Another Week, Another Festival

Monday, September 15, 2008 - Sunday, September 21, 2008

This week was another week of job searching during the day and checking out some restaurants and pubs in the evenings. It was a pretty mellow week and ended with the beginning of the Festival de Merce in Barcelona, which is the biggest festival in Barcelona! It is a week long and each day is filled with different events such as parades of statues spitting water, big concerts going on in different plazas throughout the city, circus events on Montjuic and castellares, which are human towers, along with many other big events. Merce is the patron saint of Barcelona, so it's a very significant holiday over here. September the 24th is the actual holiday, so yet another day off of work/school for those that attend such things:) For me, it'll be another day to enjoy the festivities:)

Friday was the first day of the festival and the last day one of my friends was in the city, as he was heading down to Jerez de la Frontera to teach English in a smaller remote town in Spain. I continued my position as the farewell party planner, and we had a fun last night out in the city to celebrate his new job and big move! It was a pretty good send off, enjoying a parade, concerts in the plaza behind the Cathedral, and ending the night at our favorite spot, L'Ovella Negra (the Black Sheep). That Saturday was the Fire Run, which includes statues and people walking through the streets and shooting sparklers all over the place. Many people dance in the street under the sparklers as well, and they shoot the sparklers at the crowds lining the streets...it's a dance/view the run at your own risk, but the correct clothing and protective gear is recommended:) It was a pretty great event, it was cool to see the sparklers out in the streets and the contrast with the old Gothic architecture!!

Each day has a special firework display as well as moving murals along the governmental buildings in different plazas. We enjoyed all of these activities through the weekend, and am looking forward to the events to come this next week! The big day of celebrations is the holiday on Wednesday, September 24th, where there will be even bigger events throughout the day, including an air show, firework shows done to music, impressive castellares in the plazas and even more concerts as well as many other events! It's amazing to see how huge these festivals are out here, and is so fun to experience!!