Naughty or nice???

Every year, Smokey has a blast playing with/destroying the wrapping paper. As you can see, he is always alone in his mischief....

Although he does make a mess at times, he still eagerly awaits to see what Santa Claus is going to bring him.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

Even though our little Bethlehem was a beautiful addition to our holiday decor, we simply couldn't do without a Christmas tree. Our little tree is about 1 1/2 feet tall, and it came already equipped with all of the ornaments. Now, if it had only come with the presents....

If we ever got nostalgic for a larger tree, we just went to Plaza Nueva downtown and marveled at the 25-30 foot tall tree that the city puts up every year. It was definitely a first for us to see a huge Christmas tree alongside orange trees in full bloom with palm trees in the background.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The stocking were hung by the.... Well, the important thing is that there were at least hung and with a lot of care!

Our Belén

After perusing the Feria del Belén, we had to have our own little Bethlehem; we bought the essentials for a manger and set it up just in time for Christmas.

Feria del Belén

Stocked full of different options, the Feria del Belén has all sorts of figurines that people can purchase to add to their collections at home. It is done directly beside the Ayuntamiento, so you can see the Giralda in the background of the second picture.

Belén del Ayuntamiento

Every year, a number of places in the city put their "belén, " or representation of Bethlehem, on display. These are very elaborate depictions in that they contain the entire city as opposed to just the Nativity, which is the focus of U.S. tradition. Essentially, there are little figurines for every aspect of the town, down to the little oranges and ham that you can buy to adorn a dinner table. There are so many things that you can add to your "belén," and most people opt to do so by buying something new each year. That way, their "belén" is never the same from one year to the next.

Cruzcampo

Even Cruzcampo, the local beer here in Seville, gets dressed up for the holidays. . .

Luces navideñas

Although there are a lot of differences between the way Spain and the United States celebrate Christmas, one thing for sure that they do have in common is their love for lights around the holidays. I have had a blast dragging Brian around to see all of Seville lit up with Christmas decor. I took all of these pictures at the Plaza Nueva (top), Alameda de Hercules (middle), and the Plaza del Duque (bottom), which are all within 10 minutes walking from our house.

Carmona

After having our fill at lunch in Santiponce, we got back into the car to head up the road to Carmona. Once we got there, we walked around the Puerta de Sevilla. Since it was Sunday a lot of the sights were closed, but we did take advantage of the Museo de la Ciudad being open. You can always tell that it was a fun day when there is dancing involved, eh?

Santiponce and Itálica

This past Sunday, December 9, we went with our good friend Vicente to visit Santiponce and Itálica. We ended up stopping here first since it is only 8 km outside of the city so that we could see the Roman ruins of Itálica. They are said to be the most impressive of all of Andalucía. Significantly, it is the birth place of two of the 2nd-century AD Roman emperor Trajan and most likely of his successor Hadrian as well. The site had a large ampitheatre, patios with beautiful mosaics, and broad paved streets, so it was undoubtedly quite a bustling urban center in its day. Plus, like all good excursions, we had to stop off for a bite to eat at a little restaurant around lunchtime where we had the most amazing langostinos wrapped in bacon!

Feria del Libro Antiguo

The Feria del Libro Antiguo, or the Old book fare, took place from November 23rd until December 9th. During this time a number of book sellers set up booths in the Plaza Nueva with their merchandise ridiculously marked down. In fact, most of the books that I bought were only a euro or two. Although it took a lot of restraint, I managed to leave with only 6 books!

Thanksgiving!

Although we missed everyone terribly at home, we made the best of the situation and prepared our own little Thanksgiving dinner here in Seville. Since we don't have an oven, we cooked our turkey fillets in our toaster oven, and Brian made homemade mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese. Even though it was not the same as being at home for the holidays, Smokey was pleased with the situation because this was actually our first Thanksgiving with him since we normally leave him at home and head for Asheville. As you can see, he was more than interested in the occasion!

Salón de Té

While we were in Córdoba, we decided to take advantage of the Islamic influence in the city, so we stopped off at one of the teterías (tea houses) in town. We shared a pot of tea called Mil y una noches, which translates as Thousand and one Nights.

Córdoba

Since we hadn't had the chance to do much traveling yet, Brian and I decided to take off to Córdoba. Just to give you a bit of history, the city was originally occupied by the Romans (like many places in Andalucía), and it later fell to Islamic invaders in AD 711. Córdoba eventually came to be the biggest city in Western Europe, but when the Spanish king Fernando III took it over in 1236, much of its population fled. Today it is still an important city within Spain, and there are still remnants of its Islamic and Roman past. Plus, for the literary savvy, one of the greatest Spanish poets of the Baroque period, Luis de Góngora (1561-1627) was from the city.

While we were there, we first wandered through the narrow streets of the old Jewish district as we made our way to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, which translates as the fortress of the Christian Kings. Since we were so close by, we then ventured off to see the Roman influence remaining in the city. There is a restored Roman bridge situated on the banks of the Río Guadalquivir as well as a water wheel, which I don’t think has been restored yet.

After all of that walking, we were famished and decided to plop on a nearby park bench to indulge in our picnic lunch that we had prepared in Seville before leaving. With full bellies, we were then ready to tackle the Mezquita (Mosque). It was amazingly beautiful inside because it was a reflection of both Catholicism and Islam. After the Christian Kings conquered the city, they turned the Mosque into a cathedral, so there was a ton of religious paraphernalia made of gold and silver. Brian said that it was the closest thing to the Vatican that he has ever seen so far. Perhaps a trip to Rome is in line…