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Published: September 21st 2008
Plaza Espanya
The fountain "dancing" to classical musicAfter my two weeks of exploration, I returned to reality a bit by beginning classes... but even with classes, Barcelona refuses to let me sleep! Catalans love celebrations as I have now realized. Last Sunday, at Plaza Espanya, they had a fountain show, where they lit the fountains with different colors and had the water move to classical music. I thought it was fitting for the last night of summer.
This week, there have been festivities galore and it's not over yet. La Merce, the city-wide festival, began on Friday and will culminate on Wednesday... which means No Classes then! woo! But La Merce celebrates, Mare de Deu de la Merce, the Patron Saint of Barcelona. Construction for the festival began the previous week as Plaza Catalunya was tented and stages were set up all around the city. Friday night, there were concerts and fireworks. Rain did not keep anyone away, though I was not a happy camper as I had dressed to impress rather than for the weather... I stopped in Plaza Catalunya and enjoyed some music and people watched, one of my favorite activities. Saturday however, was much more anticipated. My friends and I walked through Barri Gotic
and spent a few hours on the Barcelona beach, where a carnival would be later that night. There was a circus at Park Montjuic, but we all wanted to experience El Correfoc or the fire run later that night. Wearing jeans, long sleeves and a scarf, I took my train into Plaza Catalunya. There were people EVERYWHERE! I was overwhelmed but excited at the same time. We wandered down to where El Correfoc was scheduled to begin. We saw the fireworks signal its beginning and then stepped back! People dressed as devils, accompanied by dragons shot out roman-candle like fireworks onto the crowd and the street. People who were fully covered, dancing in the sparks! It was crazy! My friends and I stood back a few feet. One man even asked if my scarf was algodon (cotton) or synthetic just to make sure I wouldn't catch on fire! The "run" last almost two hours as people basked in the light of the fireworks. Nothing, I repeat nothing like this would happen in the US... Someone told me that in the US it's all fun and games till someone gets hurt, but here in Spain, it's not fun until someone gets
Just one more
The fountain was surrounded by hundreds of people hurt! I think they were right about that!
The city was ready for a wild night and my friends and I wandered through the streets and alleys along with thousands of others, taking in the atmosphere. They had projected music videos onto buildings, singers, and bands. Food and drinks were not hard to find as the shops and restaurants stayed open till late in the night.
Sunday was also filled with festivities, but I only wanted to see one thing, the Castellers (Human Castles/Towers). These are different groups who build human towers using people of all ages. Groups of about 30 building 6-7 people tall towers using nothing but their clothes and strength! They place children at the top! Watching the towers go up was incredible and yet scary... one tower fell, no one was hurt though. We packed ourselves in Plaza de San Juame, with hundreds, maybe even a thousand others to watch these teams compete. My favorite part was watching the little kids shimmy down the bodies in seconds!
Wednesday is the true festival for La Merce, but I will be taking advantage of the free admission to the museums hopefully! That's
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Wonderful sanps....
Its taken the fireworks on cam?..... Nice work i liked it.