During the past 12 years I have never before stayed in Finland until the beginning of December.

The postponed departure is due to a lot of things; two grandchildren got married, the husband had a hip operation and I got rid of my cataract. Now I can see everything so clearly. This has its ups and downs, the autumnal colours of the Nordic landscape inspire me more than ever, but the dust accumulated under the furniture is crying out loud for immediate measures. Not like in the pre-op days.

Here in Helsinki, the Christmas preparations are in full swing, with X-mas paraphernalia all over the place and huge decorated pine trees adorning squares and market places. All these Christmas preparations are a must to alleviate the November sadness that comes upon the Nordic people this time of the year. The weather is grey and cloudy and the rain is pouring down. It is dark at eight when you get up and darkness is raining again at half past three p.m. In northern Finland and Lapland there is a lot of snow and in some places 20 degrees below zero. Lapland is getting ready for invasions of people from the south coming to have a look at the real Santa.

A coffee shop in the neighbourhood cheers me up with nice slogans every morning;  “Remember, you are unique”, “There are those who sing in the rain and those who just get wet”, “Kindness is free”, Happiness is…Friday”. It’s good that people realize that these kinds of pep ups are sorely needed to soothe the arctic hysteria that comes upon us this time of the year.

Soon we will be back in Almuñecar. Needless to say, we have missed the place badly. Christmas will be celebrated according to both Scandinavian and Spanish traditions, with mulled wine, pepparkakor, Baltic herring, schnapps and ham at the Santa Lucia celebration on December 13th with our club Los Nórdicos at Hotel Victoria. We will also take part in the typically Spanish celebrations with Christmas carols (villancicos) and meals with traditional dishes such as lamb and sea bream, all kinds of seafood, turron (better book your dentist beforehand), polvorones (not my favourite), etc. I will not miss attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. And then there are the twelve grapes on New Year’s Eve, one grape in time with the striking of the clock. If you succeed, you will have a year full of luck. And then there is the children’s big feast, the Three Kings Parade on January 5th, the day before the Feast of the Three Kings when the three Wise Men of the East, Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar bring Christmas presents to the children. Three Kings Parades with their page boys, camels and all kinds of wonderful and even weird characters make their way through the streets of villages, towns and cities all over Spain.

But before these Christmas feasts, the Finnish people of Almuñecar will celebrate the Day of Independence of Finland on December 6th, at 2 p.m. at restaurant Arbol Blanco, with the Finnish flag, the National Anthem and a picture of Marshall Mannerheim, the front figure in our struggle for independence.