39:27.82N 00:18.20W
Red Skies
David Alexander
Tue 10 May 2011 11:16
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Sat 7th May continued. The strong wind
continued until about 4.00 pm, when the skies darkened and we had a huge thunder
and hail storm, at times directly overhead. As our marinero friend had
predicted, with the rain the wind died down, although there was still a
significant swell entering the marina. By 6.00 pm we felt confident to go for a
walk, even though the boat was still 'bucking' somewhat. We ended up
catching the metro into the city, where preparations were being made for some
kind of event to mark a particular 50th anniversary for the city.
 Also, every church seemed to be having
weddings. Guests were in all types of garb and brides, their dresses trailing in
the still-wet and muddy streets, and their grooms were all posing for
photographs.
A feature of Spanish celebrations is the setting
off of thunderous firecrackers, more akin to WW3 than fireworks and the city was
bombarded with them.Although they set many a child off crying, we heard no dogs
barking, so we assumed that were lying under a table somewhere with their paws
in their ears.
We found a very pleasant restaurant in a back
street and had the Menu del Dia for dinner, before heading back to the
marina via the metro for a peaceful night's sleep.
Sunday 8th May. A beautiful calm and sunny
day, so we again took the metro into the city and purchased tickets for the
tourist bus to see the sights. Unfortunately, the centre part of the city had
been closed to traffic for the aforementioned celebrations, so the tour provided
by the tourist bus was a bit of a disappointment, although it did allow us to
get our wider bearings.There are two routes included in the ticket price - route
A, the historical one and route B, the maritime one.
 Torres de Serranos - the old gateway into the North
of the city
We took route A first and then stopped a
stone-thow away from the Torres de Serranos for an excellent Menu del Dia
lunch, following which we boarded a bus on route B. One can get on and off the
bus at various stops as often as desired and we took advantage of stopping at
the impressive Arts and Sciences Park, where there just happened to be
an international show-jumping competion in progress. We re-boarded a
subsequent bus and hopped off again near the marina, so as to prepare the boat,
ready for the trip to Denia the following day.
We returned to the city centre, this time using
route B of the tourist bus, and on the way learnt about 19th century prisons, an
abattoir and the 11 right-handed and 14 left-handed bends of the F1 circuit (or
it could be the other way round) and the course top speed of 350 kph.On arrival
it was clear that we had missed something special, as we came across scores of
women and girls, and some men and boys, in national dress.As we pressed futher
in the scores turned into hundreds but clearly their event was over and they
were now relaxing in the streets and cafes.Even so, the costumes were
incredible. The dresses were of embroidered satin brocade, with huge skirts and
petticoats, a matching or plain- coloured bodice, a full length lace apron, a
mantilla and a ribbon sash over the right shoulder. Even the hair styles were
identical - centre parting and false plaited coils over the ears - Star Wars
style - and a plaited bun which supported a crown to hold the mantilla. The men
wore full-sleeved shirts and satin or velvet waistcoats, and knee britches, with
a cumberbund. It was indeed incongruous to see them queing for ice-creams and
smoking and drinking in all their finery.
  We thought we had missed it all, but people were
still heading towards the Plaza de La Virgen by the cathedral and we followed. A
parade of congregations, each with their banner, then of dignitaries and clergy
was leaving the cathedral, with piper and dummer. Eventually, the Stautue of the
Virgin emerged, in gold robes and surrounded with flowers and lanterns. This was
met initially by spontaneous applause from the crowds and then by ear-deafening
and extended salute of thundercrackers. The Statue had a miliary
escort of riflemen and drummers and was then carried through the streets to
continuous applause and a hail of rose petals form overlooking
balconies.
 Needless to say the press of the crowd was quite
something and restricted movement across the city centre, about which we
started to feel quite anxious as we were concerned about missing the last metro
of the day back to the marina. However, we did manage it and were very glad to
have witnessed such an unusual event.
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