A World of Adventures: La Mercè 2010

I have been doing awful with blogging. The plan was to use this as my journal as well, but I guess I am slacking...or am I. I mean, how many times can I write about my week of classes, great food and adventures with friends.

Since my last post, everything has been going really well. Life at home with Juana is incredible and my time in Barcelona has been very enjoyable. I must say though, this past weekend was a huge highlight. Every year at this time, the city of Barcelona celebrates La Mercè. This annual grand festival has been a tradition since 1871 and is still an incredible event. 1.4 million people participated in the weekend's activities. Thanks to my neighbor Eira, I was set up with a program and knew exactly which events I need to attend....without the trust advice, we would have missed some of the most spectacular events I have ever seen...and that says a lot....but hey, it was my birthday weekend, so I was ecstatic it went to well.

After class on Thursday, the fun began which turned out to be a weekend full of light nights and good times! Thursday was an incredible day to kick of the events. First a group of us went to the historical wine, cheese and meet tasting that has been held during Merce for years with hopes of promoting Cataluna's businesses. The day only continued with a visit to my dear friend Paula. Paula and I studied at Temple together down in Philly, but lives in Barcelona. She had invited myself and another friend over for dinner and to catch up. It felt so good to see her again, and to be able to enjoy the first night of the festival with a local. Turns out, we ended up joining her and her friends for another girls birthday. What a blast! From a concert in Plaza Catalunya to a 5 band music extravaganza at "The Forum" we really had an incredible night....and to think...I can speak Spanish until 4 am with no troubles.

Friday the 24th of September only added to the weekends excitement. We were up and out by 10 am to see what trouble we could get into. Come 12:30 we were at the Plaza Sant Jaume for the "Diada Castellera." This is one of the oldest traditions that we saw besides the parade later in the day. Here, teams compete to make human towers by stacking and climbing onto each other in hopes of producing the highest tower. The crazy part is the last person, a young child who has to climb to the very top, raise their hand and then come back down....seems like child services needs to be called here in Spain. By nightfall we enjoyed the Parade of Giants in that the city parades its giants which are regional to specific neighborhoods in the city.

The incredible part about this weekend was the amount of FREE concerts and events. It is really a thank you and culture push for the people of Barcelona...All day and night :) there was something to do, a concert to see or a dance to dance.

Saturday the 25th...Day of my glorious birth...was yet another fun day. We have been non stop, but we have one weekend to enjoy this cultural party and festival...why not soak it all in? Today was the day I knew was going to be a blast....Morning and early afternoon was spent relaxing on the beach with friends which was nice after the past 2 busy days and 2 more to come. After a lovely birthday dinner, we were headed to the "Porta de I'infrn and Correfoc" Translated as Gates of hell and fire run...It is exactly as it sounds. Thanks again to Eira who made this weekend incredible (Though had to miss it for a trip with friends) we were prepared to cover all skin and for the time of our lives. Pictures say a thousands words, but the premise was that devils ran through the streets spitting fire and torches at the crowd. Yes. People got burnt. Yes. Things caught on Fire. and Yes. This was ridiculous.

Lastly, to end the weekend on a great note, Sunday we went to the PiroMusical which as a 30 min. power hour (Diff. Song every minute) set to fireworks. Again...Pictures say it all.