Christmas in Madrid

One of the refreshing things about being in Madrid during the run-up to Christmas is that I miss out on the frenzied commercialism that stains Christmas in England. Some shops here have Christmas music playing and sell Christmassy things, but they´re in the minority. There are pretty lights everywhere, there´s a huge tree in the Puerta del Sol, there are projected light shows in the Plaza de Santa Ana and the Plaza Mayor, and the whole thing is almost completely devoid of all the irritating, noisy razzmatazz that pollutes English Christmas time. I´ve only found two shops that sell wrapping paper, for example, whereas in England practically every other shop is screaming for you to buy it from them.
Not much remains for me to do here, to be honest; most of the Yanks have flown the nest, so it´s a little quieter and less funny than usual. I have some more shopping to do, a lot of packing to do, a fair amount of wrapping, and then it´s back to the homeland for tea and biscuits. And, er, Christmas. And rain. And the whole family together in the house at one time for the first time in.....I don´t even know how long. Lovely. Now, let´s see if those wacky Norwegians have anything to say about that....