6 Jan 2010

On the Twelfth day of Christmas

On Twelfth Night the Three Kings arrived in Alicante!

As you can see the kids were eagerly awaiting their arrival:



The Cabalgata de Reyes takes place on the evening of January 5th in just about every city and town in Spain. In some places the 3 Kings arrive by helicopter, others by boat... Here in Alicante they landed by helicopter in the bull ring and met up with a bunch of kids and then went up to the main hospital to take presents to the sick kids then headed back down for the parade which started out with a touch of Disney:



followed by dancers and of course a marching band (several of them, always present in any Alicante parade):



Guess who's next? The Virgin Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and a group of shepherds!



Guarded by a Roman century:




and then the reason all these kids are here, the 3 Kings (whose names I don't know in English, lol)!!! Distributing presents and tossing candy left and right.

Melchor:


Gaspar:


Baltasar:


It's definitely an event for the kids, but still it was quite fun! And of course, as per tradition with any local holiday in Alicante, they finished up with some fireworks down by the harbour. ;o)

Video Update on Jan 10.2010: I finally had time to weave some of my video snippets of the Parade together! It's on my new cell phone camera so although to quality is ok it's not great (first time I used it, didn't discover how to zoom until a few das later, lol!)


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3 comments:

  1. Pretty Zesty6/1/10 18:47

    I like that they stick with the tradition after Christmas. It's annoying that come New Years everyone stops celebrating! What gives?

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  2. Shellbelle9/1/10 01:58

    Ya'll have the most fun over there! I love that they take presents to the kids in the hospital first.

    When are things going to be back to normal for you. And by that, I mean Kris normal. ;)

    You know we've got shows finally starting up their new seasons this month, lol.

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  3. CrazyCris9/1/10 18:42

    hehe, after all "Spain is different!" (as the tourism slogan used to say back in the 80s), lol! and we'll take any excuse you give us to celebrate!

    Rhonda, "normal" starts on Monday with me setting down to work on my thesis, my article and my new set of English classes.

    But normal in the cris-blogging world won't start until I get internet over at my place instead of snatching a moment here and there when I'm at my parents... :s Hopefully by the end of the week

    series starting up again?! big smiles!!! and tears for the end of some (Dollhouse)
    also means Caprica will be starting soon... :o)

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Hey there! Yes you! The quiet one in the back... I'd love it if you hung out for a bit and shared your thoughts!

I might stop by your place with an answer, but I'm more likely to reply right here so click on "email follow up comments" if you'd like to see what I and others have to say and come continue the conversation! ;o)

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