Wedding Bells

I had a great time in Alicante with the family. I don't know why I had the impression that this side of the family was more formal and distant than the family here in La Roda, but that was absolutely not the case. They are just as open and fun as the rest of the family (I'm glad). I think I have now officially met the entire family, with the possible exception of second cousins, etc. :)

The wedding itself was lovely, but personally I liked mine better. ;) It was VERY fancy! They were married in a beautiful Gothic church in Valencia, which was an hour and a half bus ride from Alcoy, Alicante where we stayed. And the groom (he's our cousin) was insistent that the guests be inside and seated when the bride arrived. I know that's the norm in the US, but it isn't necessarily here. A lot of times the guests wait outside to see the bride arrive. (Remember my wedding??)

The wedding ceremony was quite long, but it was nice that they had an organist, a violinist and a soprano singing some interludes. That's probably the most personalized wedding I've been to so far. Catholic weddings are pretty boring in my opinion--a lot about God and very little about the love between the wedding couple. In my mind that's just silly, but that's probably because I'm not Catholic.

The reception was at a beautiful local, Jardin de Azahares, in the middle of the Valencian orange groves. This time of year with the blooming trees it smelled delicious! We were served an outrageous amount of canapés, all of which were very ostentatiously presented. My favorite were the poached quail eggs served in a mini pie crust lined with tomato sauce! The best part was that the man was right there, cracking quail eggs like mad into the plate of boiling water and then fishing them out to serve us. :)

The actual meal wasn't as exciting, but I did take pictures of everything they brought to the table. One of the cousins commented, "you really like taking photos", to which I responded, "I like food more!" ;)

When we finally finished eating there was very little time left to dance because the bus was leaving at a scheduled time. We only danced for about 2 hours before we had to climb back on the bus and head back to Alcoy. I was proud of myself that I got my mother-in-law out to dance. She's resistant to do anything "fun" since her husband died a year and a half ago. Mourning is taken seriously especially among the older people of Spain. Little by little we're getting her out a bit more though.

The drive was really REALLY long. When I think about it, I suppose only about like driving from Portola to S.F. the difference being that our cars at home have cruise control and our car here doesn't. My right calf was cramped from having my foot on the accelerator the whole time. :p The trip was exhausting, but it was well worth it. Angelines's mom had a really wonderful time. She hadn't been back to Alcoy to see her in-laws for about 18 years!

I've got to get ready for school.

besitos.