FERIA, Italy and Greece photos

I have two weeks and two days left in Sevilla. clock's tickin' and time's a'wastin! Last week was the Feria de abril, which was the most unique and fabulous thing I have ever experienced. I unfortunately had the flu for the kick off and first day, but was able to pull myself out of bed by Tuesday and see myself some flamenco-ing. I pinned an obnoxiously large blue flower in my hair and stepped out of my apartment feeling a bit foolish, only to see women fully decked out in multiple flowers, brightly colored (and well coordinated!) flamenco dresses, and heeled flamenco shoes. I felt like I was in another world as we all rode the bus together to the feria grounds, sitting calmly as if we were not all in full costume.

Arriving at feria was epic. There is an enormous entrance, called a portada, that is lit up in the No8do slogan of Sevilla (this sign can be seen absolutely everywhere in sevilla. it is on buildings, street signs, manhole covers. It is read aloud as "no madeja do, because the 8 looks like yarn, or madeja. When spoken rapidly - what isn't in Andalucia - it sounds like "no me ha dejado," or "it (sevilla) has not abandoned me.") The No8do sign is a great representation of sevilla pride, so it is only fitting that it marked the entrance to perhaps the most quintessentially sevillan ocurrence in this city. Feria is unmatched in any other city. It is an enormous fairgrounds with typical "fair fare" - rides, food [read: fried death. DELICIOUS], noise, crowds. But what makes it feria are the casetas, rows of elaborate tents that families and organizations own and fill with their friends and family. The casetas are incredibly intricate - inside, they have dance floors, bars, walls complete with wall paper and hung paintings, certainly no circus tent. Each caseta is filled with music and flamenco, most notably the sevillanas - the dance of feria. The casetas are full all night and all day. I have never seen anything like it.

I stole these pictures from random facebook albums/cassandra - thanks guys :)


Now for my own photos: One step closer to actually writing that godforsaken blog. Which undoubtedly will not happen until the lazy days of summer.

Italy:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027543&id=1391040171&l=71ea6f90c2

GREECE I LOVE YOU:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027544&id=1391040171&l=fcdb846ef1