The Luxury of Time
Reflections on our First Holiday Season Abroad and a Short Trip to Sevilla
As 2024 dawns here in Lisbon, I thought I’d take a few minutes of stillness to reflect on our first holiday season abroad as a family. One of the most noticeable things for me was that for the first time in years I feel like I actually experienced December at a manageable pace. In prior years, the period between returning home from Thanksgiving travels and Christmas always ran by so fast that I was never able to really get my arms around it. I’d have all these high hopes of taking the time to do all sorts of ‘holiday things’ like ice skating at a pop-up holiday market or tackling ambitious baking projects or just strolling around a different neighborhood taking in the Christmas lights with a mug of mulled wine in hand. And then December would end up being a blur—work would be too busy and there’d be too many other obligations and simply not enough weekends. But this year, with no work obligations to attend to, I was actually able to slow down and savor the season. And while I didn’t tackle any big baking projects or go ice skating, I got my fill of strolling through the holiday lights here in Lisbon and Sevilla, made it to Wonderland (Lisbon’s Christmas market) not once but twice, and enjoyed plenty of leisurely family time.
Of course, we definitely missed spending the holidays with our families. While we’ve had lots of family visitors over the last few months, the distance is most notable this time of year. Thanksgiving is just another Thursday here, and Christmas morning feels a bit anticlimactic when it’s just the three of us sitting in our apartment while the kiddo opens his gifts. But we’ve been adapting and figuring out how to carry on our traditions in our new home. We figured out where in Lisbon to track down candles for the Hanukkah menorah and bought a faux Christmas tree on Amazon Spain that we’ve dubbed the ‘disco tree.’ Will made latkes and matzoh ball soup for Hanukkah. And I made my grandmother’s lemon snowballs for Christmas like I do every year. Food, of course, being the throughline that connects new traditions and the old.
But mostly what I noticed over this last month was the luxury of time. While I won’t go so far as to say it was magical, it was refreshing to not feel harried with overwhelm. And indeed this was one of the biggest draws of making this life change. To actually feel like we had time; time for both cozy lounging and delightfully lazy days, and also time to get out and explore.
We took advantage of this time to spend a few days in Sevilla right before Christmas, which was a new destination for all of us, and my first time back in Spain since spending part of our honeymoon in Barcelona way back in 2010. While normally I am a major planner and in my past life would try to maximize those few precious vacation days when travelling to a new place, the fact that this was a relatively easy road trip really took the pressure off. Beyond buying tickets a day or two in advance for the Real Alcázar, we mostly decided to go with the flow and just wander and explore (and eat of course).
Sevilla totally lived up to its hype as a ridiculously charming walkable city with stunning architecture and great food. And it really lends itself to just wandering around and seeing what looks interesting. We managed to see the major sights, but mostly this city is all about the feel (the vibes if you will). The old part of town is a labyrinth of narrow lanes that all seem to lead you to the massive cathedral. We walked up to the top of the Giralda tower (up many stories of ramps as opposed to stairs) and were startled when one of the giant bells peeled out while we were standing up there taking in the view. We also ‘discovered’ Sevilla’s cathedral is where Christopher Columbus is entombed (see what I did there?).
For me though, the Real Alcázar was deservedly the highlight of the tourist sights. A sprawling complex of room after room of Arab-influenced ornately carved and tiled archways and beguilingly lush gardens. And, though the weather was cold, the orange trees everywhere gave it an exotic vibe. Apparently the oranges are a sour variety though, planted for their beauty and perfume as opposed to for snacking.
Which of course leads me to the perennial best thing about travelling, food. Spanish cuisine is amazing. While I enjoy Portuguese food--lots of simple fresh seafood, double carbs (French fries and rice) with most meals-- the Spanish definitely don’t hold back on flavor. Also, as a life-long snacker/grazer, tapas are truly my favorite way to eat. It’s basically a table full of little snacks. Fried things, umami packed seafood bites, cured pig products, Manchego cheese, sangria--what could be better? I mean, jamón!
We’re back in Lisbon now, but this little getaway definitely got me daydreaming about taking additional short trips in the coming year. Right now we’ve got Greece on the books for spring break, and some plans for daytrips from Lisbon, but definitely need to fit some long weekend trips in here and there as well.
Hope you found a little holiday magic of your own, and happy 2024!
Tchau,
Megan
Happy New Year! I’m glad you got to savor the season a bit, though I still fondly remember our Christmas Eve viewing of “Walk Hard” during our first year as “real lawyers”. 😊. Sevilla looks/sounds amazing. I’ll have to add it to my bucket list! Looking forward to more posts (and hopefully more “mom/dad” jokes, too). I mean, jamón!