Michael had ordered two turkeys, as we were having 34 people for dinner Christmas Day. They arrived on Christmas Eve — complete with heads, feet and innards!

Susan and I handed the birds over to Michael to dress and went out to watch the parade!

Christmas Day itself was business as usual, as all the shops were open. But there were little shepherds, angels, Santas, Marys and Josephs and assorted figures popping up and wandering around all over town.

The dinner party was excellent. The guests were mainly from Canada and the U.S., people who live here either part of the time, like Susan and Michael, or fulltime. The first question everyone asks is, “When did you arrive?” Cuenca is certainly a haven for expats, and there were people there of approximately my own age and older — for a change!

I had a taste of what the altitude can do to the cooking process. I was making my pudim flan (the Portuguese version of creme caramel, which I have successfully made dozens of times), which  usually takes an hour to bake. It was in the oven for three hours, and it never did set! Nothing daunted, we bought some strawberries and Christmas bread, dowsed the lot with rum and poured the custard over the top. Voila — Cuenca trifle!