XMAS IN SPAIN

I expect to be spending most of Xmas day curled up with the dog in the kennel at the end of the garden.  Almost inevitably, I will have forgotten to buy my wife a present.  Or, worse still, I will have bought her something so inappropriate that, on closer inspection, it would be banned by a Madam in a Bangkok brothel as too risque.  Undoubtedly, this masterstroke will have been opened in front of the entire family, eliciting a series of remorseless and excruciatingly embarrassing questions from the children.  More worrying will be the appalled look on the face of my mother in law, who still puts my wife’s eccentric decision to marry me down to a curious blow to her head received in her early twenties.

The dog and I will have much in common, with only a bottle of Glenlivet briefly separating us.  She will be occupied with an almost identical bone to that of last Christmas, whilst I shall have a brand new tie, five pairs of black socks and a book that I have received three years running describing, in mesmerising detail, the glorious history of the Valencian paella.

However, once again, I shall thank Heavens that I am in Valencia.  Warmed by a kindly winter sun and admiring the stunning Monduver mountains, I will have a few minutes alone to reminisce on a joyful past year; knowing that the next twelve months will bring still more adventures and bellyfuls of laughter…

Copyright Nick Snelling (www.nicholassnelling.com) author of three books on Spain including ‘How to Move Safely to Spain’ (www.movesafelytospain.com)

ENDS