On January 6th we had the opportunity to celebrate Dia de Los Reyes in Espana. Three Kings Day, as it is known in English,
is much like our Christmas day. The Spaniards celebrate Christmas on December 25 as well, but they wait until the 12th day of Christmas, Dia de Los Reyes, to give out gifts. The tradition is that Jesus was born on the 25th and then 12 days later 3 kings came to give him gifts and so the Spanish give gifts this day as well. It really makes a lot of sense. The actual celebration of Christ's birth on the 25th isn't mixed up with commercialism. The commercialism is saved for later. A huge parade is held on the 5th for Three Kings Day. The parade held in Utrera, where we live, is one of the biggest and best around. Literally thousands of Euros are spent on candy and toys that are thrown out at the parade. We had a great time! Jay was mesmerized by the floats. We brought him down town
in the front pack and once again all the Spaniards were amazed to see him in it. As we walked down the street we were hailed by shouts of, "Mira! Mira! Que guapo!" Mike had to protect Jay from the insane amounts of candy and toys being hurled out of the floats. The parades are not as safe here as they are in the States. Although there are barriers, no one actually abides them. People are jammed up against the floats and it's a wonder no one is run over! Since Spaniards don't use front or back carriers, the streets are made even more crowded by strollers. After the parade we had to go buy a traditional roscon de reyes. Everyone eats this postre on January 6th. We waited in line for about
1 hour just to get ours! Somewhere inside the roscon is a toy and whoever finds it in their serving has to buy the roscon
the following year. Mike found it in ours - of course it wasn't too hard for him because Anna doesn't really like roscon and Mike ended up eating most of it.
On the 6th we walked down through town and the streets were extremely sticky and covered with broken pieces of candy. We think this is because Spanish candy tastes a lot like cough drops :) No, the Spanish actually like the candy a lot! The kids had giant bags full of it by the end of the parade. There is just so much candy thrown out at the parade that much of it is stepped on and crushed. Later on Three Kings Day we went to a really good Spanish restaurant with John and Maria. The restaurant is called El Castillo and it is located inside of an ancient Moorish castle in town. It's pretty amazing to be surrounded by so much history! One l
ast thing we are SUPER excited about is that our stuff is finally coming tomorrow!!!!!! YEAH!!! Por fin! Now we can settle in and make Spain really feel like home.
is much like our Christmas day. The Spaniards celebrate Christmas on December 25 as well, but they wait until the 12th day of Christmas, Dia de Los Reyes, to give out gifts. The tradition is that Jesus was born on the 25th and then 12 days later 3 kings came to give him gifts and so the Spanish give gifts this day as well. It really makes a lot of sense. The actual celebration of Christ's birth on the 25th isn't mixed up with commercialism. The commercialism is saved for later. A huge parade is held on the 5th for Three Kings Day. The parade held in Utrera, where we live, is one of the biggest and best around. Literally thousands of Euros are spent on candy and toys that are thrown out at the parade. We had a great time! Jay was mesmerized by the floats. We brought him down town
in the front pack and once again all the Spaniards were amazed to see him in it. As we walked down the street we were hailed by shouts of, "Mira! Mira! Que guapo!" Mike had to protect Jay from the insane amounts of candy and toys being hurled out of the floats. The parades are not as safe here as they are in the States. Although there are barriers, no one actually abides them. People are jammed up against the floats and it's a wonder no one is run over! Since Spaniards don't use front or back carriers, the streets are made even more crowded by strollers. After the parade we had to go buy a traditional roscon de reyes. Everyone eats this postre on January 6th. We waited in line for about 
1 hour just to get ours! Somewhere inside the roscon is a toy and whoever finds it in their serving has to buy the roscon the following year. Mike found it in ours - of course it wasn't too hard for him because Anna doesn't really like roscon and Mike ended up eating most of it. On the 6th we walked down through town and the streets were extremely sticky and covered with broken pieces of candy. We think this is because Spanish candy tastes a lot like cough drops :) No, the Spanish actually like the candy a lot! The kids had giant bags full of it by the end of the parade. There is just so much candy thrown out at the parade that much of it is stepped on and crushed. Later on Three Kings Day we went to a really good Spanish restaurant with John and Maria. The restaurant is called El Castillo and it is located inside of an ancient Moorish castle in town. It's pretty amazing to be surrounded by so much history! One l
ast thing we are SUPER excited about is that our stuff is finally coming tomorrow!!!!!! YEAH!!! Por fin! Now we can settle in and make Spain really feel like home.
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