It's CHRISTMAS in Cordoba!!

It maybe Christmas but it is very quiet in Montoro!  Here in Spain, the children may receive one present from Papa Noel, and the three Kings bring most of their gifts on the night of January 5th.

As Christmas can be a little lonely for us here, as all our family are back in the UK we decided to treat ourselves.  It was Alan's idea for us to book into a hotel for a night in Cordoba.  Of course we love our home, but the thought of having central heating and a dog hair free enviroment for just one night was impossible to resist.  Don't worry the animals were all fine, well fed and watered and the dogs had access to the apartment where they always sleep, so they were very comfortable!

We had found the hotel on last minute.com and booked a "secret hotel," that way it's cheaper and rather exciting too.  We were lucky enough to stay in the NH Amistad, which was in the grounds of the city wall, and was rather lovely

We were so lucky, the weather was beautiful.  We relaxed for about an hour then walked into the city.  Cordoba at Christmas is beautiful, with great lights and a small fairground for the children to visit

La plaza de la Tendillas was looking particularly beautiful, with its bars open for the evening crowds.

As well as treating ourselves, there was another very good reason to come into Cordoba over the festive season, to see the Belenes, the nativity scenes.  Most of them were sitauted inside small churches, occasionally hidden down back streets of the city.  When you first enter you just cannotnot believe how beautiful some of these little churches are.  You cannot begin to describe the detail in these nativity scenes, or more than often how tiny they were.

A small part of the nativity below

These gorgeous statues were life size

And how about a real life couple!

Christmas day came and went and it was n't great if I'm honest.  It was the worst weather we had had for weeks, with clouds and drizzle, so we were very cold and did n't even put the television on until the evening.  I did however get to speak to the babies on skype, which was of course the highlight of my day.  Oh and I did n't burn the dinner, that's good for me!