Unlike the US where our society barely recognizes Easter or Good Friday, schools in Spain and probably most of Europe get an ENTIRE week off school...and in Catalunya at least, we get even more time off for the Monday after Easter, here, known as the Mona...which is when families get together and godparents give a special cake to their godchildren.
My Semana Santa plans were all over the place. They went from thinking about a huge trip all over Andalucía, to visiting Germany, to visiting Rome, to visiting Galicia and the northern/eastern part of Spain, to visiting Mallorca, one of Spain’s Islands (close to Catalunya), to visiting Zaragoza, to...haha. Basically not going anywhere! :-) Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t sit around all day staring at the wall. Noooo sir. Here was my week!
Some days and afternoons were spent relaxing, getting things done, and most importantly, studying for the upcoming DELE Spanish exam. Javi really gets on me if I don’t study, so...yeah. I definitely devoted a day or two to that during Easter week! :-) Palm Sunday, Laura, Jordi, and cutie Quim and I all traveled to the province of Girona Tarragona , and Barcelona
First, we went to Figueres, which is a town outside of Girona the city. I’m not sure if there’s much there, but the main thing to see is the very famous Dalí museum. Now, I’ll be honest. There’s a lot of art that I don’t like. And there’s a lot of Spanish art I don’t like. But Jordi once said that he’d recommend this museum as THE thing to do in Catalunya just because it’s so unique. Also, I studied a decent amount of Dalí in Spanish classes, so...yeah. It seemed good to do!
The outside is crazy and unique, with a redish color and eggs, yes, huge eggs on top as decoration. Also, bread was all over...not real bread, but bread shapes...on the outside AND in the inside!
And the whole museum was just sooo weird, cool, and different. Some of it, like most strange art and their artists, was like...um...this is awkward and uggggly! But a lot of it was just fun to see. I enjoyed seeing the “melting clocks,” Dalís interpretation of Las Meninas (a famous Spanish painting that’s in the Prado and one of my favorite ones ever. If you don’t know what it looks like, Google it! You should know!), the famous bread painting and it’s golden bread statue thing, several other “famous” ones that can’t really describe...and I loved some ceiling art, a strange cubed cross, and all sorts of stuff! You just NEVER knew what you’d find there, and it was so cool!
After that (ah, before AND after that, we went to a park for some snacks and to let Quim use up his energy, haha), we went to beach town that I don’t remember the name of. Whatever it was, it was BEAUTIFUL. Okay, maybe not the town itself (it was fine though!), but the beach? AMAZING. I think I gasped out loud when I first saw the view. I couldn’t figure out what seemed so different about that beach compared to others. Something different struck me, and whatever it was, I loved it. It was a few minutes later when I realized that there were rocks instead of sand. That totally changes the dynamics of a beach. It felt more...like...I don’t know. A dramatic movie, Wuthering Heights (all literary people now try to remember if there’s a beach in Wuthering Heights Britain
We ate outside at a neat restaurant with an amazing view of said beach. Add that plus the company of three people I’ve grown to love so much, and it was such a great afternoon! And if you remember anything about what I said about Jordi, you’ll know that we never lacked for conversation topics! I mentioned that a lot of Jordi’s questions reminded me of my dad. :-) When I gave an example of a question my dad asked me during one of our few-and-far-between phone calls (“How’s the crisis in Spain Spain
After that, we went to Girona the city/capital. Ahh...it was such a great feeling to step out of the car and realize that I’ve been to all four capitals in Catalunya! Woot! And I have to say that’s it’s quite possibly the prettiest of them all. Tarragona Tarragona , Toledo
The two most famous things to see in Girona are the colorful houses that are suspended in the air a bit. Okay, that sounds weird, and I’m definitely not describing it well, but they’re along the edge of the river, and the foundation is just...different. If curious, I’m sure Google has a bunch of pictures of it, and if we’re friends on Facebook, I have pictures on there. Anyway, the other famous thing to see is the cathedral. You’d think that by now I’d be tired of cathedrals, and actually, in general, that’s true. But certain ones still pop out with a LOOK AT THAT ONE! IT’S AMAZING! and the one in Girona was one of them. Of course, pictures weren’t allowed. :-P It was also fun looking at the cathedral with Jordi, because he has such and eye for archetectual detail. He took the time to show me how straight the pillars were, how detailed some locks were...just things I wouldn’t have thought of. And when we walked out of the cathedral, there was an epic sky view with rays of light streaming from some clouds...I took some pictures, and they’re okay, but it didn’t do justice to what we saw. There were three “epic sky moments” for me during my time in Spain Barcelona
We did more wandering around, and really, we didn’t “do” a whole lot (I have a feeling that quiet Girona doesn’t offer too much as far as “things to do”), but I totally loved walking around the old Jewish streets, leaning on a bridge and staring at the river, feeding ducks...talking, laughing, and sharing my heart with Laura and Jordi...being silly with Quim...ah. Special times.
And speaking of special times, since it’s now officially know to all the teachers in the ZER, I’m going to share something else that Laura and family shared with me on the way to Girona. They’re going to have a baby! In October! I felt very honored to be one of the first to know (aside from family and a few close friends and teachers, and even they knew just the week before). I knew way before Olga did! :-D Laura prodded Quim, and Quim told me the Catalan version of “Mommy has a baby in her tummy” and I was like, whaaat? Did I hear him correctly?? :-D I did, and it made our time even more special. She’s doing well, by the way, and she found out this week that she’s expecting a boy. Quim and even Laura were kind of hoping for a girl, but I think they’ll be a fun family with two boys!
And more about Quim. I sat in the back of the car with him, and we played so many games and did so many things! Our relationship has gotten so much closer than I ever thought it would. I can actually converse with him in Catalan, and he knows enough Spanish to help me out when I stare at him with a “what did you say, little child?” look. :-) We played around with my cell phone and camera, taking pictures, recording our voices, etc. and we also played a favorite game of ours (coughmyinventioncough) where I randomly start saying, “Quim! Where’s Quim? Where arrrrre you?” (but in Catalan :-)) and then proceed to look all over the place minus where he’s sitting or standing (as in right next to me), including in my purse, my shirtsleeves, etc. He cracks up laughing and typically ends up playfully shouting in my face AQUÍ!!! :-) We switch roles sometimes, which is also delightful. I also drew some pitiful drawings for him, specifically of Sant Jordi, the princess, etc. If you don’t remember anything about Sant Jordi, trust me, you will after this post and the next one! He kept me pretty busy during the car rides (in a good way, usually!), and another “I’ll remember this moment forever” moment was when he suddenly looked at me with his big brown eyes and little face, stared at me sadly, and asked if I had to go back to America. Ouch. Then he, for whatever reason, reached out and started playing with my hair, all the while staring at me with his close-to-tears expression. Seriously, HOW do you explain this stuff to little kids? Laura happened to glance at us just when he was affectionately stroking my hair (okay, that part weirded me out a little bit, but it WAS cute :-)), and she was highly amused and in that whole “Aw so cute” mode moms do. She also joked that I’m with kids even on my off days. :-) I’ll miss that little guy when I leave.
We arrived in Montblanc pretty late, and we left really early that morning. So after a full day, Quim and I BOTH ended up falling asleep on the way home! :-) It was a good day and one of my favorite ones with Laura and her family.
I went to Barcelona Barcelona
One day was more touristic, and the second day was more logistic to figure out blah luggage storage, airport info, lodging close to a train station, etc. I’m guessing that..um...NO ONE wants the details of those sorts of things (this is all related to the fact that I have both mine AND my sister’s luggage, so I just have to plan well!), but I will say that I went to the actual airport to figure out where I’d need to be. It turns out that my airline to London
As far as sight-seeing goes, the number one thing I HAD to do in BCN was see the inside of the Sagrada Familia. For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, this is a cathedral/church/temple that was started by Antoni Gaudí (if you had to pick the most influential person or artist in BCN, it’s by far Gaudí! You can’t get away from the guy!), but he...well, he kind of died before he could finish it. He had plans and ideas, and builders continue to work on it, staying as faithful to Gaudi’s wishes as possible. Anyway, again, it’s the “Eiffel Tower ” of Barcelona , probably Catalunya, and one of THE main sights of Spain
So anyway, I bought my ticket online beforehand, which turned out to be a SUPER SUPER SUPER good idea. The normal line was horrible. Sooo many people. I was able to go in a special line that was a lot shorter and faster, and it was because of this that I was able to see the Sagrada Familia at all. I’ll explain in a minute!
The outside is amazing, but the inside? Sooo cool. It’s just so different. It’s by far the most unique cathedral I’ve EVER seen, and by now, I’ve seen...um...a LOT of cathedrals. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite cathedral (Toledo Barcelona
I had a great time wandering around, and being the cheapskate and I-hate-audioguides person I am, I didn’t pay extra to take the elevator to the top or use audioguides. And THAT turned out to be good as well!
As I wandered around soaking in the details (note: I loved the doors to the cathedral, with different names of Christ written all over it. I have a mini-calendar of the Sagrada Familia from a former classmate, and that picture always stuck in my mind. It was so incredible to see it in person!), I noticed that some steam-like stuff was coming out of one of the areas. I thought it was some sort of ceremony, so I walked closer to see what was going on. It seemed to get thicker and darker, and it wasn’t long before I realized that...this was SMOKE. As in FIRE. Ack! The people nearby were getting more and more curious, and soon several security guards were quickly heading to the area while still trying to look not panicky. I hung around for awhile and took pictures of the smoke along with everyone else (meh heh heh), but I knew it wouldn’t be long before they evacuated. I just knew it. I didn’t feel in danger though...I just knew that we would only have a few minutes in the building. So I headed outside where a lot of people were hanging around, hoping things would clear up, and I couldn’t help but smile as people were desperately trying to listen to every section of their paid-for audioguide before someone took it away and made them leave. By then, you could see smoke from the outside as well, and soooo many police cars, firetrucks, and emergency vehicles came by! They later evacuated the actual cathedral, so we all hung outside. And here’s the ironic thing for me. Okay, in Florence Paris , Amanda and I ALMOST didn’t get to go up the Eiffel Tower
They later kicked us out of the entire area, and I felt so bad for people who had been waiting in line all morning only to be told that they would have to leave. But I tried to leave as quickly as possible because I knew the poor security people were going to have to deal with so many questions and annoyed people. I went to a souvenier shop nearby and bought a few things, and couldn’t help but laugh when the store owner was trying to figure out what was going on...and when he realized that his store was filling up with people because they were kicked out of the Sagrada Familia, he was like, say! This is good for business! :-D To clarify what happened, there was indeed a fire, and I think they tried to cover it up by burning incense at first. Some weirdo started it. I don’t remember why. But they caught him at least! It did do some damage, which is a shame because it’s such a beautiful building and cultural symbol that still isn’t finished because of financial issues. No one was injured, although some people might have had some smoke inhalation issues (probably their own fault for staying in there so long!).
After the SF, my next priority was the Park Guell. It was also designed my Gaudi, and the most famous thing to see is this lizard statue. Another famous symbol of Barcelona
Other sight-seeing places include the Picasso art museum, the Pedrera (another famous house created by Gaudi. I saw the Casa Batló with Olga and Ines that one day, so I just need to see the Pedrera), part of the Montjuic park (lovely area!), some other cathedrals (just the outside), and one of my favorite things: a chocolate museum!
The Picasso museum was cool because for ONCE I could use my epic teacher card to get in free. I can use it all over Tarragona , but in Barcelona
The Pedrera is cool, but both Gaudi houses are...I don’t know. I’m glad I saw them both, but the lines are so gross and long, and it’s....it’s just like seeing weirdly designed buildings. Fun to see if your into architecture, but I think you can live without seeing them (at least both) if you aren’t a huge fanatic. But that’s just me.
But something you shouldn’t miss in BCN? The chocolate museum! Katie mentioned it, and I’m so glad I went. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but first, the ticket is a chocolate bar. Epic. The museum explains in detail the history and importance of chocolate, but because I might, gasp, learn something, I kind of...didn’t pay attention. :-D Yes, even chocoholic Sarah gets bored with too much explanation. Heh.
But what makes it totally worth seeing is all of the amazing chocolate figurines. They were so detailed, so unique, so creative...I loved loved loved them!! Ben Hur, Roman gladiators, Don Quixote, the Arc de Triomphe, Astérix comics (quick rabbit trail: this is a comic strip series that’s originally French and pretty popular here. It’s about a small village who fights against the Roman Empire . Javi let me borrow a book to practice Spanish, and I loved it. I want to buy some! :-) Anyway, it was good timing because when I got to the museum, I was like, hey! I know what this is!), Mexican pyramids, Bambi, rocket ships, a piano, Monserrat’s organ and virgin (Monserrat is a very famous mountain in Catalunya. I feel kind of sad that I wasn’t able to see it. Boo. Next time, right?), Mary and Jesus after he was cruicified (okay, personal...that one weirded me out. I think it also frustrated me because everyone is so obsessed with Christ’s death, but his glorious resurrection? NOTHING! It’s all about Him suffering and Mary sadly caring for Him. So much to talk about with this, but I’ll leave it at that for now!), the Sagrada Familia, Pixar’s UP, Catalan gigantes (giants), probably some I’m forgetting, and my very, very, very favorite one...Sant Jordi, the Princess, and the dragon!
Anyway, I had a blast in that museum. It was fun, cool, and different.
The Montjuic Park
So all in all, Barcelona Madrid Madrid OR love Barcelona Madrid more....actually, I KNOW I LOVED the history of Madrid more, but Barcelona Madrid
Another afternoon during Semana Santa was spent with Olga. We went to the nicest restaurant in L’Espluga and an amazing Rural Life/History museum afterwards. It was a fun and special time with her! I don’t know why, but I’ve clicked with her so much more during my second round of schools with her. I really enjoy spending time with her! I still don’t feel very close to her family, but I like her. :-)
Good Friday was so unique! I met Carmen Torres in the morning and saw Josep María play soccer (“football”), which was neat to see him play AND to see the sport that’s so very popular here. Later and throughout the day, we saw people from Montblanc dressed up as Roman soldiers marching all throughout the village. Trumpets, drums, shields...everything! They also had several processions, with musicians, people walking, and several figures depicting various scenes from Christ’s death (the passion). People were dressed up as monks and also a very popular costume in Spain/Europe for Semana Santa: robes and hoods, and they look exactly like the Ku Klux Klan. Some looked “nicer” than others, but all gave me an inward sting of horror. All I could think about was the KKK, even though it’s unrelated. However...I haven’t looked up the history, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the KKK took the idea of the people here for their costumes. Anyway, in most parts of Spain
But I will say that the whole day and evening was such a visual representation of Christ’s death. It was by far THE most unique Good Friday I’ve ever experienced. I also had a good time spending the entire day with Carmen Torres, her husband (another Josep Maria), the other JM, and the two fun girls, Clara and Marta. We ate lunch at Carmen’s parent’s house and dinner at Josep Maria’s parent’s house. I know so many grandparents! :-D I also ate a very typical dish for Good Friday: a type of crust filled with spinach and raisins. It was amazing. It sounds weird, but that combo actually works!
Seeing the Roman soldiers in the evening was the coolest part. At the very end, the marched REALLY fast throughout the square, making criss-crosses and all sorts of things. It was a neat but kind of disturbing day. There’s just so much emphasis on Christ’s death and Mary’s maternal care...and just nothing about Christ’s glorious resurrection. And most of the stuff I saw was done from tradition (cue Fiddler on the Roof song) rather than belief. It was neat...but kind of sad at the same time.
And then came Saturday, April 23rd...my dad’s birthday and the day of Sant Jordi. Sant Jordi, which is Saint George in English (and that sounds totally weird to say!), was a “hero” during the medieval times, and to be honest, there’s so much legend to him know, I don’t know what he did for sure. Haha. I definitely need to research him sometime! I do know that he’s honored throughout Europe and the 23rd is celebrated ALL throughout Catalunya. In Catalunya as a whole, the tradition is for guys to give girls a red rose (will explain in a minute) and for girls to give guys a book (in honor of Cervantes, whose birthday is also the 23rd. Ask my dad who else has birthdays on April 23rd. That day just keeps getting more famous, Dad! :-)) However, in my special medieval Montblanc, there is SO much more to Sant Jordi!
The scheduling was kind of weird due to Semana Santa, but they still did some Sant Jordi things...and did a lot more during the following weekends. Carmen Torres (I’ll refer to her as Carmen from now on) asked me several weeks ago if I wanted to experience all of the Sant Jordi/medieval stuff with them, because they’re all heavily involved in acting and planning. I readily agreed, and she asked me if I wanted to see things from “outside” or “inside”, meaning as a typical spectator or more involved with the events. I decided to be more involved, but I had NO idea what that really meant! I’m going to lump all the medieval stuff in this post, even though they happened several weekends in a row. But my first medieval experience was when I met Carmen and family at her in-laws house (they live in Montblanc). This became quite a habit for the next few weekends! We changed into medieval outfits, which Carmen has a TON of, and it was so neat wearing stuff like that! She had head covers and everything, even a purse that was more appropriate for that time era...a shawl...all sorts of stuff! On a random side note, I had brought a pair of clip-on earrings with me, and they turned out to be perfect for a lot of the events. The strangest part was not wearing glasses!
Once we were all ready, we walked out to meet the rest of the “medieval people”. It was so funny walking around Montblanc with tourists everywhere...oooh, can we take your picture?? :-D And I bet no one knew I was American, haha! And when we were waiting around with more medieval Montblanc people (which includes Tere, a good teacher friend. Oh, if I never mentioned it, Carmen used to teach in the ZER). It wasn’t long before I realized how involved I truly was in this event. I was basically IN a parade/procession! :-) So there I was, with Carmen and her daughters, walking with other medieval people....king, queen, Sant Jordi, the princess, nobles, peasants, jesters, the whole deal...with spectators watching. So many students called my name! Sarah! It’s la Sarah! :-) I didn’t see all of them since I was halfway blind, but it was cute to hear their voices. Actually, ALL of those weekends were full of little ZER Conca students! Such special kiddos.
Anyway, for the specific day of Sant Jordi, they pretty much had the nobles/royals do a dance, say some things, have people do the procession...and then later Sant Jordi rode on a horse and presented the princess with a red rose (legend says that Sant Jordi saved the princess and people of Montblanc by killing a dragon. When the dragon bled, his blood turned to a rose.). It was full of medieval dancers, music, all sorts of goodies! And I was dressed up with the others, in a spot where most can’t go. SO COOL! The funny part was sneaking pictures. I hid it behind my shawl and took what I could. :-)
Other medieval events included the Dracum, which was on a Friday night. That was by far the strangest of the events. This one, people pay money to see, and I was once again an “actor” in it! :-) It’s basically all about the evil forces and the history of the dragon. I was a peasant, along with Carmen and some others, and all I had to do was stare at the evil people and then get upset when Clara stole an apple from our market stand. It was a little weird because I kind of missed a lot of what was going on since I was IN the performance, but they did have a screen in the back where we could watch what was happening. It was creepy, but still cool. :-)
The reenactment of when Sant Jordi killed the dragon was EPIC. I just wish that I could have been in the reenactment AND watch it as well. This time, I was dressed as a noble and wore a flowing cape. Wow...picture wearing medieval noble outfits with a long, flowing cape...and walking around a medieval town with a medieval wall that always makes you feel like you live in a castle. Ahhhh! It was a neat moment that will stick with me for a long time!
For this event, I was with everyone who were the “villagers” and cried out that the princess shouldn’t sacrifice her life. Everything was so neat, but the most frustrating part was when we were watching the screen in the back and the performers who were supposed to get ready weren’t getting ready...so the director turned off the screen. :-( (yes, I thought of my brother Josh! Hee). However, Josep M later sent me a link with the whole program, so I can watch it later. :-) Anyway, it was cool...and to walk passed all of thsoe people watching from the seats? Wow. And at the very end, they lit up the Montblanc walls and shot fireworks with epic music playing in the background. Visca Sant Jordi! Visca Montblanc! Visca Catalunya!
Other events included a reenactment of Catalan Courts from 1414, a medieval market that lasted two weekends long (SO MANY TOURISTS! I’ve never seen Montblanc so crowded! It was like a safe, mini-version of the Valencia
The food was pretty good, and we had to eat it all with our hands! And at the very end, everyone minus me was fairly tipsy and started dancing around. I was basically forced to join in, which it was fun, but I could tell that the atmosphere of the event changed after midnight or so. I left as soon after that as I could, with Carmen walking me back to change. It was a fantastic event, but I’m sure it got crazy after I left!
I also saw Ines and her boyfriend during one of those weekends, and it was great to see them again!
Carmen and her family were so great during those times. I’ve experienced so much more than I would have without them! Special times.
And that ends the basic summary of Semana Santa and Medieval Montblanc. Thanks for reading!
Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment