Semana Santa

When I arrived back in Ecija on Friday evening before Easter weekend, I noticed the intoxicating scent of the orange trees!  My first month and a half here, the trees were covered with orange fruit, however now all the fruit has gone and the trees are loaded with white fragrant blossoms.  I absolutely love it, it makes walking about town so much more fun!

Things are starting to get a bit greener here, yet the countryside is still quite brown.  Here are some pictures I took on the bus ride from Sevilla (where the airport is) to Ecija.

On Saturday Michelle (the other au pair) and I went to Sevilla for Semana Santa, which means Holy Week in Spanish!  Easter celebrations in the southern part of Spain are some of the biggest in the world!!  Everyday the brotherhoods of the Catholic churches put on parades.  Each church has a slightly different route for their parade, which made it a bit confusing to figure out how to see them all since we did not have a street map, so we just winged it and everything ended up turning out alright.  The parades were incredible!!  Each brotherhood traditionally has 2-4 main carts with a swarm of people in front of and behind each cart that also march in the parade.  The carts are extremely elaborate displays of either Jesus or a crying virgin.  Here in Spain there is no such thing as the Easter Bunny.  However all the children are so excited about Semana Santa, they love every minute of it and both the children and parents have been talking about it for the past 6 weeks!  It was so nice to be somewhere that truly celebrates Easter and Christ.

The procession begins with a member of the brotherhood carying a cross.

This is followed by usually between 75-150 members of the brotherhood marching 4 abroad and carrying candles, followed by alter boys waving incense.

Let me first say that these outfits are in NO way meant to symbolize anything related to the KKK!!!!  These are the outfits of the brotherhoods.  The members are covered from head to toe in order to take away one's individuality, for Christ's sacrifice is not about them.  The hat is called the capirote and is a very longstanding tradition for Semana Santa.  The KKK actually took their uniform from these Semana Santa outfits because they like the anonymity of them.  However, the Catholic church has had this hat since middle ages, so this attire is in no way symbolic of anything that the KKK is known for.  I will say it was a bit weird at first because the relation between outfits like these are so strongly associated to the KKK in my mind.  However after the first procession I was able to separate the association and enjoy them for what they truly stood for.

Each brotherhood has different colored clothing.  We saw hunter green, purple, black, white, and blue.

Next is the "paso" or the big cart which is the main spectacle of each procession.  The carts are very big and extremely heavy.  They are carried by 35 men that fit underneath the box.  The laborous weight is supposed to reenact for them Christ carrying the cross before His crucifiction.  About every 15 minutes, the men would put the cart down briefly for a short rest.  Yet after only about 60 seconds of rest, they would literally throw it up in the air before letting it fall on top of their shoulders.  It was quite impressive!

 The was the first cart that I saw and definitely my favorite.  Although it was not no where near as elaborate as some of the others the music that accompanied the paso was perfect and very profound.  Following each cart is a marching band.  The music being played for this paso was so heartbreaking and truly painful.  Just when you thought that the trumpets could not possibly go any higher, they did.  The musical accompaniment really brought to life Jesus's suffering and sacrifice and left both Michelle and I with goosebumps.

The Marching Band

Here is a paso of a crying virgin, Mary, & Joseph

The sides of the paso are lavishly adorned with real roses, candles, and silver or gold.  I can't imagine how much money is spent on the roses alone!  But they were truly beautiful, each on flawless without any bruising or browning. 

After the first procession, Michelle and I had to run around Sevilla and figure out where the next procession was going to be passing through.  We didn't have a map, so we just winged it, but it turned out alright and we got a great spot with a pretty view

The next paso we saw was of the Virgin Mary carrying her Son

The lace draped cross looked so beautiful against the brilliant sun!  This was probably one of my favorite pictures that I took the whole day!

Jesus on His throne

Here is a good view of how big and ornate the carts are!  The virgin of this paso inside the cart is life size (as all are the people of the pasos); so that gives some perspective to how big the paso actually is!  In the front of the cart are so many candles with rose-shaped candles on the bottom 3 rows.

At the end of each procession they would have men walking and carrying crosses, sometimes these men would compete the 5 hour parade barefoot.  It was really makes you think about Jesus carrying his own cross.  I think this is such a neat thing for the men to do!

Here are some friends we made while waiting for the next procession.  They are members of the marching band and had just finished performing

I was able to catch a glimpse of this procession before it went into the church.  This was the last of Semana Santa that I saw in Sevilla!

 This paso was all gold with Jesus lying in a glass tomb on top.  The men you see in front of the carts are the directors that give the men carrying the cart instructions about where to turn and when to move forward since they cannot see anything.  Often these directors will also shout excitedly at the cart carriers to encourage them though the extremely long and laborious parade.

Here you can see Jesus a little better, the paso was so beautiful!  And it is going into the Grand Cathedral of Seville (the largest Gothic church in the world!)  The globs of red are probably 50 red roses in each clump!

The next morning was Easter Sunday!  So I got up and saw the two processions that Ecija held.  Luckily the church was only a 3 minute walk away from my house!  The processions here were definitely more relaxed and the walkers were at ease and talked with one another.  Everyone in the parade was just happy and excited, there were also lots of kids in these processions.  It was so fun to see the look of importance on their faces!

Jesus's Resurection!!

Carrying a cross with the Catholic brotherhood emblem

My last paso of Semana Santa was of this elaborate Virgin!  The processions went by fairly quickly that day, so after an hour I returned home to enjoy my Easter Sunday.

Paris!! Day 5: Palace of Versailles & The Eiffel Tower at Night!

The second part of my trip was just as fun!!  After about a 45 minute drive we arrived at The Palace of Versailles!  What is truly incredible about this palace is that the entire palace is constructed from French materials: the marble, gold, silver, crystal, tapestries, everything!  Nothing was imported into the palace, so it is a true and magnificent display of France's treasures and splendor.  The former royal palace, the Louvre, is actually in Paris and is the biggest art museum in the entire world.  However, the King felt that it was "too small" so the one in Versailles was built and it is absolutely stunning!

There is no way a single picture frame could encompass the entirety of the palace, so here is an aerial  view that I took from the internet.

The palace was built also built so that the King could have a tighter control over his noblemen.  In order to gain more control, he thought he would have everyone living with him so that he could keep a watchful eye over everyone.  The King wore red high heeled shoes so that he would be taller than everyone, and so that the people could see him at all times and never having to question his wereabouts.  There were about 6,000 people who permanently lived in the palace and thousands more came to visit everyday.

It's such a beautiful building!!

The Golden Gates and entryway into the Palace!

This is the incredible ceiling that I first saw when we walked into the palace!  The huge expanse of the paintings and the detail of them was truly unbelievable!

Sculpture of the King

Pictures cannot even begin to capture the level of grandeur of the rooms!

This was the King's bedroom!

This was the Queen's bedroom!  Apparently kings and queens never had the same bedroom because that was far too common; in order to further display wealth and status each had their own room.  In my opinion, the Queen's room was even more extravagant that the King's room!

One thing I learned that day which absolutely blew my mind is that the Queen gave birth to all of her children on this bed in front of a lot of people!  The room was always packed when it was time for her to give birth.  This tradition was established in order to solidify the validity of the future heirs were actually birthed by the Queen instead of being swapped for another baby, which  might have been tempting to swap a boy for a girl if there was not yet a heir.  I was quite shocked by the lack of privacy for the Queen, and could not imagine giving birth in front of all those people!!

The top of her bed adorned with ostrich feathers and complete with a very ornate ceiling!

Apparently ostrich feathers are reserved solely for royalty and only the King and Queen's beds have them!

However, my absolute favorite room was the Hall of Mirrors!!!
This incredible room is comprised of 17 huge arched mirrors with 17 matching arched windows directly in front of each mirror.  The windows looked out over the Palace gardens with incredible views.  Dances used to be held here and I would have absolutely LOVED to attend one back then!!!!  The entire room was adorned with gold as well as magnificently painted ceilings.  It's was truly spectacular!!!

This picture was also taken from the internet because my camera was not capable of capturing the breadth and splendor of this room!!!

Every few feet there were these golden women holding up huge crystal candle holders!

The chandeliers were without a doubt one of my favorite parts of the room.  They were absolutely huge!!  When the King lived there each chandelier held beeswax candles that exuded a sweet honey aroma throughout the room.  The candles were extremely expensive and elaborate display of wealth.

My favorite painting in the Hall of Mirrors of Venus & Zeus!

After the tour of the Palace, we got to enjoy about an hour in the Palace Gardens!!  The flowers were so beautiful, a perfect combination of daffodils and tulips amidst swirling bushes!

This shot was taken from inside the palace, I love how you can see the misty mountains!!

Sweet little bird on a statue in the gardens  : )

I just can't get enough of the flowers!  Everything in Ecija is still pretty brown, so I was completely in heaven here!!!  The flowers that are in bloom now just happen to be some of my all time favorites, Daffodiles & Tulips!!  However the tulips that I have seen today in both Monet's gardens & the Palace are the most beautiful ones that I have ever seen in my entire life.  They are just spectacularly beautiful!!!

I can honestly say that this day was a truly perfect one and something I will vividly remember for the rest of my life.  It really was a dream fulfilled.  


That night Camille took me for a special treat... The Eiffel Tower at night!!  It was definitely my favorite night there,  I loved EVERY minute of it and could barely be torn away from the beauty of the building.  I was completely taken aback at how beautiful the tower is at night, I have never seen an building more beautiful than the Eiffel Tower at night, it truly is amazing!!!  I was just as drawn to it as a moth is to a lamp!!

The tower radiates this golden hue though the night and every hour on the hour there are twinkly silver lights that sparkle all over the building.  Everyone stands around in awe and amazement with huge smiles on their faces while they rapidly try to take pictures.  At the end of the 10 minute light twinkling all the spectators clapped.  It was so fun and the excitement of the other spectators added to my own!

Here you can see the twinkling silver lights

The difference in color is with the flash of my camera turned off or on.  With the flash on, the tower appears almost amber in color.

I was pretty happy when this picture was taken! 

After the twinkling light show, Camille and I walked up to the top of a hill to the science museum where there were a couple of vendor stands selling crepes and other goodies.  I had a chocolate Nutella crepe with an entire banana inside.  There was SO much warm gooey Nutella inside, it was absolute HEAVEN!!!  I could have easily eaten 2 more!!  I also had a hot chocolate to warm me up.  Camille got a waffle, which really cracked me up because apparently waffles are only eaten for dessert here!  We sat on a bench sheltered from the wind and enjoyed our delicious treats while watching the glow of the tower.  It was truly a perfect night and a perfect way to conclude my trip to Paris!!!

I want to sincerely thank Camille and her parents for lavishing me with unparalleled kindness, thoughtfulness, love, and hospitality.  I have never in my entire life experienced such hospitality and graciousness.  In the short week I spent with them I learned so much about what it really means to be a good person and be an example of character to others.  Just one example of their graciousness out of hundreds is that every morning I would wake up to hand squeezed orange juice and a surplus of bus tickets that I might need for the day.  I was so well cared for and never wanted for anything, my experience with Camille and her family in Paris was truly incredible.  I cannot even begin to express how much their kindness meant to me, I will remember it forever and I hope to one day be able to embody a mere fraction of the thoughtfulness and generosity that was so lavishly bestowed upon me.  Because of Camile and her family, Paris was truly a trip of a lifetime.  I could never have even dreamed of a trip this wonderful.  Every minute was truly heaven!  Thank you