Los belénes

We got to see some really neat belénes in Madrid, El Escorial and Segovia. There was a beautiful one in the Palacio Real in Madrid but we couldn't take pictures. We also went to a little town north of Madrid called Ávila for my birthday and there was a pretty belén there too.

There was a nice one we saw at Basiclica San Francisco el Grande in Madrid:

The belénes in Segovia:

This belén was in the cathedral in Segovia. 

The belénes in El Escorial:

This first belén is in the monastery in El Escorial. The security guard told us Jesus wasn't in the manger yet and asked if I knew why. I guessed because he hadn't been born yet. (We were in El Escorial on the 22nd of December.) The guard's face lit up and said yes! He explained that traditionally you're not supposed to put Jesus in the manger until the 24th.

This was my favorite belén. This one started across the street from the monastery in El Escorial and went up the street for a couple of blocks and opened up into a big plaza where the rest of it was set up. 

The belén in Ávila: