Friday S,iles 2023: Week 1

So I am bounding into 2023 with a photo of the first sunset of 2023. (It's the only one worth photographing this week).

We saw the New Year in quietly at home, and enjoyed the fireworks from both Madrid and London on TV, though I am sure I am not the only one who wondered about the ethics of 'burning so much money' for a few minutes of entertainment, when the countries finances are at breaking point.

The rest of the week has flown by. We made sure to do a food shop, while we still have a car to use, as we have no idea when the garage will ring to say bring it in for repairs.

While we were in Lidls I bought us a treat that we do not usually bother with. This is a Roscon, and it is to the Spanish what mince pies and Christmas cake are to us in UK. It represents a Kings crown, with large pieces of chrytallised fruit decorating it as the jewels. The cake itself is much lighter than we expected, being similar in texture to a doughnut. Often it is sliced through the centre and generously filled with fresh cream, but as Chris does not like cream, I settled for an unfilled one. Each roscon has two little 'treasures' wrapped up and hidden inside it, a tiny figurine of a king, and a dried broad bean. If you are lucky enough to find the king you can wear the gold crown found inside the cake box, and you will be rich for a year (maybe!). If you get the bean, you have to commit to buying the family roscon the next year.

This is, of course, all part of the Three Kings celebration which officially starts tonight when the Kings arrive either by boat or lorry, depending on your location, and they are paraded through the street throwing sweets to the crowds. Then later they go to an assigned place, sometimes a Town Hall, in our village it is a large marquee on the parking area, and give out gifts to the children (previously provided by the parents).

Our village is famous for its Three Kings fiesta and in 2021 we were awarded the medal of Culture by the Diputacíon de Almería for it. The programme for tomorrow will start with the arrival of the Kings in the street and a re-enactment of their visit to King Herod's Palace to find the new baby. This is followed by an open air Mass on the plaza, and this year the Bishop of Almería is coming to lead it. 

Throughout the day there will be a medieval market in the side streets around the plaza, and a free lunch for anyone who wants to queue up for it. Sometimes this is migas which we are not keen on, but sometimes it is a giant tortilla which is great. We shall have to wait and see. 

The day ends with dancing in the marquee.

We have been asked to get as many people as possible to the town  square for the morning's events as there will be an independent agent there taking a head count, to help the fiesta get wider recognition. We shall be there of course.

However, this year we had an added bonus. Last night the three Kings appeared at one of the smaller plazas in the village. Here they are outside the Town Hall, preparing to come down to the plaza. As you can see, there is no political correctness here, and one King and his servant have blacked their faces.

At the plaza there was a post box where children could post a letter of their 'wish list' to the Kings -  I hope there is a fast delivery service as the gifts are given out tonight. The children could then go and talk to the Kings and receive a fist full of sweets while their photos were taken. (I am sure you can all see the parallels between this tradition and the more usual ones related to Father Christmas, but Christmas Day is a low key event here and many children get one small gift from Santa then. Tomorrow is the main event for them).

To add to the atmosphere, there was a snow machine up on the verandah of a flat that over-looked the plaza. It gave a very realistic effect as tiny drops of foam fell gently all around us. 

It settled in our hair and on our clothes, and was really rather fun.

The other main event of the evening was a completely new tradition of a giant 50 metre long roscon, that was laid out on trestle tables in the street alongside the plaza.

It was quite sometihing to see. As you can see, it was liberally filled with fresh cream, so Chris declined a slice, but I had one and it was delicious.

This is Noe (Noelle) and her husband who run the village bakery we use, and I think they were responsible for baking the roscon. They cut it all into slices and then handed them out to the waiting crowd. 

Every one enjoyed the evening so I hope it is a new tradition that will be repeated each year.

(Because they were able to get to a better viewing position than I was, I have used some photos from a local man who posts official pictures of village events on Facebook. I have left his watermark in place so you can see which are his).

We had long New Year chats with each of our boys this week which was good.

Just in time, I made my one page calendar for 2023 with all the family photos on it. I print this out in large format (A3) so I can see it easily, and have it on the wall just above my computer. Chris also has a copy on his office wall. I love to see all their smiling faces whenever I look up.

Today I made one more batch of three dozen mince pies, so I can give some to our insurance man who was so helpful with our car problems, and have some in the box still when our son and his wife and little girl visit us at the end of the month.

We had some good news yesterday. A lady rang to say the men will be arriving on Monday morning to start work on the remodelling of our guest bathroom. So hopefully that will be finished and ready to use when our son arrives.

And on that happy note I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles ready to publish in the morning. As you can tell, we will be pretty busy all day, so I may not get to visit you until Saturday, but I will do my best.