On Palm Sunday, people dress up in their Sunday best and go to mass in the morning where they collect the palms that they use to decorate balcony railings and adorn suit lapels. Some are simple palms, but some are quite elaborate...
Speaking of balconies - if you happen to have one along one of the procession routes, it is a great place to get a full view of one of the many pasos and the long lines Nazerenos. A classmate sent this picture today of the view from her balcony. The white lines are columns of Nazerenos in white robes and hats each holding a long candle.
I am finally to the point that when I see a Nazareno, I think Nazareno and not KKK. There are thousands of them. Of course they are in the processions, but they are also just around... on our street, for example.
This little Nazareno (Dad is holding her hat) is on her way to the start of the procession in Triana. In the background an adult Nazareno is just getting out of the car.
These two were waiting for the crosswalk signal.
And this group was taking a short break in Plaza Nueva.
One part of the processions that has changed over the centuries is the music. It used to be that the processions were all silent or with only a sad, low trumpet - some are still silent. Later, choral or chapel music was added and in the 19th century, some brass bands were introduced. Early in the 20th century, some of the melodies became more festive - the marches have stayed pretty much the same since. The gold "Christ" pasos will have drums and brass if they have a band and the silver "Virgin" pasos usually have a full marching band.
As well as long processions, there is a lot of waiting around if you are a band member. And with today's temperatures in the 80's it was a great day to be out watching, but maybe not ideal in your wool band jacket.
This morning, all of the chairs were set - by this afternoon, the seats were packed with their ticket holders, and the streets that were expecting processions that were not full of chairs were packed with people as well.
I added to the crowd... and enjoyed every minute of it. I know lots of people don't, but I love crowds. And the pasos really are like little museums filled with incredible works of art. The crowd was silent as this one emerged from the church and then broke into applause at is cleared the orange trees (the palm tree is part of the paso.) The Christ sculpture is from the 17th century.
Of course, the streets away from the procession routes are actually emptier than normal...I even found an empty sidewalk.
The processions are still going, but I am off to bed. Since the streets in the center of town are basically impassable in the afternoons, my class has been moved to the morning for the week (Monday - Wednesday). Everything is closed Thursday and Friday.
