SPAIN – SENTIMENTS AND SCENTS OF A SEMANA SANTA

I just returned from Spain to meet up with my daughter for Semana Santa, which takes place the week before Easter.  As we traveled together throughout the south of Spain for the week, my daughter and I were deeply moved by the beauty, the dedication to tradition, the love the Spaniards so frequently displayed, and the many scents of a Spain Springtime.

LOVE WAS IN THE AIR IN MADRID AS WELL AS THE SMELLS OF PORK, PERFUME AND VANILLA CHOCOLATE LATTES!

Love in the Plaza Mayor, Madrid.

Mmm..Madrid! Pleasant smells of pork, perfume and a vanilla chocolate latte.

10 am prep-mode in the Plaza Mayor, Madrid.

United Love on the Gran Via, Madrid…

THE BEAUTY, WARMTH AND THE AROMA OF FRANKINCENSE AND JASMINE MARKED THE BEGINNING OF SEVILLE’S SEMANA SANTA WHILE THE CROWDS FILLED THE STREETS…

GRANADA’S BOHEMIAN STYLE AND ARTISTRY WERE MOST APPEALING… WHERE MUSIC FILLED THE ALLEYS, FLAMENCO DANCERS DANCED, AND THE AROMA OF FRIED FOODS AND MOROCCAN FOODS SWEPT THROUGH THE PLAZAS…

FRANKINCENSE WAS PREVALENT IN GRANADA AS THE MOST SERIOUS OF THE SEMANA SANTA PROCESSIONS MOVED THROUGH THE CITY’S CENTER…

THE MOORS’ INFLUENCE IN CORDOBA CONTRIBUTED HEAVILY TO THE UNIQUENESS AND BEAUTY OF THIS CITY…

THE PRICE FOR CORDOBA’S BEAUTY WAS ORANGE BLOSSOMS FALLING ON OURS HEADS WHILE POLLEN SWEPT ACROSS OUR FACES.  GOOD FRIDAY’S EARLY MORNING PROCESSION BROUGHT ABOUT CHILLS FROM THE MOVING SILENCE THAT SURROUNDED US AS WE FOLLOWED THE PROCESSION INTO THE MOSQUE…

JAEN’S ABUNDANCE OF PRODUCE AND THE BEST TAPAS CUISINE IN THE SOUTH PROVIDED FOR A VERY TASTY EASTER… THE STREETS WERE CROWDED WITH JAEN’S CITIZENS FOR EASTER MORNING’S PROCESSION WHERE THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY WAS PREDOMINANT.

EXPERIENCING THE SEMANA SANTA THROUGHOUT SPAIN ADDED A VERY UNIQUE LAYER TO OUR TRAVELS. IT ALLOWED US TO FAMILIARIZE OURSELVES WITH WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO THE SPANISH CULTURE – TRADITION, FAMILY, LOVE. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE CITIES OF SOUTH OF SPAIN. I LOOK FORWARD TO GOING BACK TO EXPLORE MORE. REAL SOON!