I got it into my head that we should visit the Old Town, particularly around Christmas time which was why we found ourselves heading off on the afternoon of 30 December. We weren't disappointed - the old town, partly surrounded by ruins of the old Arab wall, is charming. Narrow, cobbled little streets, whitewashed houses, bougainvillea and geraniums still tumbling from the balconies. A very typical sight around Christmas time in Spain are the little Santas climbing up the balconies! As we entered the heart of the old town we found little boutiques (though closed for the afternoon) and attractive little plazas offering plenty of bars and cafes still with outdoor seating - end of December! The main plaza was full of orange trees heavy with big, juicy oranges - aptly named the Orange Plaza! Behind here we found the church. I never cease to be amazed at the beauty of the interiors of Spanish churches but for Christmas (like all others in the country I guess) this was full of the heavy perfume of fresh flowers that filled the church. The Spanish take the nativity scenes very seriously - just inside the church was a model of the entire town of Bethlehem showing folks going about their business, a little river and bridge, animals and there in the corner was the nativity scene. The main altar was beautifully decorated with an abundance of poinsettias. Silent Night was playing and as we sat there in the peace and tranquility listening to the beautiful singing of one of my all-time favourite carols, I felt totally enveloped in the true meaning of Christmas - it was very hard to tear ourselves away. We finally made our way down to the seafront where we enjoyed a walk along the marina to 'our' little cafe and to our delight the homemade choc brownie was still on the menu! We stayed until the sun was going down and as we made to leave we were invited to join them for a small intimate New Year gathering! We were very tempted but had already committed to joining our Spanish teacher back 'home'. It was lovely to be invited however and we couldn't help wondering if one would ever receive such an invitation back home from virtually complete strangers! As daylight made way for dusk we wandered back up to the Old Town. Where earlier we had found it to be fairly quiet with only a handful of folks around, it was now transformed into a lively place full of people out and about enjoying the atmosphere; Christmas lights hung over virtually every little street in the heart of the town; the shops and boutiques were open. Then we found the Toy Shop! The whole set up, from the life size wooden toy soldier standing to attention by the door to the amazing toys filling the window and the enchanting mechanical music we could hear within, drew us inside. It was the sort of toy shop one dreamt of as a child - but never quite found - where you could almost believe they would all come alive! The most incredible were the perfectly made lifelike miniature working models of various old fashioned fairground rides: dodgems (no bigger than life size ladybirds) helta skelta, roller coaster and the most eye catching: the musical carousel with beautifully decorated little horses going around and around, up and down carrying smiling children on their backs and lit by the tiniest miniature lights all the way around under the colourful canopy - all so amazingly lifelike. Then we discovered the Nutcracker Ballet - no description would do it justice but I'll try. It was housed in an exquisitely carved wooden box. When wound up, the little doors at the front opened to reveal the most perfectly fashioned tiny ballet dancers dancing to the music of the Nutcracker Suite, then the doors would close and reopen to reveal the next scene with all the changes of music, stage backdrops and dancers! As we stood completely mesmerised (I don't know what the shop owner made of such a silly old couple!) we realised it was the entire Nutcracker Suite ballet - obviously a much condensed version, bit it was all there - every scene, and the sugar plum fairy was quite unbelievable!! I left the shop feeling as excited and delighted as any little girl would be!
The quiet little plaza where we had earlier enjoyed our glass of wine was now bustling with people and in the centre the most beautifully decorated reindeers pulling Santa's sleigh filled with children laughing and squealing with delight as it wound its way round and around the track - and many more children waiting their turn in excited anticipation. There were children's entertainers on the stage. A constant line of visitors passing by yet another nativity scene which must have exceeded 10 metres in length. This one extended beyond the town of Bethlehem to the outlying hills and countryside1 An incredible amount of work and detail - even the little 'dwellings' were illuminated inside showing the day to day goings on of the folks inside and there were even little moving models: the carpenter sawing, the building hammering, folks tending their cooking pots suspended over glowing coals....
We eventually decided it was time to head for home but reluctant to leave, we first stopped to enjoy a glass of wine, sitting outside a little bar, underneath the orange trees watching everything going on around us. It seemed we had stepped back to Christmas past leaving all the modern day trimmings and glitz behind. It was simply enchanting and we shall long have memories of such a beautiful evening.
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