The Virgin Dances

All the processions ended on Sunday and I've been taking it easy, recuperating from those late nights.
I think I'm ready to tell you about the best thing I saw. It was on Good Friday and the Virgin of Triana was on her way home, having started  out at 2 in the morning. I was waiting for her to pass in a small square.  Right across from me was a little church. It's doors were open and inside you could just make out that there was a statue in the doorway, either of another Virgin, or of a saint or Christ. The figure was surrounded by candles and flowers.
Finally, with music playing, the Virgin came into the square. But when she came to the church, she stopped. Slowly she turned and moved toward the doorway. She was on a platform, being carried by men underneath a velvet drape at the bottom. The platform is carved and intricate. On this rest not only the statue of the Virgin but candles, lamps and flower displays as well as a heavy canopy supported on silver poles. The whole assembly was much higher than the church's door.
There was no music, the Virgin simply pressed against the door. You felt as if the statues were somehow communing with each other. After a long while the music began softly. The Virgin slowly moved away from the door.  Then the music would become louder, faster and the Virgin would rush back to the doorway. This happened again and again, as if she didn't want to leave, until finally the music crescendoed and she turned and continued her march home. It was very dramatic and touching.
To end my Semana Santa visit, I add a photo of a float from the last day. It speaks for itself.

A Plethora of Vigins

Me and My Big Ideas

Yes, I actually had a big idea yesterday. After watching so many people stare at their phones and then run off in the direction of the nearest virgin, it came to me : There's an app for that. Sure enough there were, and I downloaded 2 of them. No more trying to guess where the Virgin would be.  Now I had her whole itinerary mapped out for me , street by street, hour by hour. Oh I felt so smug getting a nice place to view the next Virgin.
But you know, the Virgin has friends in very high places. It was supposed to rain for 3 days before. Every day I dutifully carried my umbrella but it never rained. This day the forecast was sunny. As I waited for the procession, it started to pour. My umbrella was safely in the apartment. When it rains there is no procession. The virgin's gowns are expensive and antique. The cannot get wet. Virgin:1.  Imelda:0
But I  did take a nice quiet walk in the morning. Here's what I saw.

How to Hunt for Virgins

Chasing down Virgins is hard work. The crowd forms quickly when they know a procession is coming. I slither and squeeze to the front, only to be usurped by tiny children whose mothers insist that I give way. The children hold their hands out for the candy that the baby penitents give out. Older child penitents give holy cards and medals. The children hold their prizes up triumphantly for mama to see. It's a lesson in being avaricious. This goes on for hours. After all,  there are 600 nazarenos in this procession alone. Then come the penitents carrying crucifixes. For some reason their pointed hoods droop. There's something Freudian there, but I'm not sure what it is.
Finally the smell of incense and the sounds of the band as the Virgin appears, in all her splendor. Right after that the crowd disburses. Pressed forward, pushed back, I'm reminded of those news stories where people are crushed at soccer games, and it Has happened at Semana Santa too. The man behind me keeps muttering that I'm too slow. I know if I fell he would step on me.
In a nearby plaza yet another virgin is wending her way home. She's crying. Probably tired from being on her feet all day.

Slogging through Sevilla

My plan to run around Sevilla chasing the best of the processions has quickly faded. There was no rushing, no walking, not even crawling. The streets where processions were scheduled to pass where so mobbed with people that it became impossible to move. ..and the evening has not even begun. But serendipity was on my side; I found myself caught on a street where an unexpected float appeared with band and penitents, those guys with the cone hoods, as well as baby penitents handing out candy.
I was out for hours but maybe only in a 5 block area. So my plan revised: to just follow one procession a day. Maybe two?
I'm taking a little break and then gonna try and follow the Virgin of Esperanza who will be crossing the bridge from Triana on her way to the Cathedral and then back again.

Chasing the Virgin

Tomorrow is the beginning of the madness of Semana Santa. I took  my evening Paseo across the bridge, in Triana and I happened upon this church displaying the floats it will have. Here's the Virgin of Esperanza. I have a feeling I won't be able to keep all my Virgins straight and I apologize to each and everyone of them ahead of time.

This is the quiet before the storm and the streets of Triana are lovely. I won't be seeing any streets this clearly for the rest of the week since all the processions start in the late afternoon and go to the wee hours

Sevilla!

Took Renfe from Madrid and arrived in Sevilla in just 2 1/2 hours. This is my apartment. Very cute and right near the bridge to Triana. Errr, no elevator, so I dragged my bags up two very long flights. OK, my whole purpose for this trip is Semana Santa, which starts this Sunday. Somehow in my mind, I  imagined one or two processions a day. It's more like 10 or 12 a day, each one taking a convoluted route to the Cathedral and ending way after midnight.
Trying to read the color coded maps is giving me a headache. I believe the expression is "a plethora of choices"
I passed this lovely store, selling muy  expensive shawls and mantillas.