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Day 7: Seville on Good Friday Click Thumbnails to Appreciate Images
   
   
 We attended the dawn processions in Seville despite being billeted for the night in Carmona, and checked in our hotel in Seville, Hostal Picasso, by mid morning of Good Friday. Our hostal was perfectly situated a couple of hundred meters away from the Alcazar and another few hundred meters away from Seville Cathedral. Thus, we would know actual procession time during the night as people start walking by flocks in front of our hotel toward the cathedral. Only in Seville did we see a throng of well-dressed crowd, in their black dress and mantilla (veil) for women and dark suit for men, gather to see pasos (floats) with almost a thousand Los Nazarenos (brotherhoods garbed in robes and cone-shaped tunics with holes for the eyes) and a band behind it. We too were prepared and dressed for the occasion. We mixed well with the crowd with our Hispanic beauty, although the dark hair gave us away as mestizo Asians. We were blessed to have the La Macarena scheduled to pass where we were. La Macarena or the sorrowful Mother Mary image with glass tears, was neatly adorned with white flowers and long candles adding to its weight. From a distance you can see the devotion of the people as some of them kneel and touch the paso as it reaches them. (Good for me, as I was able to take a good look and picture of the image as some of them bowed and knelt). A saeta is extemporaneously sung by a member of the crowd, sometimes a priest or a church member, and this adds to the solemnity of the procession as the band stops and the procession grinds to a halt, while his voice, singing a passionate tune, is the only one heard. They say it also gives luxurious time for those carrying the image to take some rest and drink water. There is at least a paso coming in and out every couple of hours during the whole Good Friday. Different brotherhoods start from different places and proceed to different routes. If you stand still in one strategic place near the Cathedral, there will surely be a paso that will pass you by during Good Friday. To be able to follow the procession for the other pasos, there is a schedule provided. But some of the people decided to stay and wait. Probably the Spanish "maniana" habit at work. It was the Semana Santa that we normally read from books and it was happening right there in front of us. Our lips can't fully express the joy of taking part in this experience. Now we know why we Filipinos celebrate Semana Santa the way we do. One of the best legacies the Spaniards left as part of our heritage. You can count our mestizo looks and manana habit as well. Bookmark this post on:
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