Nochebuena

It's Christmas Eve. In Spanish that's Nochebuena. That seems etymologically strange to me. "Noche" means "night", "buena" means "good". The generic-ness of these terms suggests the great cultural significance of Christmas Eve.

Sevilla is as quiet as I've ever seen it right now. When we took the trash out, the main street was deserted. All the shops and restaurants were closed. Normally, it would be bustling:

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The weather was nice today. Low 70s, sunny. We went to a tapas place we like called Zoko for lunch:

This is Laura getting her tuna from the server. He seared it with a blow torch at the table. The food was good. Emily and I even shared a vegetarian dish.

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After lunch, we tried to visit the Torre del Oro, which is free on Mondays, but it was closed for the holiday. Instead, Emily, Rachel and I walked along the river. Laura went grocery shopping. Kathy and Ric went to their airbnb.

Whoever put up the autumn artwork along the river, replaced it with a lovely Christmas tree of macrame and crochet on recycled items like CDs and pop tops:

On our return walk, we stopped at the new mall and wandered around. Laura joined us and did a bit more Christmas shopping.

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In the evening, Laura made a pretty good spread of Mexican food. After dinner we watched a fairly horrible Christmas movie on Netflix called The Christmas Chronicals. Definitely would not recommend.

My cold is tapering off. Rachel, who came to Sevilla 10 days ago with a cold, is having a relapse. Laura, is deep into a cold. Emily, Kathy and Ric are still healthy, but I fear their days are numbered.