Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) kicked off the beginning of Semana Santa in Sevilla. Everyone was out in the streets and were wearing the best of their Sunday best. All of the women wore nice dresses and the men were in suits! I couldn't figure out where everyone was going, but it looked like many families were eating together at nice restaurants. This all reminded me of Easter in the US instead of Palm Sunday. I decided it would be appropriate to go to mass at the Cathedral, and I was hoping the pasos would come through at the end, but the processions didn't start until later that afternoon. Mass was pretty intense (2 hours! ...which I was not expecting) because it was given by the bishop and there were about 10 priests. I liked going because it was quite the production, plus the bishop spoke really clearly so I was able to understand everything that was going on for once. After a couple prayers, the entire church got out of their seats to take a walk around the Cathedral. I'm not really sure why we did this, but it was neat because the priests led the way with candles and huge palms, and the Giralda bells were ringing the entire time.
After mass I ran into Alison and her 2 friends that were visiting. They were on their way to see Plaza España and I tagged along. We did something that I've been wanting to do since the 1st day...row boats on the waterway of Plaza España! This activity was absolutely hilarious and much more challenging than I anticipated (kayaking/canoeing is way easier). Half of the time we were running into other boats, going backwards, and making jokes about who would be the boyfriend of the group and row.
Next we went to eat lunch and get a cool treat, gelato from Rayas (a favorite). At Rayas we just happened to run into the path of a procession. Perfect timing because we were able to get our first taste of the pasos/nazarenos and were able to see everything really well. If you remember from my earlier post about Holy Week, I said I would describe the nazarenos a little bit more. First of all, if you are from the US and do not know who these people are or what they stand for, you may be quite shocked. That's because they wear robes, capes, and tall cone hats that cover their face. In history, a similar outfit would later be worn by members of the KKK, even though it represents exactly the opposite of their group. It was still a little bit shocking for me even though I was fully prepared. The paso of Jesus and the Virgen Mary were incredible, and I loved all of the music played by the band. The songs are specific to Semana Santa and are a type of flamenco song known as saetas (a religious song without words).
Throughout the next couple days I saw 6 processions. My favorite cofradía was one that started only a block away from where I live! I got there really early and got an amazing spot! win. It is very popular to see the processions leave from their home church, and that is exactly what I did. That night, I saw another cool thing, on of the Triana processions carrying their pasos over the Puente de Triana bridge. Everything was really pretty at night with all of the candles lit, but it was pretty hard to capture in pictures.
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