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Published: October 21st 2017
Zaragoza Festival
The Fiestas del Pilar is a 9 day celebration which includes the Flower Offering to St. Mary of the Pillar when an enormous surface resembling a cloak for St. Mary is covered with flowers, and the Ofrenda de Frutos when all the autonomous communities of Spain offer their typical regional dishes to St. Mary and donate them to soup kitchens. It was interesting but not too fun. I guess you have to live there.Saturday was a roller coaster ride. We were headed to the train station for the trip to the festival in Zaragoza. This involved a bus ride, metro ride, and the train ride. When we got to the train, I realized that my phone was missing. Pete....I know exactly how you feel. Pete is a friend of mine who had traveled to Spain in the 2 weeks before we left. His phone was stolen as well. All in all, the only thing I am out is the pictures. Later that day, Kathy and I had food at the festival and unfortunately (and unknowingly), we had a lunch that cost us 40 euros (ouch!!!). Then to add insult to injury, on the way home we purchased metro tickets and I left my credit card in the machine. By the next day, someone had purchased 1500 euros of cigarettes. Oh well...I hope they enjoy them. The good news is that I was about to purchase a new phone anyway, the food we bought was good (not great), and I am not responsible for the credit card purchases. The only thing that we are really out are the pictures.
I can't say that the
Zaragoza Street Scene
This is a picture of people milling around just like us. Everyone seemed to be waiting on something to happen. Since we didn't know the schedule of events, we were always somewhere else when it did happen. festival in Zaragoza was our favorite experience. The festival consisted on lots of people milling around, a few parades which we never saw because we were always in the wrong place, a couple of concerts that we never saw because we were always in the wrong place, and a walk down the river walk which wasn't anything special. We headed back home about 9:00pm and went to bed. What a day. I do have to admit that we did listen to 2 guitar players and a violinist play in a small plaza. They played American Jazz and were very good. That in itself was worth the trip.
Our new AirBnB was priceless. The hosts consisted of a couple from the states who had moved to Spain 4 years ago. Needless to say, we gained a lot of knowledge and information. The apartment was about 1/4 mile from the beach in a very nice part of town. The hosts turned us on to a couple of good American style restaurants and I have to admit, the fish tacos were some of the best I have ever had.
Saturday night, we attended what was billed as a "Secret Concert". This
Flower Offering to St. Mary of the Pillar
The flowers are in the background. I started to take one and give it to Kathy but she gave me the look. You know what that means... consisted of a couple of artists that would perform for a small group of people. We didn't know the location until they sent Kathy the address on email and we had no idea who the artists were. We grabbed the bus and off we went to the address. When we arrived, a lady at the door told us to go to the rooftop, so up 3 flights of stairs we went. On the roof, we were greeted by the host and provided with a beer. There were about 30 people there, and we all were asked to sit on cushions on the floor and the concert began. IT WAS GREAT!!! There were 2 artists, both of whom were very different and very good. The first artist was a women who used a looper to create a song. For those that don't know what a looper is, it is a device that records a sound and then repeats that sound over and over. She would record a beat on the mic, then a beat from the back of her guitar, then something from the piano, then some chorus. She would repeat these over and over using the looper and then she
AirBnB in Barcelona
Kathy takes a picture of every AirBnB entrance and elevator if it has one. This one was nice but the trees were a little funky. would sing and sometimes play guitar. She was good at what she did.
The second artist was very different and only played acoustic guitar, He only spoke and sang in Spanish but his music was equally impressive. For those that have been to WoodSongs, you know Michael Jonathon says that you don't have to be famous to be on WoodSongs, just very, very good. These people were very, very good. During the experience, we were able to talk to a number of interesting people in various stages of travel or living. It's amazing at the number of people traveling around the world in some stage of life.
On Sunday, We walked on the beach and toured the Sagrada Familia, which is a church designed by Antoni Gaudi. It was amazing. I suggest that anyone reading this blog go on the internet and look up "La Sagrada Familia" in Barcelona. Words can't describe what is going on with this church. Its worth noting that there were more than a few nude sun bathers on the beach. Both Kathy and I were looking at the scenery when a bike came from behind and almost ran over Kathy. After the women
Secret Concert
You can see Kathy right in the middle of things. on the bike cussed out Kathy for being in the bike lane, I cussed her out for paying attention to the naked guys on the beach. Later on she tripped on a nail in the board walk. Huh!!!
Earlier in the day, our hosts invited us to have dinner with them so we picked up a bottle of wine on the way home. The dinner was fabulous, consisting of lamb (one of Kathy's favorites, and mine too since I met Kathy), steamed mussels, and dessert. We talked about moving to Spain and they gave us lots of insights.
On Monday, we toured the beach, and walked around the harbor and La Rambla, a shopping area, while waiting for our flight. Our flight didn't leave until about 9:00pm, so we had plenty of time. At about 3:00, Kathy and I left the AirBnB and headed to the airport. Next Stop...London!
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