Saturday, July 16, 2011

Festival of the Marineros

As I said, we just had the festival to honor the marineros.  This is a weekend long festival that consists of, along with the carnival, several processions up to the Guía, masses, fireworks and accompanying sirens from the harbor house.  At one point the statue of the virgin is brought down from the Guía to the church.  The final ceremony involves a mass, fire works, sirens and a processional back to the harbor with the virgin in tow.  This is led by the bagpipe and drum ensemble. 
Spencer and I were hanging out in the drizzle, waiting for the mass to end and the procession back to the Guía to begin...



On the door of a local club...

Check out the prices of wines by the glass!...multiply by 1.5 for $'s.  No wonder I don't want to come home!!
Food and shoes for sale at the same store.  Just the usual, right?
As I was taking this picture of Spencer, a woman approached and asked if she could take our picture.  We learned that she, Maria-Adele (Deli), grew up in Ribadesella, moved to France as a child and now she and her husband live in England.  We chatted and decided to meet the next day.  We were planning a trip east along the coast and into France so she wanted to give us tips on what to see along the way.   We did have coffee the next day and had a wonderful visit with her!  I am just amazed that she speaks Spanish, French and English fluently and now she plans to take classes in Italian.  


Taken by Deli
The band waiting outside the church.  The guy with the soul-patch works at the correo (P.O.).  I recognized him from buying so many stamps for postcards!

Watching from above...

procession rounds the corner

Procession ends at the harbor.

Virgin is loaded onto a boat to make her way to the base of the hill and then up to the Guía.

Another super small car, decorated for the festivities.

Children from the procession, in traditional costumes.


Man who sells lottery tickets at all of the festivals.

Check it out!!!

Holding the processional items (what are they called anyway??) and dressed to do it!

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