Christmas is coming to Xabia

Xabia is being adorned with its Christmas decorations now. There isn't

Nativity model in Xabia market 

really any sense of the heavy commercial drive that we're used to in the UK so the whole feel is much more relaxed. The old town streets have municipal lights strung over them and are lined with rows of small trees in pots decorated with burlap sacks tied with red chiffon ribbons. Most shops have quite elegant additions to their window displays. Dave noticed an article about the opening of the nativity model in the indoor market so we went along to have a look. It is fantastic! The detail is incredible and includes the market stalls and sellers pictured in the photo above, people baking bread and cakes in a glowing oven, a moving woman figurine embroidering a cloth, and another woman washing her hair. The traditional nativity scene takes place in an inn, as expected, however another inn has a drunken customer falling down its steps! The wise men ride camels past the pyramids in the centre. We were amazed by the ingenuity of the work and its scale - the table top is easily as long as our caravan and probably nearly the same distance across too.

In other festive news, Lidl have completely sold out of chocolate covered marzipan bars. Dave went there a couple of weeks ago and couldn't find any so we were hoping more might arrive. They haven't so we're resorting to Lidl's rather delicious German gingerbreads and lebkuchen instead. Having previously bemoaned the shop, the Lidl gingerbreads Chris and Marta brought when they visited on Saturday changed our minds! We also served and ate our (hopefully) first mince pies. Two varieties were on sale in the friendly Spanish-run Costa Blanca supermarket near the campsite. Coincidentally, the same varieties were also in the British-run Quick Save supermarket opposite it, so I guess they are from the same wholesaler, but interestingly the price was considerably higher in the Quick Save!

I'll finish up with a YouTube of the song that seems to always be playing in Mercadona at the moment - from 1970, it's Jose Feliciano and Feliz Navidad!