Tonight is the most magic of nights, la nit més màgica, they tell us on Catalan TV3. Well, it certainly has been a very long day for our five-year-old. He has been almost as impatient as he was on Christmas Eve when he and his little brother, like all Swedish children, received most of their gifts from Santa Claus. I have managed to bring down his expectations – he knows that there will only be one present each for them when they wake up tomorrow – but that has not diminished his excitement.
Like all other families with children, today in the afternoon we went out to welcome the three wise men (els reis mags de l’Orient) to our town. Although we have lived in Vilanova i la Geltrú for four years by now, this was the first time we saw the ceremony here and with real horses, falconers and stylish carriages, I was impressed with the standards.
The three-year-old was not as happy. Used to Catalan traditions, when he heard the sound of drummers he expected that there would also be loud firecrackers and immediately started to cry. But we could not go home – then I would have had the five-year-old protesting instead. And at least he was really content afterwards. His only complaint was that he received far more candy last year in Sitges. How sensible of our ajuntament not to overdo it.
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Up-date: When reading LaVanguardia today it seems that there is a competition between towns in how much candy they hand out. If that is the case, then Vilanova plays in a low division.
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