When we met Santa...

Lured by the glittering Christmas trees and streets in Leuven last year, I desperately wanted to spend (at least one) Christmas in Europe. With stunning white Christmas around the corner this very year has been an incredible experience. All throughout the year, I dreamt about Santa clause coming to the door step with a lot of goodiebags and gifts providing lots of support and strength. I always believed he must be just around the corner, just to the left or to the right or... Illusioned by his presence, I kept on venturing and exploring each and every activity eagerly looking for surprizes, half chances with the hope that someday I would catch him...I would talk to him...I would sing with him...I would clap with him. From Jan to Nov. passed without much luck but with Christmas around the corner on one rendezvous evening I could indeed meet Santa....We all met Santa....We all sang...We all clapped...We all cheered:

"Wish you a Merry Christmas
Wish you a Merry Christmas
Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"

Julienne playing Piano

Itziar on Piano was a marvel. Julienne, Tomas and Sandeep in the background

It's a pity that camera's can't capture sound

It's Jingle Bells time. Everybody joining the corus.
Have a look @ the instrument with Parvathi; Bells in Sandeep's hands are not visible.

What a fantastic evening it was!!! Tomas's aunt Julienne warmly welcomed us and within no time we were in their enthralling music room with Piano, Guitar, Violin, Bells and many more musical instruments I do not even know. All three sisters are heavily into music. They compose songs, melodies, compile lyrics and perform in Chruches mesmerizing the crowd. Make crowd sing with them, clap with them, dance with them. If we would have had other two sisters at the venue, we would have had a live performance for sure but the shear amount of energy and enthusiasm with which Julienne was singing, playing Piano and Violin was good enough to offer us some glimpses as to what these performances would be like. With the house packed crowd, what amount of energy levels these artists must be producing, Stupendous! simply Out-of-the-World!!!

Although this was not the only surprize in store for us. Itziar, one of the new IMEC interns from Spain accompanying us on the trip was an accomplished Piano player. Phew!!! Practicing Piano from the age of 5 (if my memory is sane), her fingers started dancing on Piano producing incredible symphonies. With Julian on Violin and Istiar on Piano, we were treated with plenty of Christmas tunes. Some familiar, some unknown and it was an evening none of us wanted to end. From Beethoven to Jingle Bells we kept on singing and clapping and cheering:

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way...
What fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh...

If Santa greets me this way every time; I would love to spend Christmas in Europe year after year...

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File photo of Tomas with his parents taken last year
during the Leopoldsberg reenactment battle visit