The Journey's End, Andalusia, Spain

To conclude a long trip, I sometimes puzzle over the final blog post. What's a good visual summary that evokes the location? We've been here in Spain for about two months - in good weather and bad, in good times and in bad, in health and in sickness.

I decided that the final image should include the nation's iconic animal - the land of the bull! The quartet above was most obliging in posing.

Goodbye Spain, thanks for the wonderful memories and sights along the way. I look forward soon to sleeping in my quiet bed, in quiet Manomet, in a land where I can speak the language. Travel is a strange and magical and unpleasant and wonderful thing all at once.

Each time I travel I am struck by what a strange thing it is that people all over the world speak different tongues. It is amazing that there isn't even more strife in the world with the challenges and nuance of communication and miscommunication.

Not being a linguist, I must rely on others and my few wits, and pointing, and smiling, and hoping for the kindness of strangers. When I am home and pass a stranger, lost, confused, non-English speaking, I try to stop and help. Maybe I'm not much help but, the kindness and the gesture can make an incalculable difference in someone's journey along their road as a visitor in a strange land. I want to return the thousand kindnesses others have shown me.

So, in case you are wondering, maybe there is a fence between me and these four bulls - and maybe there isn't - I'm not telling but, let's just say I can still move pretty fast for an old guy...........Addios! Spain!

Loose Ends, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

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As we prepare to leave the city of Seville to move to Jerez de la Frontera for a few weeks, I found a few good images that I had neglected to publish in earlier blog posts.  Whether through oversight or lost in the shuffle, I include them now.

Above, during the Semana Santa week of religious celebration, a random penitent (Nazareno) walks along the bicycle path across from Seville University.



Another penitent walks across a busy boulevard pedestrian crossing.  No more nor less eye-catching that any other person. It is uncanny how commonplace such an uncommon sight has become.



At the Plaza de España, a couple enjoys a leisurely row along the moat.



The Plaza de España, built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, is a structure of such grandeur and scale that we visited many times - and each time, the light and shadows and angles brought great visual photographic pleasure. A remarkable vision of the architects of that time.



This subterranean restaurant in the Barrio Santa Cruz looked like a wonderfully inviting place to have dinner, alas, we never made it......perhaps next time? A wonderful cool, Moorish feeling.



One of the many hundreds of men (thousands?) whose job it was to unstack and set up the wooden folding chairs along the procession route for Semana Santa.



A penitent walks along Avenida de la Constituctión enroute to his procession starting point. He'll be out walking for the next twelve hours or so - perhaps barefooted in the cold night.



And none of the penitents wear shoes like these. Sevillianos do love their shoes - shoe stores are seemingly on every corner, and, men and women alike seem to relish seeing and be seen in exciting and interesting footwear.

Goodbye Seville! A wonderful city of light, and music, and dance, and faith, and kindly, friendly people.

Blue Hour at Barrio Santa Cruz, Centro, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Before sunset and blue hour, I made this baseline image for comparison.  This view is from Calle Gago looking at the Giralda Tower and Seville Cathedral area.



As the sky turns blue, lights come on and more diners find a table. (You can tell they are tourists because they are eating so early - it's barely 8pm.



I was lucky to catch a vehicle-free appearance. Usually this street is full of cars, taxis, and motos. I love the lighting and silhouettes in this image! One of my favorites.



A typical tapas bar with outdoor tables on the sidewalk. Note that everyone has their own trash can. A typical practice at outdoor tables.



Another odd trapeziodal shaped bar on a corner.



A nice place to settle in for some early snacks/tapas.

Music in Triana, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

In Triana today for lunch, I enjoyed a new duo of street musicians. This guitarist/vocalist was filled with a particular joy and pleasure in making and sharing his music.







This little guy liked them, too!






Back home, the sunset from the window was extraordinary, complete with a rush of swallows enjoying their evening meal of bugs.

A Bachelorette Party, Plaza del Salvadore, Centro, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Bachelorette and bachelor parties are common sights on weekend days in Seville. The betrothed dresses up in some costume and gathers with friends in public to hoot and holler and have a good time - I have observed it seems to always involve alcohol. This costume above appears to be a toreador or matador.



She had an excellent, loud, seven piece band accompanying her entourage.



They were audible from everywhere in the plaza and many folks wandered over to see what was going on.



Ole! and Salud!



After a while of drinking and hollering, off they wandered to somewhere else and that was that.



Best wishes on your upcoming marriage.

Semana Santa - Part 5 - Final - Chairs, Centro, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

The City of Seville is at peace. The holy week celebrations have ended. The exhausted penitents, and costaleros, and musicians, and spectators have all gone home to rest.



The chairs are stacked by the thousands, ready to be loaded onto trucks and taken to warehouses to wait for next year.

I could not believe how tightly the workers were able to stack and place the chairs on the truck.



Sidewalk cafes along the Cathedral route have reopened and life is returning to normal in Seville.



And over in the Arenal neighborhood, smartly dressed spectators are streaming toward the bullring for a performance.



We declined that experience. Veganism and bullfighting do not mix.



Walking the streets after the Semana Santa celebration, candle wax still remains on many streets throughout town. A quirk of rubber tires on wax is that when automobile tires turn over wax on the pavement it makes an incredibly persistent squeak/shriek. I suspect it will last into the future for many days - A reminder to the residents of their celebration of faith and hope in this city of tradition. 

Semana Santa - Part 4 - Costaleros, Centro, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

As the week neared its close, I went out for one last look at a procession. The last one is on Easter Sunday and I want to emphasize the costaleros, the invisible men who carry the paso (float) on their shoulders through the streets. The costaleros are an incredibly important part of the event and I was able to focus on them today. It is a coveted role and not for the meek- or the weak.



They don't actually cover their eyes during the carry but rather, the headcushion slides back once the weight of the structure is on the neck and shoulders.



The teams have pre-determined changeover points where fresh carriers provide a respite.



They look fresh - they're getting ready to start their session.



These guys on the other hand, are flush-faced, sweating, and glad for the break.



I suspect the back of this man's neck will be a lot redder as the day progresses.



This is what one looks like for training during the winter. Big concrete slabs serve as the substitute for silver and gold. (Source: Wikipedia. Used in accordance with Creative Commons copyright notice).



Many believers touch the paso as it passes.



And the special folks settle into the reserved boxes for the best view of all.















On they walk slowly through the narrow streets by the hundreds. When they stop to maintain spacing.......



...small children will approach hoping for either wax, or candy, or small cards with pictures of favorite biblical persona.






Building a wax ball, one drip at a time.



I know that look. It's not penitence - yet.






Somehow, I don't think this young boy running through the candle arch was an approved practice.












And at the end of the final day, all that remains is a path that stretches for miles through the city highlighted by millions of drips of candle wax.  And beginning after midnite, I could hear the municipal steam trucks beginning to clean up the wax.