12 Grapes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Throughout my whole trip I have been very lucky to have been wonderfully received by multiple hosts in multiple countries. Some of these hosts were friends who I had prearranged staying with and others were last minute decisions made through the Couchsurfing.com service. My stay in the very small town of Valor, which is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Southeast Spain was one of those last minute decisions.

With only two days to go before the New Year, I was still quite unsure where I would be staying. I had thought about visiting Sevilla, Spain, but I had not booked any hostels or any transportation out of what was my current location of Granada, Spain. Perhaps only a few hours before I would have booked my plans for the New Year I was warmfully invited to go Couchsurfing with a very nice guy about my age named Nicolas. I had requested to surf his couch in Granada, but he immediately informed me this would not be possible. His family owns a very old house in a very old town in the mountains and he said this is where I could join him and his family for the New Year celebrations.

I am in Europe, I have a range of options I could have picked to spend the New Year. Within Spain alone Madrid or Barcelona would seem like obvious chooses for their likely huge celebrations. However, for anyone who knows me, I would have preferred no other place more than the small town in the mountains.

After a few hour bus ride to the town through the mountains, I was quite glad to have arrived. I don't think the bus ever went straight for more than 10 seconds and the fast and experienced bus driver was only slowed down by slow moving cars around the numerous bends in the road. My stay was like being a new member of a family. I was immediately taken in and treated incredibly. I was fed endless amounts of delicious food and was delighted to have wonderful conversations. I could go on and on about my wonderful hosts, but I shall focus on the New Year.

The Spanish tradition for the New Year celebration is two eat twelve grapes during the countdown for the entering of a New Year. From what I heard about this tradition, it dates back to the early 1900's when there was a huge surplus of grapes in Spain. In order to deal with the surplus of grapes, the Spaniards ate 12 of them in rapid succession during the countdown. Ever since then it has become quite the tradition that it seems like almost every Spanish man, woman, or child partakes in.

In preparation for the celebration, we made ready our grapes. Individually we each peeled of the skin and took out the pits of our set of 12 grapes and wrapped them up very carefully. As the New Year loomed the town gathered in the small town square in front of the town's lone church. By typical Spanish reputation, most of the people of this small town only made it to the square with just but a few short minutes to spare. Then the time came, I was informed to wait for 4 initial ringings of the church bells and then to start eating on the 5th ringing and then each successive ring until I have finished my grapes. I somehow managed to record this event on my camera as everyone went quiet and tried to keep up with the fast ringing bells. I was able to keep up with the pace and at the sound of the last bell, champagne bottles where opened and champagne sprayed all over. Fireworks lit up the sky as the various people kissed, hugged, and shook hands with each other. It was a wonderful celebration with nothing but smiling faces.

It did not matter if you were rich or poor, male or female, adult or child, this was a time to celebrate. Remembering the good times of the past year and looking forward to a hopefully bright New Year. Of course there will be ups and downs, but try to keep on smiling and especially keep on enjoying life. This is your one life live it how your heart desires, don't be afraid to follow your dreams.