Christmas Decorations

Yesterday we put up our Christmas decorations. It is one of the very few traditions that we have i.e. they go up on December 1st. It is strange as fundamentally I do not like Christmas and really dislike ‘over the top’, cheap, tacky decorations, in particular the way they ‘mess up’ the house! Over the years though we have settled on a balance that even I am comfortable with ……. some small, tasteful and has to be said expensive decorations that we adorn the lounge with.

I have certainly started to enjoy Christmas more since we have been in Almerimar (this will be our 8th in a row celebrated here in Almerimar!) as life continues pretty much as normal up until the 24th when the Spanish stop at lunch time and have their main celebration meal that evening. I particularly like the fact that there are no office parties, no excessive decorations and promotions in the shops from the middle of November, and the fact that it is still very much a family celebration.

Over the years we have done it the Spanish way with the main meal on the evening of the 24th, and the more traditional English way with the lunch on the 25th. We have celebrated with friends and family and always had fun, especially as life is pretty much back to normal by the 27th ….. no extended parties, lunches etc.

This year putting the decorations up was a little ‘bitter sweet’ in that we had obviously hoped that Orla would be with us for what would have been her first Christmas and I am sure that she would have enjoyed every minute of it, BUT it was always going to be Saidi’s first Christmas with us so we have that to look forward to. Saidi isn’t as playful as Orla was or Moreno is, but she got into the spirit of things a little with a little play around the tree. She has become a lot more playful and affectionate in the last couple of months (a legacy of Orla we feel) so hopefully she will enjoy this Christmas.

Mori as you would expect just loves anything that he can get involved in so he was into the decorations before they were already up and is already engaged in a three way battle with the tree and Sands! I know who my money is on ……….

Click To Play

Click To Play

So the Christmas decorations are up and the Christmas music is in the iTunes playlists. One new feature this year is the ability to remotely control iTunes via the iPhone so from both Sands or my iPhone we can remotely control any of the iTunes Libraries on the iMac, Mac Pro or Mac mini. As we have the music streamed through all the speakers in the apartment this means that we can now select, start, stop and pause music via the iPhone …… extremely cool and actually very useful indeed!

Favourite Christmas songs must be:

1. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town – Bruce Springsteen
2. Don’t Shoot Me Santa – The Killers
3. Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid
4. Last Christmas – Wham
5. Stop The Cavalry – Jona Lewie
6. Lonely This Christmas – Mud
7. Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade
8. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day – Wizard
9. White Christmas – Bing Crosby
10. Step Into Christmas – Elton John

As for plans as you would expect they remain minimal! My parents are over this year so we will have Christmas day together just the four (4) of us. I really don’t like going out of my own home for Christmas lunch (have done once in the last 8 years!), but in the morning I will do what I do every year and that is to walk down to Mac Gowans for a couple of pints of Guinness. I wont be going to any parties of ‘drinks do’s’ thank you very much, but we will go to a restaurant for lunch on the 23rd (all the Spanish ones we like are closed after the 23rd!)

As for the New Year …… the thought of being in one room for a long time with the same bunch of people is my living nightmare so no house parties!!! Eating out is a total waste of time at New Year especially in Almerimar as all the good Spanish restaurants are closed, the hotel with respect is far too expensive as well as not being ‘our thing’ at all. To be fair Mac Gowans are doing their normal menu up until 10.30pm, but as we will probably call in later to see in the New Year with some friends who are mad about Groovy Phil that would mean being in one place all night …… urgh!!!! So I think we will have a meal at home, and then wander down to the marina but to be honest wont know until the actual night. In previous years we have had plans but decided to stay at home at the last minute, other times we have set out to go one place and ended up somewhere totally different. That is the beauty of living in Almerimar and why we love it so much …… no need to plan at all!!! My preference would be a few drinks during the day in my favourite bars, a meal at home, then maybe wander out to see the New Year in.

Anyway if you have plans you want to share or any favourite Christmas songs why not leave a comment below?

About Almerimar

Almerimar is located in the region of Andalucia, Spain. The nearest airport is 30km away in Almeria. Other airports that are within 3 hours include Malaga, Murcia, Granada, and Alicanti. Other holiday resorts in the region include Mojacar , Aguadulce and Roquetas de Mar

Almerimar is also one of the largest marinas in Spain with over 2,000 berths and excellent boatyard facilities.

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