In Spain, the Christmas tradition is different than in Canada. Here in Spain and in other latin American countries, the holiday season ends on the Epiphany. In Alicante, they have two parades to celebrate the Epiphany. The first parade was on January 4th and began at the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) in Alicante.
City Hall Alicante
We headed down to city hall early to see the start of the parade. People and children were gathering around excited for the start of the parade. There were different parade characters waiting for the parade to start.
Character heads on the sidewalk waiting for the start of the parade
We saw different characters walking around and Ray managed to stop and get his picture taken with some of them.
Ray with some of the parade characters
The parade also had different bands and a sleigh with “helpers to the three kings”.
Gathering in preparation to start the parade
There was also a group from the “Correos” which is the government postal service in Spain. The parade travels through the main sections of the city collecting letters from children for the Three Kings. The letters contain the children’s wishes and requests for gifts to the Three Kings.
Correos van and motorcycles to pick up letters
As we waited for the parade to start the “Kings Helpers” stepped out onto the balcony to wave to the crowd.
Shortly before the start of the parade, the “helpers” exit city hall and climb on the sleigh to start the parade.
Helpers on the sleigh to start the parade.
We watched the parade and enjoyed seeing the children handing in their letters for the Three Kings. It is a very different tradition from a Christmas parade in Canada. The parade is a prelude to the main parade on January 5th.
We went for a walk and came across a wine and liquor store called “Bernardino”. The store is located on a narrow side street in our neighborhood. The place looked interesting so we went inside to check it out.
Shelley checking out the different wines
The inside of the store was lined with rows of unique liquors, beers, and wines. We walked through the rows looking at different types of items on display. We came across a section of local beers made in the Alicante region as well as other beers from around the world.
What was interesting was the selection of unique liquors and wines. We even came across the Crystal Head Vodka which is made in Canada by Dan Aykroyd and John Alexander.
Crystal Head Vodka made in Canada
Some other very interesting bottles included a crystal sail ship, which was beautiful.
Alcohol in unique designed bottles
There were other interesting types of liquor, including other skull bottles and even the devil was there.
Different alcohol containersCollection of the Devil alcohol
There was one type of wine called “Envidia Cochina” which translates to mean Jealous Envy. The label had an interesting story on it entitled “Eat your heart out” and an image of a naked woman going into the water with the devil. The story speaks of a Spanish saying “Envidia Cochina” and how it is used in Spain.
Envidia Cochina bottle of wine
The Store was also a Bodega which sold wine from barrels into different size bottles from 2 liters to 5 liters in size. We watched people come in and buy several 5 liter plastic containers and have them filled with different types of wine. They even sold small barrels of wine.
Wine sold in small wine barrels
We found the store very interesting and enjoyed walking around looking at the different products. This store was tucked away on a back street and we came across it, simply by chance.
Today December 6, 2016, is an official holiday and fiesta in Alicante. It was a beautiful sunny day and we decided to take a walk downtown. Along the way downtown, we came across an artificial hill made for sliding. It was decorated to look like a snow hill and people were using tubes to slide down the hill.
Artificial hill made to look like a snow hill for sliding.View of artificial sliding hill in Alicante
The sliding area of the hill was made with white plastic and provided a slippery surface for the tubes. It worked fairly well and the children were enjoying the slide.
We then headed to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento which is located beside city hall. Christmas music was playing and a large Christmas tree was on display in the center of the plaza. We also found in the center of the plaza an outdoor skating rink with real ice!
Outdoor skating rink at city hall in Alicante
People could rent ice skates and go skating on the ice rink. We watched as people enjoyed skating on the ice. It was strange to watch because the sun was shining and the temperature was 19 degrees celsius.
Ice rink with Christmas tree and orange tree in Alicante
After watching people skate for a while we started heading home. As we reached the main street there was a parade taking place. We stopped and watched the parade which consisted of a religious procession. They played music and carried a large religious statue.
Religious procession in Alicante SpainReligious statue being carried in parade
At the end of the parade was a truck which was throwing into the crowd small gifts to the children.
It was a nice and relaxing way to enjoy the holiday in Alicante.
We went and completed the driver theory exam for a second time last week. The test location and the process were identical to the first time we wrote the exam.
Ministerio del interior Centro de Exanenes
We entered the testing room and wrote a paper exam with completely different questions than the last one. Some of the questions were on motorcycles, traffic statistics, and illegal drug use. We completed the English version of the 30 question exam and returned home to await our results. Two days later we received notification that we both passed the exam and could move on to the practical training.
In Spain, it is mandatory to take driver training through a government recognized driving school. We signed up with a local driving school called “Autoescuela Pausa” which is walking distance from our home.
Ray and Shelley in front of the Autoescuela Pausa
There are few things that make driving a challenge in Spain. There are no English instructors and all lessons are conducted in Spanish. The final exam testing is also completely in Spanish and you are not permitted to have an interpreter present during the exam. The road system here is very different from Canada. The traffic lights, signage, and intersections are dissimilar to what we are accustomed to. Finally, the majority of vehicles in Spain have standard transmissions, there are very few automatic transmissions. The issue here is If the driver’s exam is done while driving an automatic transmission then you are only licensed to drive an automatic. In order to rent vehicles and have the flexibility, we are both taking our exam with a standard transmission vehicle.
On Tuesday we went for our first driving lesson. Our vehicle was a smaller compact car with standard transmission.
The driving school training car
Our instructor’s name was Oscar and he could not speak any English. He was very good at explaining things using hand language and clear Spanish. He was very helpful and had lots of patience with us.
Ray was the first to drive while Shelley sat in the back seat waiting her turn. Oscar would give directions in Spanish.
Here is a very small list of some of the Spanish driving words:
Gire a la izquierda (Turn left)
Gira a la derecha (Turn right)
tome la segunda a la derecha (take the second right)
tome la segunda a la izquierdo en la rotonda (take second on the left in the roundabout)
perada (stop)
Tranquilo ( calm or relax)
Espere (wait)
Mas rapido (faster)
Mas dispacio (slow down)
Empuje el embrague (push the clutch in)
Suelta el embrague (let out the clutch)
Cambiar a tercera marcha (change to third gear)
This is only a very small portion of the language we need to learn before taking our practical drivers exam.
We headed on to the roadway and drove through the streets of Alicante. After about 45 minutes we stopped and switched seats. Shelley has never driven a standard before and Oscar was very good at explaining the gear shift and clutch process.
Shelley and Oscar reviewing the standard shift and clutch process before heading onto the road.
Shelley drove around the city and did very well navigating the clutch and standard shift. After about 45 minutes we headed back to the driving school and finished for the day. It was a nice pace and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We are looking forward to more driving and getting the driving test completed.
We have registered for night school to improve our Spanish. We started our classes last week. The “Centre de Formacio de Persones Adultes” is an adult school specifically for foreigners trying to learn Spanish or complete other educational classes.
We attend twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10 pm.
Ray and Shelley going back to school to learn Spanish.
The location of the school is also excellent for us. We are able to take the public transit system to the mall which is very close to the school.
The school is fairly large and contains a coffee shop, library, and a beautiful outside courtyard.
The interior of the school is modern and nicely decorated which makes it a joy to go to school.
Hallway in the adult schoolModern art on display in the school hallways
Our class is conducted entirely in Spanish and our teacher has a very good sense of humour. He keeps the class interesting and fun. We are thoroughly enjoying the classes.
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