Tasty typical desserts in Carnival

 

Some typical desserts we eat in Carnival time are "frixuelos", "torrijas" and "casadiellas". Here you have an excellent recipe for making delicious "frixuelos":

Ingredients:

4 eggs
500 gr flour
50 ml oil
1 l milk
1 tbsp sugar
salt

 

Preparation:

Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and mix in the milk. Gradually add the flour and sugar and beat. Heat a little oil in a frying-pan. When hot, add a spoonful of the batter forming a very thin layer over the surface of the pan. When golden underneath, flip and cook on the other side.

More pictures and Carnival stories

Brenda and Paula explain more interesting facts about the Antroxu...

"As you know, this week we celebrated Carnival or “Antroxu” as we call it here, in Asturias.

Carnival in Avilés is one of the most famous in the north of Spain and it's got a long tradition.

Students have holidays for four days, but carnival is celebrated during the whole week. It starts on Wednesday with the delivery of the sardine to some “important” people for the Carnival and some speeches. The next day is“Comadres Thursday”, when it is very usual to see women going out to have lunch or a picnic in the afternoon and enjoy; the only rule is that men are not allowed: they stay at home all day. On Friday afternoon little children go all around Avilés with their costumes, and also the last year’s “Carnival’s kings” name this year's “kings” and there is live music at the town hall square. On Saturday afternoon there is the “Descenso de Galiana”, for young people it's probably the best day of Carnival because the have fun going into the foam with their friends, watching the floats and facing the cold of the winter getting soak! And then at night there is music again, but not everybody goes out until very late, it depends on you and your parents. Then on Sunday there are more speeches and a gymkhana car where vehicles and drivers “wear” fancy dresses and drive around the town in a competition. And the last day is the Sardine's funeral: this fish represents the past and the bad habits we don't want to repeat. And after all these crazy days, and though it isn’t as usual as it used to be in the past, we celebrate “Ash Wednesday”. Here people “draw” a cross of ash on their forehead, marking the beginning of Lent, forty days before Easter.

This is a picture of me and my friends Vicky and Liss dressed up like a Russian soldier, a vampire and a pilot"·

Brenda

"Carnival is a very important tradition here in Avilés. It starts on Friday and ends on Tuesday but the most important days are Saturday and Monday. On Saturday afternoon people go to "El Descenso de Galiana" which consists in going down the street, full of foam and really slippery. Later, in the evening, young people, and not so young, go out with friends and wear costumes. Some costumes are very original and people think about what could  the perfect costume be even months before the event! 

Monday is like Saturday evening: you go out in the afternoon with some friends and later you come back home, have dinner and go out again at night. Perhaps the Spanish reputation about parties it's true... We like parties too much!!!"

Paula

Carnival in Avilés

Last weekend we celebrated Carnival. Our students tell their exchange partners everything about Carnival in Avilés and our famous "descenso de Galiana". Don't miss their pictures and fancy dresses!


"Carnival is a typical festival here in Spain, in which people get dressed with fancy costumes. It starts on Friday afternoon, when little kids from schools of all over the town go around Avilés in a parade dressed up.

Saturday is the big day, there’s the most famous event which just happens in my town, el Descenso. The “descenso” consists in going down a street, full of foam, until you get to the Town Hall. It is really fun because you get soaked and you do funny stuff with your friends. And one of the best things is a fireman that has a hose and we get wet. After it we go home to have a shower and get ready with our costumes to hang out at night. We meet at 11 at night and we stayed out until 4 o’clock in the morning. It is great because people from all over Asturias come to Avilés that night just to hang out so it is crowded with people.

The next day, Sunday, there is not much to do, just a day to chill out and relax because then on Monday we hang out again at night until 4 o’clock more or less, the only problem is that on Monday there aren´t as many people as there are on Saturday, but we enjoy it too though.

And finally, the last day is Tuesday and to close the festival there is a great costume parade. After the parade people go for a walk with their costumes and then get home not very late because the next day there is school again."

María Sánchez

"Carnival is quite important here, in Avilés, everyone has thought their costume about a month before it starts. Carnival takes five days and it starts on a Friday, in every school children dress up and people in the street sing songs called "charangas". On Saturday there's a parade at the townhall and some other streets are covered by foam and bubbles and people have lots of fun although we think it is a bit dangerous. On Sunday people usually stay at home because of the weather and then on Monday and Tuesday we still hang out dressed up. That's what we do!".

Marta and Javi

"Hi Everybody!!

As you may have read, Carnival in Avilés is CRAZY!! Everybody loves it.

This year I didn't feel like going out too much, it was just that I really needed some time to relax and sleep but anyway I went out.

On Saturday I went down Galiana Street taking part in the famous "DESCENSO". As you see in the picture, everybody gets covered by a lot of foam. Don't forget the cold water... It was FREEZING!!

After that, there was a party until the early morning which was absolutly crazy.

On Sunday I met up my friends at the cinema to see the latest terror film called MAMA. We were all dressed up with fanzy costumes. I was dressed as a rugby player.

On Monday and Tuesday I went out again to see the parades and I had a great time.

Now it is time to get back to school and relax from holiday."

Pablo

"What can you do at Carnival time in Avilés?

First of all we must say that the best of Carnival is that we don´t have lessons for two days, and they usually are just after a weekend so it´s like a four-day holiday.

Anyway, the most typical festivity during Avilés´ carnival is the Galiana´s descent (Descenso de Galiana). Galiana is one of the most famous streets y Avilés because it connects the city center with some residential zones.

Well, in this party you can see almost all the teenagers of the city (13-17 year-old) in this street. We use to wear a kind of cloak which is like if you put on rubbish bags all over your body. Once most of us are in the street, some firemen turn on five or six foam cannons located all over Galiana and the street becomes a complete mess. The bubbles height can sometimes reach one meter!

After that, all the people start to move up and down the street and most of us get lost form our groups, so you are able to meet new people or to realize that some others friends are there too. By the same time more “nice” firemen wet you with hosepipes. Then, some decorated carriages go down the street; they usually belong to some of the best shops and bars in Avilés. It´s usually common to see people going down the street in pirogues too. The music doesn´t stop in the whole time of the festivity.

In the end, when the cannons stop off throwing foam, we all go home very quickly. As we suppose you have realized, we are already in winter, and getting so wet with 5 or 6 Cº isn't good at all if you don´t want to die young. Just one more thing, after having a boiling shower, people use to get dressed in nice costumes and going partying with their friends.

Here we leave some nice pics of El Descenso".

Emilio and Jorge

Cómo celebran los finlandeses la Navidad?

SOPHIA NOS CUENTA...

‎1. ¿Cómo celebras la Navidad?
1. Nuestra familia tiene la costumbre de celebrar de esta manera: Por la tarde vamos a la misa de Navidad y cuando volvemos a casa cenamos. Más tarde alguien toca la puerta, es Santa Claus que trae los regalos. Nos sentamos a abrir todos los regalos. Esperamos las doce de la noche para saludarnos y brindar con cava.
2. ¿Cuáles son los platos y dulces típicos?
2. En casa no tenemos realmente comida tradicional o algún plato que siempre comamos. Pero solemos comer muchas ensaladas, cerdo, patatas duquesa, verduras etc. Y siempre hay algún postre rico.
3. ¿Con qué decoras tu casa?3. Decoramos la casa bastante, ponemos un árbol de navidad (usamos uno artificial), luces en las ventanas y en el patio, ponemos decoraciones navideñas en las puertas y siempre colgamos las tarjetas de navidad en una cuerda o una cinta.
4. ¿Cuándo os intercambiáis los regalos? 4. Cuando llega Santa abrimos los regalos que nos trae y cuando se va abrimos los nuestros.
5. ¿Cómo celebras la Nochevieja? 5. La nochevieja la celebramos siempre toda la familia junta. Comemos entre las nueve y las diez de la noche. Luego nos sentamos a disfrutar de la velada juntos y a esperar el nuevo año. A las doce hacemos un brindis, nos abrazamos y recibimos el año nuevo.
6. ¿Cuál es el mejor regalo de esta Navidad?
6. Muy difícil, me gustaron todos... Lo que más me gustó fue poder celebrar la navidad junto a mi familia, todos sanos y felices.
7. ¿Cuál es el mejor recuerdo de estas vacaciones? 7. No tengo un momento favorito, pero sería alguno en el que estamos todos juntos compartiendo.
8. La foto es de mi al abrir un regalo y darme cuenta de que era un kilo 800 gramos de chocolate!

 

 

CECILIA NOS CUENTA...
1. Yo y mi familia celebrado la Navidad con nuestros familiares en nuestra casa. Comemos mucho y bueno. Por la noche abrimos los regalos y comemos dulces.
2. Para nuestra cena de Navidad incluye brioch con foie gras, diferentes tipos de pescado, carne de reno, jamón, etc. Para el postre, comer buche de noel, creme brulee o panna cotta. Dulce típico es el chocolate.
3. Con luces en las ventanas, con velas, con el arbol de Navidad y muchas otras cosas.
4. Por la noche, después de que comimos, abrimos los regalos.
5. Por la tarde cenar con mi familia y parientes. Por la noche vamos a la plaza con mis amigos a ver los fuegos artificales.
6. Ropas y dinero.
7. La Navidad y la Nochevieja.

 

IDA NOS CUENTA...





‎1. He celebrado la Navidad con mi familia en nuestro casa. Comemos mucho y mas tarde abrimos los regalos.
2. Platos típicos en la Navidad es el jamón y arroz con leche. Los dulces típicos son galletas de jengibre y chocolate en diversas formas.
3. Decoramos la casa con un árbol de Navidad, diferentes luces en las ventanas y en el patio y muchas otras cosas.
4. Intercambiamos los regalos a las siete o ocho por la tarde.
5. Normalimente como en la casa con mi familia y mas tarde celebro la Nochevieja con mis amigos.
6. Mi regalo favorito de esta Navidad fue un bigudí.
7. Mi recuerdo favorito de estas vacaciones fue mi viaje a Kenya, Africa con un grupo de mi colegio.

 

 

CAMILLA NOS CUENTA...



1.He celebrado la Navidad con toda mi familia y parientes en nuestra casa. Comemos mucho y abrimos los regalos.
2.En Navidad, comemos mucho jamón y dulces como galleta de jengibre, bollos y chocolate.
3. Decoras mi casa con el arbol de Navidad,velas y muchas otras cosas.
4. abrimos los regalos en la noche.
5.Estoy con mis amigos y ver los fuegos artificiales.
6. Un perfume.
7. La Nochevieja es el mejor recuerdo.

 

 

HANNA NOS CUENTA...



1. Celebré la navidad con toda mi familia, comimos mucho, abrimos los regalos, visitamos nuestros abuelos.
2.Tenemos tantas de cosas, pero la mas tipico que tenemos todas las navidades es el jamón y ensaladas. Los dulces típicos es chocolate y tambien galleta de jengibre.
3. Con diferentes luces, el arbol de navidad y otras cosas
4. Por la tarde, primero estuvimos en la casa de mi abuela y comimo...s bien y cuando llegamos a casa abrimos los regalos.
5.Este nochevieja estaba con mis amigos, por la noche estamos a mi casa y más tarde nos fuimos a la plaza y vimos los fuegos artificales
6.No puedo elegir, me gustaron todos.
7.No se, creo que la nochevieja.