The Christening

We were invited to attend the christening of Alessya, the next door neighbours daughter. At least, Ed thought we were! The day before, we had no idea where we were meant to be, nor when! I rang up, and we established that it was to be at the Maria Magdelena church at mid day.

To play safe, we went to town, and went to the biggest church in town. I asked a little old Spanish lady if this was the correct church, but she said, No, it was the other church up the road, near the shops. We duly went back to the centre of town, to the other church, and I asked again. No, we needed the big church – that we had just come from! There were no signs outside the churches, so we just decided to go early, and hope we went to the right place.

Sunday arrived, and in our best clothes, we went to town, and sure enough, the first people we saw inside the church were Monica and Roberto, with Alessya. Phew! In time, 2 other babes in arms arrived, and there was a lovely service for all 3 children. The priest spoke very clear castellon, so I could follow a bit, but it was very nice to simply watch the proceedings. We took lots of pictures afterwards, and were invited back to the house for lunch. We were told to change first, into casual clothes, as this was to be a relaxing afternoon next to the pool.

We had a wonderful afternoon, and didn’t leave until 9pm! There was enough food and wine for 50 people, not just the 20 of us. Roberto is Italian, and his relatives brought wonderful red wine, and Monica’s family provided all of the traditional Spanish food. We had pâté, cheese, salami, iberico ham, salmon, pastries and crackers. And that was for starters. Next, were fresh prawns, so big, that you could only fit 2 or 3 on a plate at a time. After that, 2 huge paellas. One with snails and one without.

I was really brave, and opted for the one with snails in. I have never eaten them before. Thankfully, there were only 2 on my plate! I’ve seen it done on the TV, so, I stuck my fork in, and pulled the little blighter out of his shell, and ate him. It was ok, just like a mussel, but with a strong flavour. I pulled out the second one, but he snapped in half. Not being over-keen, I left the other half, and just ate his head! Later, I confessed that I had never eaten snails before. Roberto laughed, and said that he didn’t like them, so he had eaten from the other paella. Monica, promptly showed my how to eat a snail… pull out the head, then pull it against the shell, so that it snaps off, leaving the other half inside. Don’t eat the whole thing, just the head. Oops. I had eaten the whole of the first one. Was I destined to spend the night sitting on the toilet? Or just with my head in it? Actually, neither, I was fine. But I don’t think I will eat them again, unless I really have to!

The next day, Roberto’s brothers called around to look at the bikes, which was really nice. Only one of them spoke good English, but they all managed to make themselves understood! When Roberto got home from work, he popped around too. One of them didn’t like bikes, so Ed let him have a go on the digger instead, which made everyone laugh.

We may not see each other very often, but at least now we a little more than a passing acquaintance!