Holiday greetings! By the time you read this I will be heading home from another fun cruise to Mexico where I soaked up lots of bright warm sunshine, and with any luck, finally kicked aside the last of this annoying 'bug' that hit me on Friday the 13th and lingered waaay too long.
It's true that Aunty is a nasty ole grinchy woman, and I like to spend my holidays AWAY from home. I like to be far away from the hustle, bustle, and crass commercialism that seems to over-run every place around here. I admit, I may have gone a wee bit overboard last year by traveling all the way to Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country. But, hey, I didn't hear a single Christmas carol and saw only one Christmas tree (an odd little black plastic thing in a shopping mall in Konya) in the two weeks I was gone.
Christmas in western Mexico is much nicer, and not just because of the lovely warm weather. There are plenty of decorations, carols, and trees, but they seem simpler and far more sincere than the garish displays up north in California.
The big Christmas tree in the main plaza of old town Mazatlan is decorated with red velvet bows and long garlands of paper flowers. Unlike Nor Cal, December is dry, so no worries about rain spoiling the fabric or paper decorations, which are what most people put up on their eaves and around their windows (sorry I don't have pictures but will post some taken by others).
Lights are usually single strands with multi-colored bulbs, just like
we used a couple of decades ago before everyone went crazy with all these hanging multi-strands and plastic inflatables. Acapulco has a population of over two million, and I think everyone of them has at least one strand of holiday lights. Since the ship did not leave port until 11 PM, I stood on the top deck and admired the thousands of beautiful lights shining all the way up on the hillsides surrounding the harbor. Spectacular!
Thanks to the warm climate, flowers are also in abundance this time of year and are used extensively for decorations. I don't think I've ever seen more blooming poinsettias than the profusion hanging and filling every available space in the public market in Manzanillo. All those natural red and green colors were gorgeous!
Of course, all that bucolic splendor flies right out the window as soon as I get back on the ship. Talk about Christmas excess! There are decorated trees in every public venue. Wreaths, garland, and tinsel threaten to strangle me at every turn. Christmas music blasts from the PA system. (Aunty sighs heavily) I guess if I must endure the holiday madness, there are far worse places than a cruise ship!
And the Lair is lots of fun too! But please tell Aunty, what place would you like to sail away for the holidays: a) Mexico b) the Carribean c) Europe d) someplace else (WHERE?)
Since we are still celebrating the 12 Bandita Days of Christmas, one lucky commenter will win a prize!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL!
91 comments:
Is he coming back to my place
have Fun
Helen
The GR must have wanted to see if there was any birthday cake left !!
Aunty Cindy I do hope you are well rested and have had a great time also a fantastic Birthday.
I love the Christmas season all the lights and trees and we do decorate but very lightly compared to some and I love Christmas carols, I was playing them today while making the Chrissy puddings with 4 little helpers and only 1 egg was broken LOL. One pudding is off the stove it cooked for 6 hours and the 2nd one has just gone on it wall have to cook for 3 hours.
I have always wanted to have at least 1 white Christmas so the place I would choose would be Europe maybe one day I will get there.
Have Fun
Helen
Welcome home AC - Glad you had a wonderful time. I admit I like the lights and carols, but to me - Christmas is all about family. I'd love to go on a cruise to somewhere warm over the holidays, but the entire extended brood would have to come with me. Actually, I think that would be great!
Sounds like the GR wanted to spend the holidays somewhere warm. Congratulations Helen! I hope you get your wish to travel to someplace with snow for Christmas. One time will be all you need (Very Big Grin!)
Congrats Helen on getting the rooster today!
I enjoy the Christmas light and the music, but not the hussel and bussel that goes along with Christmas. The biggest thing I enjoy with Christmas is spending time with family and the dinners! I have been making Christmas Candies today! Helen you can have all the snow your want! I personally don't want any at Christmas.
I think I would want to travel some place where it is warm this time of the year and I would want to take my family with me.
Hey, Helen, one for the Aussies! Yay! I think it was the lure of the birthday cake.
AC, what a great post and I loved the pictures. I knew someone who once went to Ethiopia for Christmas. She said it was amazing - it's a Christian country so they do have Christmas celebrations although obviously dramatically different to what we have in Australia. Always thought that was kinda cool.
I had ambitions of having Christmas in Paris this year but sadly it didn't eventuate. One day!
Hey Aunty Cindy,
Welcome back. I think I would choose Europe. I've heard a lot about the German Christmas markets and I would enjoy shopping for decorations and presents and sample the local cuisine.
Congrats on the GR, Helen.
Seeing all this cold weather here in France I think I'd chose Mexico too !! I've already been to the Caribean so I guess I'd lover to discover a new place. Mexico sounds perfect !! *sigh*
Hi, Aunt Cindy.
If I could travel anywhere during the holidays, it would have to be merry, old England to experience the Yule traditions there. (Yule logs, Christmas crackers, plum pudding, etc.)
I would also like to travel to Denmark and experience Christmas in my grandfather's homeland. (Roast pork, glazed potatoes, singing around the Christmas tree, and spending time with my Danish family.)
I hope you are well-rested. Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas, Aunt Cindy! I think traveling during the holidays sounds great. I told the girls when they are all grown I'd love to go to Hawaii for Christmas.
And England or Scotland. That is my other wish. :) Hey, all you travel/history buffs---would there be a big difference in the way they celebrated this holiday?
AC, it sounds as if you're having a glorious time!
Where would I like to sail away to for the holidays? Hmm...that's a tough one. I can't imagine spending Christmas anywhere but at home.
Although it would be fun to experience the holidays in a different culture. And just once I'd like to spend Christmas someplace warm where we can walk on the beach Christmas Eve :-) Then I'd know for sure if I'd miss a white Christmas or not!
Congrats on nabbing the GR, Helen! Now you'll have 5 little helpers
:-)
I think I would want to travel some place where it is warm this time of the year and I would want to take my family with me.
Virginia, it sounds as if we have the same destination in mind *g*
Your trip sounds wonderful. I've never considered how other cultures celebrate Christmas but it sounds like a lot of fun.
I think I'd prefer a trip to Europe if not just for the Christmas tradition, but for the fact that I've never been out of the country and this is always the first place I've wanted to go. My best friend is spending Christmas in London and I'm incredibly envious of her!
I grew up in Southern California, and wished for white Christmases. Now I live in Ohio and wish for California! So if I were to go anywhere for the holidays, it would be California for sure!
Christmas in Mexico sounds good right about now. We just got 2 feet of snow!
I love the pictures! I would love to go Europe...travel all over...That would be incredible.
Merry Christmas
Anna Shah Hoque
s7anna@yahoo.ca
Enjoy your wonderful vacation. I would love to travel to Europe. What an interesting and wonderful holiday that would be.
Helen, have fun with the rooster!
Cindy, your Christmas trip sounds wonderful. I love poinsettias and am a sucker for lights as decoration. Wish I could see what you're describing!
If I were to sail away anywhere or try any other location for Christmas, I think it'd be Yorkshire. The dales are so pretty anyway, and right now they're covered in snow (possibly melting).
Definitely Scotland or Ireland. Since the Winter Solstice and Christmas are so close together I think it would be really interesting to learn about the ancient traditions related to each and how many of those traditions are followed today or have been modified to fit into current society.
There's no place like home for the holidays...
That's my philosophy for sure....Traditional and boring I know but there you go.
HOWEVER, if I could take my family and friends with me...it would be Ireland OR Disneyworld. Sigh, I'd love to see Mickey as Santa :0
As we just had about a foot of snow dumped on us yesterday, I would love to sail away to anywhere without it right about now! The Carribean does sound really good...maybe I'd run into Johnny Depp. Now that would go a long way to warming me up!
Margay
Hi, Aunty Cindy! Great post. I love to sail away for the holidays too. Or at least board a plane for a quick getaway. My reason is sheer laziness -- someone else gets to do the cooking! I used to love to visit my mom's during the holidays and experience her delish dishes that I never make, like fried apples -- yummy!
Yay, Helen! Indeed! Was there any cake left from the birthday bash? I'm guessing not LOL.
Isn't it fun to bake with the grand-kiddies? I firmly believe that teaching a child to break an egg properly is one of the most important skills in life :-D. My daughters have all left that task to me and it's pretty amazing how young they are when they can do that job -- those tiny fingers, I suppose.
LOL, I love being around the family, too, Donna (we're at 30 immediate family now), but I just want to do it at someone else's house! Over half of the group are children, so it's quite a brood!
Virginia, I know what you mean! The traffic is horrendous. I try to do my shopping either really early in the morning or very late at night, hoping the crowds will be smaller then.
And of course I bribe Dr. Big into doing the grocery shopping :-D.
Aunty Cindy is indeed finished with her wonderful trip to Mexico (I'm so jealous of her that I'm turning green even as I type), but she's now wending her way from San Diego to rainy northern California (poor baby, what a shock when she gets here!). She'll get here later this afternoon, so come back!
Christmas in Paris, Anna!?? Oh, I'd love to do that. Before the recession I'd promised my middle girl Kennan I'd take her to Paris. I'd already gotten the promise of babysitting from her husband (that's half the battle you know). Now money's a little tight, but I do hope some day "we'll [always] have Paris"!
Jane, I lived in Germany for four years when I was a girl. They do have a wonderful festive celebration of Christmas. I remember putting my shoes in the window and getting candy the next morning. That's what made me believe there really was a Santa!
Emmanuelle, winter is Mexico is really mild, apparently. Cindy has reported very temperate weather in the high 70's, with a light breeze. Beautiful!
Deb, I think visiting the lands of your ancestry is such a lovely idea. It sort of connects you to your past.
Gillian, I'll bet there are subtle differences among these countries. AC will know. She's traveled the world over.
Hawaii is beautiful any time of the year! And what a relaxing and lovely place to take your daughters. I took my daughters one Mothers Day and we had a wonderful time!
Brrrr, Beth. I have to admit I love the snow and the fire blazing in the hearth, but the cold really gets to me in my old age. Winter in Nor Cal means rain and I long for sunny beaches right now!
I've never been to England, either, Stephanie. I'd love to experience an old-fashioned London Christmas. My niece married a Brit and lived outside London in a 500-year old home for over a decade, and I never found the time to visit. Now that she's back in the States, I really regret now going.
LOL, Stacy, don't we always wish for what we don't have? I'd love a southern Cal Christmas too, maybe a visit to Disneyland. I hear Disneyland at Christmas is quite spectacular.
Yikes, Susied, where are you that you got 2 feet of snow? We lived in Idaho for four years. I loved the state, but I don't think I ever got warm the entire time!
S7Anna and Traveler, you definitely want to do your traveling while you're young. I find it much harder now and I regret not traveling more when I had the energy.
Still, I did manage to visit the entire middle east for a month in my early thirties. That was an exhilarating experience!
Hi, Nancy. Why Yorkshire in particular? Besides the dales with their melting snow LOL.
What a great idea, Cybercliper! I'd really like to explore how the Christian traditions evolved from and/or integrated with the pagan ones.
Truly, Joanie, there's no place like home. When we travel, we always say, it's so good to be home, when we walk into our little house. But SIL was just telling me that Disneyland turns into a dazzling Christmas showcase at t his time of the year. And you get the good weather!
Tee hee, Johnny would warm us all up, I suspect, Margay. Sorry about the snow. It's so beautiful but the reality of it is that someone has to shovel the walks!
I would like to go to Mexico. Why, well simply cause I love the food.
I would love to go to scotland. I love place that have such beautiful countrysides.
Lapland, of course. There has to be snow at Christmas.
http://www.offthemark.com/xmas/xmas.htm
http://www.radionova.fi -if your internet connection is faster than mine, you should be able listen to Radio Nova.
Happy Birthday AC - hope you had another wonderful cruise.
I'm a home-body at Christmas. It comes of all those years of endless business travel and work ... Christmas is our time and while we love having any number of visitors, we don't go anywhere!
New Year, on the other hand, I'd be more than happy to be on a cruise somewhere! South America - including the Panama Canal would be great, or the Far East.
Helen - I hope you make it to Europe too!
Ahem Anna - and Christmas in Cambridge *g*
Jane - we plan to do the Christmas markets next year. I've never been, but hubby and his daughters say they're fab. We were disappointed that Amsterdam didn't have any markets when we went in early December. It would be the perfect city for Christmas markets!
Gillian - the biggest difference in England is that because we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas is our big family holiday. And it's our turkey holiday *g*.
It's full of traditions, both old and new. From the food, to the songs, to the things we do, to the Queen's speech and the Christmas blockbuster movie and the Christmas #1, to the crazies who swim in the North Sea ... it's a huge event.
Scotland is pretty much the same, though they do have an extra big new year's celebration, which they call Hogmanay. They also get an extra day off afterwards to recover!
Nancy - my Dad used to live in the Dales (Wensleydale, to be precise)and Christmas in the Dales is lovely ... bloody cold, but lovely LOL.
I'd just like to point out that Cambridge is beautiful with all the snow too!
Jo - make sure you go to Paris via Cambridge!!
Minna - I'd love to do the whole Lapland thing one day. I know it's pretty kitschy and commercialised now, but I still think it would be fun.
I know it's pretty kitschy and commercialised now, but I still think it would be fun.
Well, what wouldn't be? But if you want to avoid overdose of commercialism, just avoid Santa's village. I have visited Lapland twice, once to see my aunt and once I was there on a school trip. And I ate some reindeer there, too.
Oooh, Helen, he IS coming back to your place. He must have enjoyed that picnic!
Aunty! So fun to cruise, isn't it? I've only done it once, but I did enjoy it.
I have to laugh about the crass commercialism. :> It's pretty mellow aroudn our 'hood. Lots of neighborly spirit in the snow storm - impromptu pot lucks the last two nights!
I'd love to see so many of the places you've been though. How marvy!
As to where I sail away to, that would be the UK, which I guess qualifies as Europe. Most specifically Scotland. I know it would be cold there, but I like the cold, so...I might have to go alone, however since my boyz DON'T like cold! hahahah!
Anna, so, what's your ham holiday? SNORK!
I'll take the Dales for CHristmas too, then if they're cold. Grins. 80 degrees on Christmas? Now that would make me say bah-humbug. Ha!
my son is currenly fascinated by whales, so i'd like to sail up the British Columbia coast to see orcas, or up the Saint Lawrence River to the Atlantic to see belugas
Rebekah, I see that we're on the same travel page as far as Scotland. Go us!! :>
Why Jeanne - Easter, of course! *g* (though I prefer lamb, myself)
Merry Christmas, Aunty,
It would be a toss-up for me
between Venice and Hawaii! I have
been to Venice, so Hawaii might
have a slight edge. But I loved
the time spent in Venice and want
to return there some day!
Of course, Anna! How could I forget Easter for lamb or ham?
Oooh, Pat, I envy your having been to Venice. I've been to Rome, but always wanted to walk on the bridge-streets over water!
M, isn't it interesting how boys are always interested in whales? Or sharks or dinosaurs? Whales, apparently, are beautiful creatures to watch. I've only seen one, once, in the wild, not a zoo.
Oh, Jeanne, doesn't Scotland just call to you? We're returning again next August. Boyd promised me a side trip to Ireland, but apparently that's not materializing this time. I'm very bummed about that!
Hi, Anna! Sure, a trip to Paris via Cambridge would be delightful, especially with the snow. Uh, can we bunk at your place?
Love that extra day off the Scots get after Hogmanay!
And I've always wanted to do a cruise through the Panama Canal. Such an engineering feat! And only the smaller cruise ships can go through because of the width, apparently.
Minna, Lapland sounds wonderful too!
Silvia, Mexican food is my favorite! My DIL's family is Mexican and I get to sample the original cuisine when Mamacita Ruvalcaba is cooking!
Rebekah, what I love most about Scotland was the accent. It's wonderful, but we Yanks had to listen carefully. Sometimes it's almost another language altogether!
Of course you can bunk at our place, Jo! How about a side-trip on your way to Scotland?!
I would definately have to go to Hawaii!
Jo, we've spoken before about what a miserable time I had when I first visited Paris. I'd like to visit with a bit of money (I was basically backpacking first time round) and on my own timetable and just have a wander around the place. Would love to go back and see the museums again - they ARE something I remember favorably from that first trip. Hope you and Kennan make it one day!
Jo, Annie West, my critique partner, had Christmas in Austria and the lead-up to Christmas in Germany last year and it sounded absolutely magical.
Believe me, Anna, Christmas in Cambridge is on the to do list! Especially when you send around gorgeous photos of snow and cats like you did this week!
This year, I'd love to be home in Ohio with my parents and sister's family.
If I HAD to go somewhere for the holiday it would be DisneyWorld. We went one day when we lived in Florida and it was cool, but I'd much rather take the whole gang for 3-4 days over the holiday...they know how to throw a party!!
But my favorite place to spend the holiday is home with my kids and grandbabies.
Merry Christmas, AC!
Good for you for spending the holidays where they seem most joyful to you! Our church has recently started holding a Blue Christmas service for people for whom the holidays are a painful time--a reminder of a recent loss or the fact that their family relations aren't good or what have you. I think it's always good to be reminded that people don't all experience the holidays the same way.
Given my druthers on where to spend Christmas, though? I think I'd go to Europe--the more eastern parts that I've always wanted to see--Czechoslovakia (or what used to be Czechoslovakia), Prague, etc. That way I'd see snow and still feel seasonally appropriate, but be able to immerse myself in a whole bunch of gorgeous history & architecture.
Hope your time in Mexico was fabulous--I'll look forward to hearing all about it when you're safely back in town!
Hi, AC!!! The Lair is definitely loads of fun, but to sail away? I'd say to Japan--the food is amazing, and it would be very fun to spend the holidays in very different part of the world than home :)
Glad you're enduring the madness so well!! ;)
Congrats on the GR, Helen!
Congrats on snagging the GR, Helen!
Welcome back, Aunty Cindy!
I'm not sure I'd like to sail away anywhere. I might get seasick! But I think c)Europe and d)Somewhere else(possibly other parts of Canada) might be fun. Actually, it'd be a really nice holiday to be somewhere with a huge snowfall and not have to do any shovelling. :D
Susan said: Czechoslovakia (or what used to be Czechoslovakia),
They've changed that name too??!!!
What is WITH the geography people (governments, revolutions..whatever). I don't like names to be changed!
It came as a complete SHOCK to me that Bombay is now Mumbai???
WT.....
They've changed that name too??!!!
Well, they didn't actually change the name. They just split the name and the country in two:
In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. Its territory became the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were formally created on January 1, 1993.
What is WITH the geography people (governments, revolutions..whatever). I don't like names to be changed!
Joan, have you by any chance been watching BBC's Grumpy Old Women or Grumpy Old Men?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumpy_Old_Men_(TV_series)
Susan said: I've always wanted to see--Czechoslovakia (or what used to be Czechoslovakia), Prague, etc. That way I'd see snow and still feel seasonally appropriate, but be able to immerse myself in a whole bunch of gorgeous history & architecture.
Susan, my dad and stepmom went to Prague on their honeymoon. They said it was fabulous!!!
Europe! For sure I'd want to go to Europe - have never been! And... :P You know, the anywhere but here sentiment :X
A cruise was our favorite vacation ever but I would like to visit Sicily since that's where all my ancestors came from.
Well, for Christmas, I think I prefer a cooler climate (though I guess if I found me in Florida or something, I wouldn't complain much LOL). . . but for any time, I sure wouldn't mind a boat ride on the Nile in Egypt, seeing the monuments and all that good stuff! :)
Lois
Good on you, Helen! You said the magic word - Cake! We all know how the GR loves CAKE !!
Aunty, welcome home! It sounds as if you had a lovely trip!
For me the best Christmases in my memories are the ones we spent in England and I would love to return there for another one. My brothers and I talk about them often and my niece and nephews love to hear our stories of Christmas in Kelsale.
Another place I would love to visit at Christmas again is Austria. The Christkindmarkt in the market square, the vendors selling roasted chestnuts, the music everywhere. It is absolutely magical. On the way to midnight mass walking through the old city deep in the night with the snow falling all around you and the silence, as if the world is holding its breath once more to greet the birth of the child who would show us what we are capable of if only we would choose to be. It is one of the singular memories I have of Christmas.
All these exotic locations have me wanting to pack my bags!
Since I'm totally sick of cold and snow, I'd love the Carribean.
If I were travelling for the holidays this year, I think I'd want to travel to Australia to visit Anna Cambell. She has a POOL!!!!
And it's WARM there.
It's freezing here. And gray. It's been gray for weeks.
No snow. Just gray. Blech.
Seriously...the older I get, the less I like cold.
ON the other hand, it would be fun to spend Christmas in a snowy place like the mountains...a ski lodge (of course, I'd have to learn to ski) but there is a palm tree in my soul, and going someplace warm just sounds...WONDERFUL right now.
Have a tropical little Christmas.....Oh yeah..I could go for that.
Minna said:
In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. Its territory became the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were formally created on January 1, 1993.
Minna, I didn't know that. I feel as though I haven't been paying attention. I've heard "Czech REpublic" used for a while now, but I didn't make the connection that the country by the former name had been...well...undone....
OH....Steve just told me that Burma is another name now. Neither of us can remember it, but apparantly it's changed too.
I can't keep up with it.
Hi EVERYONE!
Thanx for all the wonderful wishes and for "holding down the fort" today while I was wending my way home.
The cruise was GREAT! The weather was lovely and balmy! WAH!!! I did NOT wanna come back to this dreary cold rain! And I really did not wanna come home to cooking and cleaning up after myself. :-( Oh well, there's always next year, which is just around the corner!
Congrats on the GR, Helen!
And I hope the birthday party was a grand success! I had a WONDERFUL birthday in Puerto Vallarta, sat in a bar called the Cheeky Monkey overlooking the blue blue ocean, and had margaritas and onion rings! SLURP!
I'd LOVE to try one of those Chrissy Puddings, Helen!
Thanx again to everyone. I'm surprised at how many of you would like to spend the holidays in a colder climate! BRRRR! Emmanuelle and our other European buddies, there's a HUGE cold front hitting the continent about now. STAY WARM! Have a hot toddy here in the Lair!
AC
Hey Tetewa! I think you, me, and Cassondra need to head on out for Hawaii! How soon can you pack your bags? We only need a swimsuit, some shorts, and flip flops. LET'S GO!!!
AC
Happy Birthday, Aunty Cindy!
I do like seeing all the Christmas decorations, and even though I could do without real cold weather, being a northerner used to a White Christmas and being with family. But, I sure wouldn't mind a cruise to Mexico right after the holiday to warm me up.
Aunty Cindy
They really are nice I am not sure how it would go in the post LOL. Sounds like you had another great time.
There have been some wonderful places mentioned to spend holidays it is really hot here today I have the air con on and we are about to get a storm, but they predict rain on Chrissy day, oh well we will still have lots of fun with the family
have Fun
Helen
I think I'd like to go to Ireland. I've always wanted to go there. Of course Australia and New Zealand wouldn't be bad either.
I would sail to Scotland and kidnap Gerard Butler away from his family holiday! Talk about a fun Christmas present to unwrap!
Welcome home Aunty Cindy!! I glad you had a great time.
If I could go anywhere it would be to the Carribean where it is warm. It wouldn't be Christmasie but warm.
I would also like to go to Europe where I could travel from country to country to see all the traditions they have for Christmas1
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