Clare's flight was delayed by an hour leaving Cardiff this morning, but this gave me extra time to cook a vegetable soup before leaving for the airport to collect her. I walked to the train at the far end of the Alameda Principal, and this gave me time to observe that work was still in progress laying out rows of chairs in front of the seating stands lining the main thoroughfare. Buses were still coming and going in the free outside roadway that gives access for cars and public transport to the Avenida Andalucia the other side of the rio Guadalmedina. Road closures for processions would start until later in the afternoon, and the bus stop information display panels not only give time, weather and advance warnings, but also indicate the real time location of processions currently taking place. It's impressive, and a very useful stream of public information.
Clare texted me once she was off the 'plane. I was by that time on the train as it approached the airport station. I knew I'd have roughly another half hour to wait, so I bought a coffee and positioned myself by the arrivals hall exit. Sure enough, there were no more delays and three quarters of an hour after meeting, thanks to train and bus, we were in the apartment and eating lunch.
Later we walked through the (closed) road tunnel into the Old Town. Crowds were beginning to line the pavements of the Avenida Victoria, so we joined them and waited for the procession to make its way towards us from the church of Nuestra Senora de la Victoria, with which several cofradias are associated. This afternoon's procession was of a trona depicting the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, featuring a live olive tree, as well as figures of those told about in the Gospel story.
Half an hour standing an waiting was enough for Clare at this stage, so we returned to the apartment just 6-7 minutes away for a cup of tea. Clare decided on a late siesta, and I went out again for a few hours to see what else I could see, given the extra hour of daylight we have this week. This time I went to the Alameda Principal and to Calle Larios (as the Calle Marquesa de Larios is known in the processional timetable), and watched a trona of Jesus alone carrying his cross approach and pass the VIP tribune in the Plaza de la Constitucion then go up Calle Granada on its way to the Cathedral.
It was impossible to return to base via the road tunnel as the streets were packed with people, but by now the alternative routes are becoming familiar. Passing by Calle Larios, I caught sight of another trona heading for the VIP tribune, this time it was the single figure of Jesus hanging on the cross. By this time the sun had set and the street lights were coming on, fatigue and hunger discouraged me from lingering, so I re-joined a refreshed Clare for supper and catch-up time before bed.
One way or another I'd seen just three of the six cofradia processions of the day. The others would be out and about too late for me this time. My photos are here
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