La ultima ciudad a visitar en Espana

Kreefts with Patchi and Javier

This week was the last school week before Christmas/winter break here in our little town of Antequera and every day the streets became more crowded with people. From 17.00 o’clock (after their siesta) they walk the streets to meet friends, take a drink in a bar, have a tapa, buy some gifts in the shops or just look at the many Nativity scenes (Belen in Spain). When walking on the streets there are chestnuts which they heat up and you can buy a packet for 1 euro! It is very delicious when it is cold outside! Christmas is a big family tradition in Antequera, everyone who live and work somewhere else return to their hometown and meet each other and celebrate together. There was a big party going on in the “Casino” which is papas “working cafe” and where we celebrated mum’s 50th. We popped in and met many people who we knew and danced!! We also met Javier- a friend of a family who we met here in our apartment building. Javier also came home for Christmas, but normally he works in .... SOUTH AFRICA!! He is working in Cape Town for some years making the Ave train! (the very very modern and fast train here in Spain). We also saw Patchi again, his sister, who works in Malaga and also speaks English very well. It was great to speak English and not only Spanish especially when the music is very loud and you can’t think so well!

Steven with his coach

party in Casino

This week also Steven’s soccer training ended and his team organised a goodbye party for him. SOOOOOOOooooooo nice of them. He got a photograph of his team with all their signatures and Facebook names on the back and he also got a shirt of his Antequera football club as a souvenir. What a nice farewell for him!!

La ultima ciudad a visitar en Espana

What does this heading mean??????? " La ultima ciudad a visitar en Espana" well if you want me to translate it, it means " the last city to visit in Spain". It was Sevilla that we still wanted to see, since all our friends told us that Sevilla was a “must - to- see”. It is in the south of Spain, 2 hours with the bus from Antequera. Sevilla is a big city, but has a very nice old center. It has a population of 700.000 people and like a lot of cities in Spain it was built by the Romans, ruled by the Muslim and taken over by the Catholic Kings.We visited Sevilla for 2 days, because the city is very cozy with lots to see and to do and is very romantic as well. We thought it was a good idea to go just before Christmas with all the lights in the streets and in all the squares. We also had a perfect weekend because of the good weather with 21 C it was sunny and warm. When we arrived in Sevilla the first person we saw was a “feliz” Santa Claus. 

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Santa Claus

We visited Sevilla for 2 days, because the city is very cozy with lots to see and to do and is very romantic as well. We thought it was a good idea to go just before Christmas with all the lights in the streets and in all the squares. We also had a perfect weekend because of the good weather with 21 C it was sunny and warm. When we arrived in Sevilla the first person we saw was a “feliz” Santa Claus. se the city is very cozy with lots to see and to do and is very romantic as well. We thought it was a good idea to go just before Christmas with all the lights in the streets and in all the squares. We also had a perfect weekend because of the good weather with 21 C it was sunny and warm. When we arrived in Sevilla the first person we saw was a “feliz” Santa Claus. We checked into the 2 star hotel that looked and felt like a 4 star hotel, because of the comfortable beds, the shower was great, room was big enough and breakfast was so delicious. You could also take bikes for free which we did and cycled through the old town, in and out the small streets, under the Triana Bridge and cycled along the Guadalquivir River (I cannot remember how to pronounce the name, but I like the sound of it). We past the Gold Tower, The strange Mushroom (modern building in the center), the huge Cathedral of Seville (which was a mosque before). My most favourite, fascinating place in Sevilla was “Plaza de Espana”. When walking through a beautiful, romantic, green, clean park you walk straight into a giant sort of palace. It is only built in 1929 for a sort of exposition, but what makes it attractive are the shiny tiles in yellow, light blue, white, green on colourful benches, lamp poles, bridges along a small long canal. It was magnificent sitting on one of the benches and seeing the different colours everywhere with the reflection of the sun

fter sunset when the Christmas lights were glowing the centre of Sevilla is also became very, very busy too. Everyone was in the shops buying Christmas presents and on the streets in every corner there was something to see ;singing, hip hop, a big Christmas tree, market, the government house that was lighted up and had pictures projected on its building with beautiful loud music. The most busy where the many tapas bars of course and I also know now where the word Tapas comes from.....it means ‘covers’ in Spanish, because in the past people covered their drinks with their little snack plates. Anyway it was so cosy and fantastic to see Sevilla. I am so glad we have been there!

 ( Next week : blog that leads us to the end)

Louisa

Merry Christmas from the Kreefts !!