Corpus Christi in Cadiz

Seville, Cadiz, Evora, and Lisbon, Sunday and Monday 29th and 30th May

On Sunday we visited Cadiz, a seaside town on the Atlantic. It turned out that Cadiz was celebrating Corpus Christi and the whole of the old part of the town was packed with the procession and people watching.

Corpus Chrsti is widely celebrated in Andalusia, the southern part of Spain. There are alternative celebration dates - hence we had come acoss a similar event a few days earlier in another town being celebrated on the "other" day. An important part of the ceremony is the procession of the monstrance (containing the eucharist) which makes a slow journey from the church through the town and back. The procession in Cadiz included local dignitaries, military, bands, religious statues, groups from each parish marching under their banner, as well as the monstrance itself. The monstrance and statues we saw were huge and ornate constructions, and were moved on platforms carrried by around 20 men hidden underneath. I deduced this by counting the feet along one side - the only visible part!

The monstrance leaving the church.

One of the statues en route. See the tell tale feet of the hidden bearers!

First communion dresses. First communion was part of  the occasion.

We've been told that Spain is still "120% catholic", but that only 20% are regular church goers. For this Corpus Christi event it seemed that almost everyone was involved in the ceremony or watching it. So quite an experience for us in Cadiz!

After the Corpus Christi ceremony in the morning it looked like thr whole town went out for lunch to a cafe and then headed for the beach!

Back in Seville we celebrated my birthday in Sevillian style with a flamenco lesson, and later a horse and carrige ride with a couple of friends in the relative cool of the evening. The horse's name was Juanita, the driver's name was Alessandro. It was a wild ride!

The flamenco school is always looking for new talent, so after showing my skills during the lesson I offered my services. I'm still waiting for them to call.

Lydia, the flamenco teacher, looking for new talent but not finding very much.

Now time for a change of country as we crossed the border into Evora in Portugal en route to Lisbon. Evora has a 1,700 year old Roman temple in quite reasonablle repair for its age. It also boasts evidence of settlements back to several hundred years BC which is pretty mind blowing.

Once we got to Portugal there were cork oaks everywhere. We started to see cork in the souvenir shops. You'd be amazed what cork can be used for, apart from stopping wine bottles! Shoes, handbags, wallets, postcards, ties, even swim wear. These cork togs would help you stay afloat (a little bit anyway).

Dried, salted cod is a staple dish in Portugal. Supposedly there are 365 ways to cook cod, one for each day of the year. I resolved to do my best in our brief time here to try as many as I can. Here goes cod with rice - not too bad.

Finally arrived in Lisbon on the Monday evening. it looks like a huge, fascinating city. We are staying in Pestana Palace, a very nice hotel a little out of the centre.

There are many trams in Lisbon, plus funiculars and elevators "on every corner". More about this later!