As soon as Maria, Andy and Mama Hiley were all landed in Sevilla we took them to Gato Azul (per always) for some pizza and then off to watch the culmination of Semana Santa. No better way to cure jet-lag than staying up til 5am watching thousands of Nazarenos parade by....
Maria, Alex and Xavi ready to head down for some Semana Santa viewing
Nazarenos from the Basilica de la Macarena making their way toward the cathedral early in the morning on Friday - we tried to go see more of the famous pasos of the "madrugada" but the streets were so packed that we couldn't even pass the center of town. Luckily we got stuck in the path of this one and had a front row view.
The Romans following the float of Christ
The Virgen de la Macarena coming down Calle Trajano about 4 in the morning
Luckily, unlike the Nazarenos we were able to go home and catch a few hours of sleep before watching the entrance at 1pm
Waiting for the "entrada" into the Basilica de la Macarena with my mother and several thousand of our closest friends .
The paso approaching the Puerta de la Macarena - one of the original doors to the city when it was still a Roman city (see the beginning of the Roman city wall to the left)
People watching from their balconies
Virgen de la Macarena - when she passed by someone in the crowd would yell "Macarrrreeeena!" and the crowd would respond "Guapa! Guapa! Guapa!" At the entrada of this paso there were 3 different singers so the ever so slow entrance was exceptionally slower than normal and the bearers of the floats necks were sooo swollen and chafed from the weight that it was almost painful to watch them come out. The crowd however was moved to tears with the passing of the float and there were men and women of all ages crying.
Maria, Alex and Xavi ready to head down for some Semana Santa viewing
Nazarenos from the Basilica de la Macarena making their way toward the cathedral early in the morning on Friday - we tried to go see more of the famous pasos of the "madrugada" but the streets were so packed that we couldn't even pass the center of town. Luckily we got stuck in the path of this one and had a front row view.
The Romans following the float of Christ
The Virgen de la Macarena coming down Calle Trajano about 4 in the morningLuckily, unlike the Nazarenos we were able to go home and catch a few hours of sleep before watching the entrance at 1pm
Waiting for the "entrada" into the Basilica de la Macarena with my mother and several thousand of our closest friends .
The paso approaching the Puerta de la Macarena - one of the original doors to the city when it was still a Roman city (see the beginning of the Roman city wall to the left)
People watching from their balconies
Virgen de la Macarena - when she passed by someone in the crowd would yell "Macarrrreeeena!" and the crowd would respond "Guapa! Guapa! Guapa!" At the entrada of this paso there were 3 different singers so the ever so slow entrance was exceptionally slower than normal and the bearers of the floats necks were sooo swollen and chafed from the weight that it was almost painful to watch them come out. The crowd however was moved to tears with the passing of the float and there were men and women of all ages crying.
Some of the Nazarenos
