The Asociación de la Capa was out in full force this past weekend in Sevilla. Their goal is to keep the custom of wearing capes alive. Gotta admit they look sharp.
asociación de la capa
18 Monday Nov 2019
Category Archives: culture
chasing virgins
11 Monday Nov 2019
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Spent the weekend and Monday being a “fixer” for a photographer coming to shoot virgin processions, as well as different virgins in various churches, for a travel magazine. In the end we saw three processions, but for me this was the highlight, especially because it happened by chance. I had stopped in at the Iglesia Magdalena near my house to ask if I could arrange a photo shoot and the lovely archivist Aurora invited us to come “backstage”, as it were, and see them preparing inside the church just before the evening procession on Sunday. Apparently this was the first time they have ever allowed this for people outside the brotherhood. Wow.
This is the Virgen del Amparo and below are a few pics I took backstage, focusing on the costaleros, who are a bit of an obsession with me during Semana Santa. I mean, I just don’t get WHY they do this, especially as many of them end up with lifelong injuries from carrying all that weight on the backs of their necks. This time I even got a short video of them lifting up the platform with Aurora’s husband holding up the skirting so I could get a better look. I am still going through other photos I took over those three days – might share more later.
san lorenzo 2019
10 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in culture, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars
Since my first ever San Lorenzo day celebration six years ago this has become an annual event for me. Ramón and Mari Carmen of the Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo host the celebration on August 10th, in honour of the patron saint of cooks and chefs, and namesake of both their barrio and bar.
As always, a variety of grilled flesh were on offer throughout the afternoon, along with a typical white wine punch from Huelva called ponché alosnero. I particularly liked the boat full of nécoras (velvet crabs) on display though I cannot eat them whole as instructed by Ramón. It was also a clever way of incorporating their August beach theme with the saint day celebrations. Good times.
The martyr San Lorenzo was put to a slow and painful death on top of a large gridiron with live coals beneath it and, the legend concludes that, after enduring the pain for a very long time he made his famous cheerful remark, “I’m well done. Turn me over!”.
loo brush backlash!
23 Tuesday Jul 2019
Soooooo… have been working on a blog post about tourism in Sevilla. Well, it applies pretty much everywhere I’m sure. Just putting some thoughts together about the effect of mass tourism on travel destinations, and also about how places are so often marketed in a misleading way. One of those horrid catchphrases that I’m sure you’ve all heard by now is LIVE LIKE A LOCAL.
To wit I’ve been capturing some photos of how I – a local – actually live in Sevilla. This was one of them. Funny, right? Well, apparently not. I got some serious verbal backlash when I posted this on Instagram a few days ago with #livinglikealocal and #livelikealocal hashtags. This was followed by a dozen or so “unfollows”. And I had been SO CLOSE to reaching 5000 followers 😉
I would have quoted the Divine Ms M – FUCK ‘EM IF THEY CAN’T TAKE A JOKE – but I’m sure that would have just got me into more trouble. Anyhoodle… will let you know when I finish. 🙂
rocío 2019
06 Thursday Jun 2019
All week different brotherhoods have been leaving Sevilla from various parts of town for the annual pilgramage to Rocío. This is the Hermandad de Nuestra Señora del Rocío de Sevilla, gathered in Plaza Virgen de los Reyes. More photos below…
