Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad from Madrid! Here we are on Puerta de Sol on Christmas Day.

We had a quiet but wonderful Christmas. It was strange to be just the four of us away from a big family gathering, and in a foreign place, but we enjoyed it very much.

Luckily, Santa found our little apartment in Madrid, far away from Ashland, and was able to come in the balcony door we left open for him! Maddy and Max were delighted to see he found us! We cooked dinner and had a wonderful day together. In Spain, Christmas Eve is the traditional big family gathering, and they usually have lunch together on Christmas Day. The children exchange some gifts but the main gift giving holiday isn't until January 6th, Dia de los tres reyes, or Day of the Three Kings. The three kings come through the city giving candy and gifts to the children signifying when the three wise men came to give gifts to the baby Jesus. We maintained our traditional Christmas Day gift-giving, much to Maddy's and Max's relief!

We joined some new friends for coffee in the afternoon which was a welcome bit of socializing. Andy from Ashland had just returned to his wife and two children in Madrid and invited us over to a family friend's house. It was a wonderful afternoon. Their apartment was near the Plaza de Castilla where the famous "Puerta de Europa" buildings are. They were about to fall over so Max helped hold them up.

The day after Christmas we are heading to Sevilla for two days, and then Córdoba for a day.