Call me Scrooge but I’m no longer a big fan of Christmas. The hype, the absence of paying homage to it being a religious holiday, the wasteful expenditures. Not having children to direct the wonder might be a big reason.
But I do love it in Portugal. It might be because there is no amazon here, (though you can order from the dutch or spanish sites), or because the average income is low, but there isn’t crass commercialism in my observation. Often a nativity scene or crèche is displayed in the window of a store, along with merchandise. In front of stores, red carpets are placed. In parks, poinsettias are planted. Lights are a big deal all over the country – it seems that they share the resources, so lights and decorations get moved around from city to city so the local ‘show’ is different year to year. Streets are full of lights, and Christmas music is piped on the streets. There’s a big tree in the town square, along with a winter village for kids, showcasing Santa’s house, a moving train, a carousel, and sometimes a faux skating rink.
Christmas eve is the main event, with a traditional menu shared around the family table – and no Christmas feast in Portugal is complete without the star ingredient bacalhau or salt cod. Supermarkets are stacked high with bacalhau – and it’s amazing to see just how many are sold prior to Christmas (and actually all year long). Locally caught fish might be eaten on Christmas Eve, when families enjoy a light meal known as Consoada. Lamb is also common, and let’s not forget cakes and all sorts of pastry sweets that the Portuguese love.
For our first Christmas Billy and I went to our market and watched what many Portuguese were buying. We were surprised that a stuffed turkey leg was popular. Our butcher deboned and cleaned a leg, flattened it, then added salt and pepper, prunes and prosciutto – and rolled and tied up the ‘roast’ with a beautiful cord. We felt we were celebrating like a local, and it was pretty good! You can read about Portuguese Christmas food here if you want to learn more.
The other amazing thing to me is that there are many large scale recreations of Jerusalem city, and the nativity. The biggest one is at the fire station or bombeiros, but I’ve a smaller version too – just as heartfelt. The former takes up a space that would hold probably 2 or 3 firetrucks – so we’re not talking a small endeavor. It’s complete with miniature people and animals, and depicts rural life – baking bread in an outside oven, fixing houses, feeding animals, taking produce in a cart. There’s moving parts, and a waterfall, lights and animation. It’s really something to behold.
The month of December is sprinkled with musical concerts in churches and at the old Market. There are lots of craft fairs with vendors selling handmade gifts – knitting, ceramics – and lots of food items such as honey and cakes. It’s all over on the 26th. Back to normal, with no boxing day sales to speak of in Tavira at least. Another plus. Life is good, and Christmas seems to have the right focus and balance, for me at least.
Then there is the New Year Eve celebration – but I’ll save that for the next post.
Christmas
