Xacobeo 2004 (journal 7/25)
So last night was the big festival. We arrived at the enormous plaza in front of the cathedral about 1 1/2 hours early. We managed to get 1/4 of the way into the plaza before coming up against a wall of people. We did manage to secure a good view of the cathedral, though. And so we waited, hot and smooshed up against the rest of the crowd.
The mood was festive for the most part -- beach balls materialized and were tapped around the plaza. There were some attempts at cross-plaza communication. A person near us called out, "MARIA!!" and, with the voices of thirty or forty people near him helping, he succeeded in making contact. A group of people somewhere else in the plaza cried out, "JORGE!!"
The king and his family and President Zapatero arrived. Everyone got very excited when the king made his appearance on the highest balcony. The social classes were well defined. In a building facing the cathedral, there were two levels of balconies. The top balcony was sparsely populated by the royal family and the president and his entourage. The second balcony was packed with very well dressed people. Everyone else stood on the plaza, badly dressed and sweating.
Finally the fireworks began. They were amazing and lasted for about 45 minutes. There were shooting stars above the cathedral, flames blasting out of urns on the church façade, huge explosions of delicate white sparks... it really defies description. There was also apparently a ritual burning of a model of a mosque in Córdoba, but if they chose to do that this year, I wasn't in the right position to see it.
When it was all over, we were covered in fine soot from the explosions. After the last firework went off, there was a long moment of awed silence before the applause and cheering began.
The mood was festive for the most part -- beach balls materialized and were tapped around the plaza. There were some attempts at cross-plaza communication. A person near us called out, "MARIA!!" and, with the voices of thirty or forty people near him helping, he succeeded in making contact. A group of people somewhere else in the plaza cried out, "JORGE!!"
The king and his family and President Zapatero arrived. Everyone got very excited when the king made his appearance on the highest balcony. The social classes were well defined. In a building facing the cathedral, there were two levels of balconies. The top balcony was sparsely populated by the royal family and the president and his entourage. The second balcony was packed with very well dressed people. Everyone else stood on the plaza, badly dressed and sweating.
Finally the fireworks began. They were amazing and lasted for about 45 minutes. There were shooting stars above the cathedral, flames blasting out of urns on the church façade, huge explosions of delicate white sparks... it really defies description. There was also apparently a ritual burning of a model of a mosque in Córdoba, but if they chose to do that this year, I wasn't in the right position to see it.
When it was all over, we were covered in fine soot from the explosions. After the last firework went off, there was a long moment of awed silence before the applause and cheering began.
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