Posts tagged ‘Spain’
Living Nativity Scene
I’m not a very religious guy, so on my recent trip to Spain when I heard my group of friends wanted to go see a living nativity scene, I wasn’t exactly shaking with anticipation.
Whenever I visit my wife’s family in Barcelona, we always spend a couple of days in Vila-Sana, Catalonia with a group of friends and family in a large country house that can host all 17 of us. It’s in the nearby village of Linyola that they’re known for its living nativity scene.
Now, when I say scene, that’s a bit inaccurate. It’s more like an entire village from, well I guess around the BC/AD time, in which you’re totally immersed the people of the time. There are farmers, bread makers, craftsmen and woman, angels, devils, real farm animals, and of course the baby Jesus.
As you enter the nativity scene it’s a bit jarring the silence and the stillness of the actors who are posed, like a statue frozen in time. Occasionally you hear one of the many farm animals go BAAAA, oink oink, etc which is pretty funny. There’s also a few characters like e stone man who, though frozen in time, will slam down his axe to give kids a funny little scare…ok, he got me too.
The nativity scene takes about 20 minutes to walk through and honestly I feel like I didn’t get a chance to fully take it in. If I wasn’t with a large group I probably would’ve walked through twice.
The experience ends with some comedy too. In Catalonia there is a unique character in every nativity scene you simply don’t see elsewhere in the the world, the Caganer. Simply put, the Caganer is a man squatting down and taking a poop. His bare ass is showing and there’s even a pile of do below him, though his bare ass and poo were about the only part of the scene that weren’t real.
They take this character so seriously in Catalonia that as you exit the scene you’re confronted with the largest Caganer figurine in the world, 20ft tall with a plaque boasting its inclusion in the Guinness World Records.
Anyhow, I highly recommend the scene if you’re ever in Catalonia, you won’t be disappointed!
The Three Kings Parade in Barcelona
Last Saturday I had an unexpectedly fun experience when I attended the Barcelona Three Kings Parade with my wife and her family. The Three Kings Day isn’t a holiday I’d ever heard of before marrying Laia, but for those of you who don’t know, the tradition is somewhat like Christmas, in that children write a letter to old, bearded men who then sneak into their homes and leave gifts for them. Kind of creepy now that I think about it.
Anyhow, the Three Kings Day takes place Jan 6 in most Spanish speaking cultures. As the story goes, the kings come from the Orient on their camels just to bring presents for youngsters. In Barcelona they arrive by boat in the Barcelona harbor, where they give a speech with the mayor of the city, and then are transported by fancy old cars to the start of the parade route, which is quite extensive and runs all throughout the city.
I was able to witness the boat coming into port along with the masses of children and their parents. I missed the speech, but was able to catch a glimpse of the kings as they departed in their fancy cars flanked by horse-bound police officers. Many of the various characters whom are part of the parade also preceded the kings as they set off for the start of the parade.
I’ve seen the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC a number of times as I live in the neighborhood in which that parade starts and I’d have to say the Barcelona Three Kings Parade gives it a run for it’s money, but without all the massive balloons. Unlike the Thanksgiving parade, the Kings parade is entirely set around a theme of “Hey kids, did you write the letters? The kings are coming! Go to sleep, it’s bedtime!”
The streets were jammed packed with exhilarated kids and equally trilled parents excited to share this tradition with their young ones. Barcelona is a city with many multi-story apartments, most of which have balconies. Adults and kids alike were in nearly every window as the parade made its way down the streets. Many residents with the higher balconies provided homemade confetti and kept a constant flurry streaming from above. Those who didn’t have confetti just threw rolls of toilet paper which became streamers coming from the sky.
The entire parade lasted about an hour and consisted of monster floats, the biggest being those that carried the kings. There were also bands and buses and horses and, my favorite, many characters with baskets either tethered to their backs or on long polls that could be reached out into crowds to collect last minute letters written by children to the kings listing all the presents they desired.
If you ever find yourself in Barcelona during this holiday, I recommend attending, especially with children. It’s worth the wait and fun for adults too.
