Sports Nutrition and the Mediterranean Diet / May 31th: Corpus Christi and Plaza España

Today was the Spanish holiday Corpus Christi so we had a free day. Hanna and I decided to try and get the most out of Spanish immersion experience by going to watch the corpus Christi precession. There was a mass at 8 and then the parade started at 8:30 so we left the apartment at 8 for the parade. As we walked, we saw that some of the streets were covered in rosemary sprigs, creating a path for the parade to follow! Many of the storefronts were decorated ant there were plenty of catholic alters all around. The Corpus is the feast of the Catholic Church so the holiday Corpus Christi is held to celebrate the Eucharist. All of the alters I saw had bread in them representing the body of Christ and some even had bread in flower bouquets. We went to the Plaza San Francisco and found a spot to watch the parade. There was a children’s choir and a band that stood on the Plaza steps and played music as the precession went by. It was different from any parade have been to, it wasn’t loud or crazy, it was very serious. The parade was made up of floats carried through the streets and people Marching with staffs or large candles. Whenever a float would be carried through, everyone would stand up. As the people walked, they crushed the rosemary beneath them so the whole town smelled of fresh rosemary! Corpus Christi used to be celebrated by all of Spain but it is slowly becoming less popular. Now mostly only southern cities like Sevilla and Cordoba celebrate it. But Sevilla celebrated hard, I feel like the whole city was in that parade, and those who weren’t, were on the sides watching it. Everyone was very dressed up seemed to appreciate the holiday. Getting a taste of Sevilla in celebration makes me want to return in Easter when the city had even larger celebrations. After the precession, we got breakfast of pureed tomatoes on toast with olive oil and Cafe con Leche. We then had a chill day walking around the plazas and parks, we went to the river and sat out watching all of the boats and rowers go by. Its fun to watch the rowers because their coaches sail next to them in little rubber motorboats. When it was time for lunch we went home. It was one of those days where it was so nice out it almost hurt to be inside so I went for a run during siesta. Because it was a holiday, I saw a lot more people out and about at this time. Most were having picnics or walking around looking at the alters. It was nice to run by the river again. There are so many trees with purple flowers in bloom! After my run, I came home and began to pack up my cloths. I can’t believe I only had 2 pore days in Spain! My time here has flown by!

Later that afternoon, we decided to go visit Plaza De España again. We got to take our time looking at a lot of the murals and enjoying the weather. We even saw a street group preforming Flamenco. The dancer was very good but not quite as sharp as the one we saw on Tuesday. I can’t imagine dancing in a long dress outside in this heat! It wasn’t outrageously hot out, but today was the hottest day since I’ve been here and she was wearing a long ruffled skirt and long sleeves. After enjoying our afternoon in the Plaza we walked through some parks before returning home for dinner. Before dinner, at about 9:50, Lucy came into our room Very excited, we weren’t exactly sure what she was saying but we knew it was something about a little bird, she took us to the living room where they had a small bird in a box! It had fallen out of a tree and Senor was going to help nurse it back to life before setting it free!