Today was the most festival-filled day ever! I mentioned that Sevilla felt very neighborhood-y yesterday, and that buzz got magnified tenfold today. Everyone just hangs out, talks to their neighbors, eats and drinks, and most people seem to base a good portion of their day-to-day lives around their faith, which is very interesting to see and experience as an American. Whereas U.S. holidays are commercial affairs, Sundays are for brunch, and church and everyday life don’t have much to do with each other outside of cultural “pockets” in any given city or town, there’s really no line at all here separating church and state and it’s a very cool thing to be exposed to.
Some people we met on the square last night told us the procession thing was going to start up around 3:00 by our hotel, which was kind of squirreled away off of a teeny side street in the Macarena District, so we got out early to wander. I bought more shoes (AGH) and then somehow ran into a GIANT Sevillian wedding in front of a big Catholic church (because what other kind of churches are there here) toward the end of La Plaza De Hercules. All of the women had on these elaborate, ruffled dresses topped up with crazy fascinators on their heads, and then the bride randomly drove by us to get to the back of the church right as we were standing there so we got to see her before anyone at the wedding did.
I got back to the hotel about 20 minutes before Rebecca and there was just a giant First Communion party going on in the courtyard. Impeccably dressed Spanish adults and adorable, hyperactive Spanish children everywhere. Tons of people. It was so awesome and looked really fun so I obviously changed into a skirt and nice shoes and then hung out at the party and people watched. Not crashing if you don’t eat anything and you but your own drinks.
One hour later, Procession De La Macarena started, literally right in front of our hotel doorstep. The streets were so crowded no one could get through, and they carried an enormous float of the Virgin Mary with a 100-piece marching band behind it, made up of all locals who play instruments for their church (btw tons of dudes here play the flute). We think it was for the Feast of the Ascension but my WiFi wasn’t working and I am embarrassingly not up to snuff my Catholic holy days. Everything and everyone was LOUD, super excited, and super Catholic. People leaning out from balconies, crying, offering blessings, throwing rose petals down, it was just the neatest thing ever. We pretended we lived on the street and just followed the procession with everyone else for three hours and drank beers – it was the coolest.
Rebecca and I worked up the courage (and we’d had 4 beers each) to wiggle into the super crowded outdoor neighborhood bar where everyone looked really cool and friends-with-each-other all weekend, we ordered more drinks, and no one seemed to notice we were idiot Americans, which I will take as a big win in my book. It must have been my Spanish hair bun and skirt combination. I knew overpacking would come in handy on this trip.
Closed out the day with an overpriced Caipiriña at Hotel Doña Maria to watch the sunset over the Cathedral, which was just beautiful and is also today’s photo highlight, ate a pound of los gambas from a little tapas stand by our hotel, and called it a night.
Portugal this evening! Obrigado (the only Portuguese word we know)!! I don’t know how to spell it! It is sad to leave Spain just as I was remembering all of my Spanish skillz, but Lisbon awaits.