany .. Ámsterdam is an amazingly charming and enchanting city .. We have Italian Friends who opened a restaurant there ..

One learns something new every day ..

The electricity rates have rocketed here in Spain, so considering this many of the city´s streets dim their lights however, with National Holidays here (6th is Constitution Day and is a bank holiday and the 8th is Saint Immaculate of the Military ) there are many tourists from other parts of Spain and our neighbors, The French, The Italians and the Portuguese predominately .. Madrid is packed full of Christmas Shoppers and the main boulevards are chockful of both locals and visitors ..

Have a lovely evening .. We are discussing where to for tonight for a tapas crawl and wine ..

:chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:25 pm

@ Joan Bunting,

Thank you for your feedback and sharing your local village customs ..

It is a great idea, to buy a few gifts during the year, however, I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the season in the urban centres & the decorations and Christmas Street Markets ..

We travel locally every year to Madrid or another urban metrópolis in Spain ..


Your village activities sound extraordinarily fascinating surely ..

:rudolph1

Have a wonderful pre-holiday season.


:chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:27 pm

@ Pampy,

:wave :wave


I have never heard that Saint Nicolas comes from Spain !

:wino However, we are a sea of wine and olives !!

Have a lovely holiday season .. :tiptoesanta :tiptoesanta
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:49 am

Wednesday Madrid Adventures Continued ..

This city boasts a new look during the pre and Christmas holiday season. The Plaza Mayor plays host to to the traditional open air market and is a must visit .. and the historical Nativity scenes are showcased throughout the city ..

The Christmas lights, are simply spectacular ..

For those who do not know Madrid, there are official guided tours from the Plaza Mayor Madrid Tourism Office ..

One of our favorite museums in Madrid is the Sorolla, which showcases the Valencian artist Joaquin Sorolla .. The majoity of his paintings are gardens and seascapes.

Our Wednesday Gastro Adventures:

Our lunch was a simple tiny Greek Tavern, called Delfos Taberna in the Callao neighborhood, operated by a young Greek woman who grew up in Madrid and took over the restaurant of her grandmother and mother, close to the Plaza Mayor .. We shared a variety of classic regional Greek Mezze and had a bottle of Crete, Rosé which paired perfectly with the various Mezze ..

Dinner: Spaniards dine later than most other Europeans as our lunch times are: 13.30 - 16.00. So, at 21.00 we strolled over to a lovely little Italian Trattoria called, Enzo´s where we had a light Italian dinner .. We shared an amazingly noble nosed full bodied bottle of Tuscan Oak Aged Red, and delved into the stunning Veal Carpacchio .. Our main courses were risotto, which we shared, one with prawns and one with boletus ..

Dessert was a tiramisù which we shared and we each had a glass of Sardinian Port Wine which was simply sensational ..

We strolled back to the hotel ..

:tiptoesanta :rudolph1 :rudolph1

Goodnight for now ..
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:02 am

I sadly did not have such a nice dinner (though my chili was very good) but I have been to Myra in south western Turkey, St Nicholas was Bishop of Myra and his basilica still stands

Weirdly, there were two statues of him in front of the church
One in the Byzantine style, one similar to the Coca Cola Santa! I think that one has been removed

Not sure why the Dutch associate him with Spain unless it has some connection with soices etc being brought by the Spanish

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:12 pm

@ Stokey Sue,

My husband and I were in Turkey back in the 1990s .. We enjoyed the fabled ruins of the ancient Ephesus in Kusadasi, Port of Call Antalya and Istanbul and its´ Central Market .. I recall the Hazelnut Tarator, a creamy nutty and garlic fusión dip or sauce which is paired with Denton, Gilt Bream or Bass and other fish of the Eastern Mediterranean ..

Most memorable were the sleepy fishing villages of Bodrum, Marmaris and Kas, which had turned into ports of call for affluent Yacht owners ..

Kusadasi signifies "Bird Island" in Turkish and is a jumping off place for a variety of ancient Roman ruins, national parks ( the one most outstanding was Dilek ) and the enchanting treasure, The Greek Island of Samos, located quite close to Turkey ..

Have a lovely day .. :chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Dec 07, 2017 5:03 pm

You must have been in similar places to me, and around the same time
I did 3 weeks, Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadoccia, Taurus mountains, Myra, Aspendos, took a gulet from Kas to Fethiye, went all the way up the coast via Dalaman, Efes, Pergamon, Troy, Gallipoli, and back to Istanbul
I've been to Istanbul since and would like to go back to the NW, near Lesbos which is just off the coast

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:49 pm

We have made a start on the food shopping, and I have bought Mr Strictly's present. I have today made a list of the festive foods we have already bought, plus the ones i need and the ones I want. I have a wish list of a few items that I would like to make this year as the financial cramp has eased somewhat! Nothing too extravagant but still a bit of a treat. I really want to make a potted smoked mackerel pate from the Hairy Bikers Christmas book. Everything I have made from there so far has been excellent, even if I have tweaked the recipes a bit.

We are going shopping tomorrow night so we'll be getting some more stuff then. I'm hoping to make the Christmas cake for Mr Strictly's supervisor on Sunday, preferably before we've put the decorations up so the smell of the cake cooking can create a bit of atmosphere.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:55 pm

@ Stokey Sue,

Our trip to Turkey was in the Spring of 1995 .. Since, I am in the tourism and travel sector, I only travel for business, and professional tours during June, July, August, September, October and early November ..

Then, I am busy at our office, planning for the short "circuits" which are 3 days 2 nights, 2 days and 1 night or 7 days for Seniors 55+ (trips within the Iberian Peninsula including Portugal, Andorra and Southern France) ..


At that time, Antalya was one of the fastest growing cities, spread along the cliffs and surrounded on three sides by the snowcapped Daglari and Taurus Mountains. The treasure at that time was the historic town of Kaleiçi or old town .. The harbor was refurbished and it was simply beautiful .. Street vendors were seling all types of flat breads and Nightingale Nest Pastries ..

At the moment, Turkey is precarious for foreigners, as I am sure you are aware.

Must run .. We are stepping out for a light tapa and a wine or 2 ..

Have a nice wkend. ahead.

:chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Petronius » Fri Dec 08, 2017 6:49 pm

Posted the last of our cards – we're waiting to see what the neighbours do, trying to discourage cards as we see them most days.

Presents all wrapped and ready; so easy this year because the family decided as we'e altogether we'd have a Secret Santa. £25 maximum for one person each – Yorkshire daughter's neighbour drew givers and receivers out of a hat, genuine secret. My £25 to our daughter-in-law (don't tell!) came to four presents, that's all done. Loved it as I don't have to worry about what to give OH this year – always a problem for me.

All the food is ordered for delivery to the house. OH has yet to sew cotton wool balls and lights onto my Christmas jumper for the Christmas morning competition; somehow she's managed to find a posh shirt for the formal, catered, Saturday evening meal. I'm afraid I don't do posh, never fancied being a penguin, shirt's top button needs moving a bit(!) and waistcoat will fit as long as I don't do up the buttons. :oops: Found a really old bow tie and cuff links! I'm on a roll. :birthday-dancer

Oh, and here's your Christmas card.

Christmas card 2017.jpg
Christmas card 2017.jpg (149.85 KiB) Viewed 3394 times


Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are.

:balls

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Renée » Fri Dec 08, 2017 6:57 pm

Thank you for the lovely card Dennis! Is that one that you've painted yourself?

I have quite a lot of cards for my neighbours! I usually wait to see if people that I send cards to have stopped sending them, but no, they are all arriving!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:43 pm

@ Petronius,

Thank you very much for lovely lovely Christmas Greetings ..

:rudolph1 :tiptoesanta :prezzie1 :chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:49 pm

@ Renée,

Speaking of Christmas Cards, we just have the secretary, receptionist and staff handle all this and for those tour operators, hotel Managers, Vintners and Chefs we know very well, I sign the card personally and make a telephone call .. The list has just grown in the last 5 years and it is nearly impossible to send all a paper card .. Emails cards are also sent to those at a distance ..

I prefer telephone calls to close friends, social friends and my staff and family ..

Have a lovely weekend ahead .. :chrissytree1
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