Dear readers, I am participating in Ruby Tuesday2, Rednesday & Alphabe-Thursday with some of the *h*istoric display windows of the, er, (Oops!) past season which I couldn’t help posting! Here they are:
1. Au Printemps, Paris (above & below) 
2. Browns, London 
3. Butler & Wilson 
4. D & G 
5.Harvey Nicks 
6. Hermès 
7. Barney’s Lady Gaga’s Cove & Boudoir
8. Liberty 
9. Links of London
10. Alexander McQueen 
11. Selfridges 
12. Sergio Rossi
13.Tiffany
14. Louis Vuitton
15. Agent Provocateur
ANY OUTSTANDING SEASONAL DISPLAY WINDOWS WHERE YOU LIVE?
Do check out other
Ruby Tuesday2, Rednesday &
Alphabe-Thursday posts @
Jenny Matlock! 
And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented. Have a great weekend!
Enjoy,
XOXO LOLA:)
Dear readers, here in Spain, it is traditional for children to receive their Christmas presents from the three "Reyes Magos" – *G*AZPAR, MELCHOR and BALTASAR (above) this Thursday, January 5 (Epiphany Eve) - as per the Biblical story (see my previous post on gold, frankincense and myrrh). Almost every Spanish city or town organises parades or cabalgatas (pictured above and below) in the evening when the Kings and their servants parade and throw sweets to the children (and parents). Astute children (and parents) open umbrellas to collect them!
The parade of the three kings in Alcoy, Valencia (pictured below) claims to be the oldest in the world, having started in 1886. 
After the parade, there is a large feast, eaten either out at a restaurant or in someone’s h
ome. There are traditional foods like jamon (usually pata negra), polvorones, roscos navidaños (a traditional, ring-shaped sweet bread or cake), drinks and Spanish Christmas carols, like the zambomba, may be sung. While the families are 
out celebrating, the Kings are said to visit each house and leave presents under the tree or in children’s shoes (as per letters left earlier in eg.the letterbox at this shopping center, captured above).
On January 6th, the centrepiece of la fiesta de los Reyes Magos is the Three Kings’ Cake or Roscón de Reyes (pictured above) - a sweet, ring-shaped cake with a small gift (a small figurine of the baby Jesus or another surprise depending on the region) and an actual dry broad 
bean (don’t ask!) baked into the middle. The one who gets the gift is crowned king/queen for the day but whoever gets the bean has to pay the value of the cake to the person who originally bought it or provide the following year’s King’s cake. Presents are opened - like a typical Western Christmas Day only 12 days later!
As times change, many families in Spain, though, are beginning to acknowledge Santa Claus and giving gifts on Christmas Day. Some families even celebrate both!
ANY SPECIAL NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS WHERE YOU LIVE? OR HAVE SEEN?
Do check out other Al
phabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock,
Ruby Tuesday2 and Rednesday @ suelovescherries.
Finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented. Have a great weekend!
Enjoy, and my very best wishes to you and yours for 2012!
XOXO LOLA:)
Dear readers, I am participating in Alphabe-Thursday where ‘E’ IS FOR *E*XCITING MOVIES – ONES YOU’D LIKE TO STEP INTO! Sometimes, a movie creates a world we wish we could simply step into – far from the imploding global financial crisis engulfing us all.
The graphic violence of Michael Winner’s Death Wish sequels; the horrors of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie franchise, anyone? No,
we could think of loads of movies in which we’d rather not find ourselves! Of course, in many cases the whole concept is a non-starter – the various props, costumes, sets and camera locations that make up the movie’s visual reality are so cobbled together it’s difficult to take them seriously anyway. But sometimes the magic does take hold and a movie creates a world you feel you could simply step into, one in which you might be happy to stay.
For me, it's the dark opulence George Lucas conjured up in Star Wars, and the fun George Roy Hill created in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (above and below). How I’d have loved to have been on that bike instead of Katherine Ross (pictured) or on that cliff-edge alongside Robert Redford and, especially, Paul Newman - whom I had the great pleasure of meeting in a Malibu restaurant when I lived in LA. And spent the rest of the evening trying my best to avoid staring into those mesmerising blue eyes ...
What would your favourite movie be to step into? Something modern or period like Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre – if you fancy stepping back in time!
On TV, too, wouldn’t you just love to drop in on your favourite soap/series and join in the gossip and banter? Like Sex and the City, Star Trek or Friends. 
(Wouldn't it be just great to have friends like those?) For something a bit more demanding, there’s always The Killing (above). Set against an unremittingly dark, Danish backdrop that would certainly keep the pulse racing, I’m not sure, though, the “heroine” Sarah Lund - famous for an edginess that would make my beloved Dexter seem like the Tooth Fairy - would necessarily make the ideal companion. 
As for the world of books, surely many would love to step inside a Harry Potter novel and “live” his adventures. Or a John Grisham legal thriller or a Lee Child action yarn. For me, there are characters in both my psychological suspense novels (in paperback - or at just 86p or €0.99 per ebook a steal!) – Alex in The De Clerambault Code and Dan in Soul Stealer – I would love to meet. Dependable types to rely on in a crisis – back in the real world …
WHICH MOVIE / TV SERIES / BOOK WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO 'STEP' INTO? 
Do check out other Alphabe-Thursday posts @ Jenny Matlock!
And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who have visited or commented. Have a great weekend!
Enjoy!
XOXO LOLA:)
Dear readers, I am participating in Ruby Tuesday2, Rednesday & Alphabe-Thursday with some of the *h*istoric display windows of the, er, (Oops!) past season which I couldn’t help posting! Here they are:
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE SEASON? 
