Logbook and Photos

During the first couple of weeks of March, Sheila goes back to Canada to visit with her family and tend to some various matters and Chris gets to be Mr. Mom.  For school one day, the boys make a trip to a nearby forested area and learn to use a compass on a treasure hunt.  The treasure?   Mars Bars.

At a museum gift shop on another outing, Joel tries on the helmet of a knight - it's only 170 Euros $C 270.   The shop attendant came rattling after us seconds after the picture.

Today, Sheila arrives back from Canada, bags stuffed with school books, supplies, Canadian treats, good salad dressings, and the like.  It's good to have her back.

Near the airport in Jerez, the Royal Andalucian School of Equestrian Art trains horses and riders in dressage, and you can watch them going through their paces in a daily 'official espectaculo'.  To help Sheila get right back into the Spanish time zone,  we have planned a day that does not involve her sleeping.  For starters, we purchase tickets to the "Lipizzaner" horse show that we have been trying to see for months now!   We arrive to these beautifully manicured grounds with barely any time to spare for the noon show. 

The "Andalusian", known for centuries as the Spanish horse, is one of the oldest horse breeds. Native to the area, the Andalusian has influenced the development of more breeds than any other horse except for the Arabian and the Barb (of  NW Africa).    The Lipizzaner is a descendant and a famed breed of riding and show horse, renowned for its equestrian ballet performances, that which we see today.

Well, if that's not enough for a jet-lagged Sheila, we then drag her to one of Jerez's centuries-old Sherry bodegas.   This is the south of Spain, and Jerez is one of the towns  forming a triangle encompassing an area world famous for it's Sherry production.  In case you don't know, Sherry is a "fortified wine", one that contains additional alcohol and is usually consumed in small amounts as aperitifs before meals or dessert wines after a meal.   Sherry is made by adding alcohol to a young dry wine in an oak barrel intentionally filled only halfway.  The barrels never move and are stacked on top of each other.   Every year, about half of each of the bottom casks are drawn off and bottled. Then, the half-empty cask is refilled from the cask directly above, which is then filled from the cask above, and so on.  Newly fortified wine tops-up the top row.  This cascading or Solera method of blending takes six or seven years and is centuries-old.

In the tasting room, we learn about Sandeman's Amontillados, Finos, Olorosos, and Pedro Ximenez.  Gerrit and Joel are more interested in the potato chip snacks.   Now... maybe it's time for you to read or reread Edgar Alan Poe's errie tale of revenge in "The Cask of Amontillado."

Within 48 hours of Sheila arriving back at Tioga, Chris' parents from Victoria arrive for a 3 week visit to southern Spain, with Seville as a major focal point.  It's great to have them as our guests and, with Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations coming up, there is plenty to do.  

Chris' mom, especially, likes to walk, so why not a trip to the very colorful Triana Market.  Triana is a district near the historic center of Seville, but across the river.  Once the "poor" side of the river, it was where all the trades, shipwrights, and crew lived.  

Today is a lot of fun.    We track down an effervescent street performer who goes by the name of Carmen.  On select days, she leads the "Carmen" faithful on a walking tour of old Seville all the while doing her version of French composer Georges Bizet’s famous opera, Carmen, a tragic romance between an officer and a fiery Gypsy woman. 

"My dearr peoplez... ," begins Carmen, white spittle collecting in the corners of her mouth, "A lady at de cigar factory where I work says something not nice about de Gypsy peoplez.  My family, dey are Gypsies, ... so I grab de first thing dat came to my hand, which naturally is my cigar-cutting knife.   And I begin to carve... just a little in her face.  And den she began to cry, de big baby..."

No, this is not a Ku-Klux-Klan demonstration, but the start of one of many processions that make up Holy Week celebrations in Seville.  Every year since the 17th century, every day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, large richly decorated images and life-size representations of the Easter story are solemnly carried from Seville's many churches through the streets to the cathedral and back, accompanied by long processions that take hours to pass.  Those in the procession, the nazarenos who wear the KKK-like hats and capes, are traditionally penitents keeping their identities known only to God, a practice with its roots in the Spanish Inquisition. Today, many nazarenos still go barefoot and carry crosses.

It is truly amazing to see the start or completion of one of the processions.  The beginning is called a salida or 'exit' meaning the huge pasos (floats) must leave the home church.  The end is called the entrada or 'entrance' as the pasos return.  On any day, there are usually 7 or 8 of these processions, starting mid-afternoon or in the evening and some taking over 15 hours round-trip to complete.  The crowds that gather to watch these processions are immense at any time of day or night. 

Getting close enough to see a paso exit or enter with only inches of side clearance and its bearers on their knees in order to get enough overhead clearance through the doorways is breath-taking. 

In most processions, there is a paso related to Christ first followed at some distance by one related to the Virgin Mary.  As Holy Week progresses, the themes keep pace with Jesus' impending crucifixion.  This paso is about Jesus before the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin.

It took over three hours for this San Gonzalo procession, with over 2000 nazarenos, to exit in its entirety.

The climax of the week are the madrugada (early hours) of Good Friday, when some of the most respected or popular brotherhoods file through the city.  We caught the El Silencio brotherhood which was (get this) founded in 1356 and carries images from the 17th and 18th centuries.  The procession carries out in complete silence, crowd included, with carefully orchestrated movements of 1000s of candles. 

Amazingly, these immense crowds (70,000 in our area alone) control themselves.    While waiting for the procession, an unknown disturbance breaks out nearby; a crush, then people push ... people fall ... people rush - a stampede?   In an instant, a wave of panic engulfs us, engulfs everyone.  "No,  NO,   NOO!!" the experienced crowd roars back.  Adrenaline pumps, surges ... yet restraint is  required - absolutely required.  "Shh .. Shhhh .. Shhhhhh .. " the crowd calms itself, we calm ourselves.  Twenty minutes later, the adrenaline rush only just begins to fade, the heart beat begins to slow.   "Shhh..." the crowd still murmurs.

Today is finally Easter Sunday, Christ is risen, and we are all tired and "pasoed" out after many long and odd hours during the past week.  We have a nice dinner planned on our boat, then its off to the bull fight.  Yes, Easter Sunday marks the beginning of this year's bullfighting season in Seville and there is a spectacular line-up (so we are told) of top-notch matadors.  Join us in our next log for a look at the bullfight.