"'J'appy 'J'alloween" and a whiff of Eurovision

(said in that throaty 'ch' sound that any Welsh speakers out there will be all too familiar with)

Halloween this year was different, but fun! (It was also the first Halloween in 3 years where I haven't drunk myself stupid - Carys 1, alcohol nil). I guess being in Spain I didn't really know what to expect from it; was it going to be the same as back home, do they really celebrate it at all etc, but it's pretty much the same as in Britain i.e loads of Halloween stuff in the shops, fancy dress, that kind of thing.

Fancy dress!

We started the night in our lovely friend Dana's house, who so kindly made us some pumpkin soup and chestnuts! Both were delicious, although the only way I can describe the taste of a chestnut is somewhere between a nut and a potato - strange, I know. Afterwards, we went out for a few drinks and to meet up with the others, before I headed back to get some much needed sleep!

All dressed up and ready for food!

The Saturday after Halloween was the night of the erasmus 'International Dinner'. Each group had to make a dish from their home country and bring it to the dinner, where it would be tried and judged by the others. Me being the patriotic Welsh girl that I am made some welshcakes, along with some help from my friend Lucy. Feeling pretty confident, we made our way to the competition, found our stall and began setting up.

However, it soon became clear that our poor welshcakes didn't stand a chance, not amongst the curries/cakes/breads/numerous other dishes from other countries. It didn't help that they looked quite burnt and nobody seemed to be listening to our cries of "but they're supposed to look like that!" Oh well, it still meant we got try the food of other places. There was the usual - croissants from France, lasagne from Italy (all of it delicious may I add) and also some really exotic foods as well, like my personal favourite, which was a curry from a country whose flag I'd never seen before in my life. Having to go around asking "does anybody know what flag is green with a big red dot on it?!" wasn't my finest moment, but I soon found out it was Bangladesh ... so Bangladesh, well done.

Homemade Welshcakes

When it came to voting, each country was asked to go on stage and give the name of the country they thought deserved to win. Now I'm not a sore loser or anything, but voting seemed to be exactly like the Eurovision song contest! In as much that nobody voted for the UK/Wales :( oh Europe.

Afterwards it was on to Apolo, one of the nightclubs, before finally rolling in at like 6am. Sign of a good night!