Sunday, April 04, 2004
Spain trip - Day 2 On the train from Barcelona to Sevilla
We caught the metro to the train station. Lou had a bit of trouble getting through the turnstile at the entrance. The security guard helped her through, then showed us which way to go and followed us on the train, even when we changed to another line! We found it a bit unerving but it turned out he was just being helpful and once we reached the train terminal he went on his way.
The train trip was nice. The train booked up fast so Lou could only get first class seats (that´s what she says anyway). Food and drinks were provided. We went down the coast first and saw some lovely beachside towns. Then we turned inland, through the heart of Spain, and travelled through vast plains with mountains in the far distance. It was uneventful except for an unscheduled change at Madrid.
Spain trip - Day 3 Sevilla
We got going at about 11 am and headed for the river front. We had a pleasant stroll in the warm weather and ended up at Alcazar Palace, the haunt of many Kings of the past. It started off as a fortress and each subsequent King made additions. The most impressive are the Moorish sections with superbly intricate, 3D carvings on the walls and cellings. Another highlight is the immaculately manicured gardens.
In the afternoon the parades (and crowds) began. The night before we had seen people setting up vast arrays of wooden chairs and we wondered how they would be filled. At first we thought there was going to be one long parade and that anyone could take a seat and watch it go by. Oh were we wrong!
The parades have a long tradition in Sevilla. They began in the 15th century to explain to the illiterate masses the gospel. There are several Brotherhoods each with a float representing a scene from the passion of christ (yes like the Mel Gibson movie). The brothers wear outfits identical to those worn by the KKK (I think these marches were their inspiration) however there is no sinister connection to racism. Each brotherhood has a different version of the costume, like faculties at University.
Eager to watch the parade we found a spot and watched one brotherhood go by, there were maybe 200 members. We decided to head back to the hostel for a rest before the evening and on the way ran into another procession. We took an alternate route with the same result. By now the streets were packed with people, all in their best suits. Every way we turned there were crowds. I think everyone from the provinces has come in for the fun.
We managed to get a flyer (in Spanish) explaining the festival. There are 9 brotherhoods processing today. The first one started at 1 this afternoon. The last finnishes at 2:45 in the morning! They all begin and end at different places. A different group of 9 brotherhoods will march each day for the rest of the week, 54 brotherhoods in all. We will have to fit our timing and routes around them if we want to see more sites in the town.
There was one worrying moment when there apeared to be a stampede, luckily we were at the entrance to a hotel at the time and we rushed into the foyer, everyone was reminded of Madrid and what a perfect terrorist target this festival was. We never found out what the reason was and the parade continued. We have just now managed to find our way to this internet cafe for a brief respite.
We caught the metro to the train station. Lou had a bit of trouble getting through the turnstile at the entrance. The security guard helped her through, then showed us which way to go and followed us on the train, even when we changed to another line! We found it a bit unerving but it turned out he was just being helpful and once we reached the train terminal he went on his way.
The train trip was nice. The train booked up fast so Lou could only get first class seats (that´s what she says anyway). Food and drinks were provided. We went down the coast first and saw some lovely beachside towns. Then we turned inland, through the heart of Spain, and travelled through vast plains with mountains in the far distance. It was uneventful except for an unscheduled change at Madrid.
Spain trip - Day 3 Sevilla
We got going at about 11 am and headed for the river front. We had a pleasant stroll in the warm weather and ended up at Alcazar Palace, the haunt of many Kings of the past. It started off as a fortress and each subsequent King made additions. The most impressive are the Moorish sections with superbly intricate, 3D carvings on the walls and cellings. Another highlight is the immaculately manicured gardens.
In the afternoon the parades (and crowds) began. The night before we had seen people setting up vast arrays of wooden chairs and we wondered how they would be filled. At first we thought there was going to be one long parade and that anyone could take a seat and watch it go by. Oh were we wrong!
The parades have a long tradition in Sevilla. They began in the 15th century to explain to the illiterate masses the gospel. There are several Brotherhoods each with a float representing a scene from the passion of christ (yes like the Mel Gibson movie). The brothers wear outfits identical to those worn by the KKK (I think these marches were their inspiration) however there is no sinister connection to racism. Each brotherhood has a different version of the costume, like faculties at University.
Eager to watch the parade we found a spot and watched one brotherhood go by, there were maybe 200 members. We decided to head back to the hostel for a rest before the evening and on the way ran into another procession. We took an alternate route with the same result. By now the streets were packed with people, all in their best suits. Every way we turned there were crowds. I think everyone from the provinces has come in for the fun.
We managed to get a flyer (in Spanish) explaining the festival. There are 9 brotherhoods processing today. The first one started at 1 this afternoon. The last finnishes at 2:45 in the morning! They all begin and end at different places. A different group of 9 brotherhoods will march each day for the rest of the week, 54 brotherhoods in all. We will have to fit our timing and routes around them if we want to see more sites in the town.
There was one worrying moment when there apeared to be a stampede, luckily we were at the entrance to a hotel at the time and we rushed into the foyer, everyone was reminded of Madrid and what a perfect terrorist target this festival was. We never found out what the reason was and the parade continued. We have just now managed to find our way to this internet cafe for a brief respite.
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