cordoba

palm sunday.
walked to plaza de la corredera. cleaner, plainer version of plaza mayor. thank goodness one café was open. had coffee and toast, half a dozen bottles of different spreads (pates etc) for choice.
essentially walked to parks and read ‘kavalier and clay.’ then noticed stream of people moving in one direction. tired of having city to myself, followed cordobans in their Sunday best, with babies in prams and toddlers in hand. vendors had sprouted, selling candy floss, nuts, sweets, toys, snacks, balloons. decided to have lunch first. went to el pisto and had moriles (local wine), rabo de toro (oxtail stew, very tender) and callos (tripe). latter not quite to my taste. walked out to find procession passing. procession of the virgin mary; penitents in their pointed hoods each carrying a large candle, children would go up to them and collect the wax in cups or adding to their balls of wax; music played by a marching band, not funereal, but processional. can only imagine how hot it must be for those in the procession. went on a couple of blocks to catch the beginning of the procession. first the drummers, then christ on a donkey, hoisted by men. some carried dried fronds of palm from which they distributed individual leaves to those in the crowd. the cross itself was composed of knots of palm leaves. fewer very young children involved in this procession except for one i saw in a pram.
fled to a table in the shade and had 2 Nesteas. sufficiently cooled after a while to head back. preparations for semana santa in full swing. but this seems more intimate, with much fewer tourists around. wandered out again at 6plus. route of procession close by. different coloured costumes with different tableaux of the life of christ with different marys resplendent in different coloured capes, but always in tears. smell of incense in the smoky air. stood near middle aged couple who said hi to quite a few people who passed by, some stayed. watched till about 8 plus, then proceeded for final dinner in spain. went into meson el tablon cos it had a few people in it and offered a menu for €9. had paella and chicken. dessert was walls ice-cream. procession was now passing right outside the street.