Semana Santa in Madrid

For this Holy Week, I decided to stay here in Madrid to explore the city and see what Semana Santa is like in this side of the world. 

On Tuesday, a week ago from today, I went to a concert with Marina. It was really neat because I had never been to a choir concert before. They sang some hymns and other songs that are typical of the Holy Week here in Madrid. The coolest thing was that it was a children choir but they sounded like professionals. Here are some pictures from it:

I went to two-processions-in-one as I like to call it. This particular one was on Saturday and it lasted about four or five hours. They take so long because the images they carry are so big and heavy, they need to go really slow in order to have balance. I really liked it, specially the fact that the one I went to had drums and other instruments that made the experience even more memorable. I cannot describe the feeling that came to me when I first saw the image of the Virgin Mary coming out of the Church. It just something that fills you up, and makes you happy to be alive. But before she came out of the Church, there was a congregation of people outside the Church singing hymns, and the band was also playing on the background.

Here are some pictures of the first part of the procession:

A fun fact about this is that the people holding the Virgin do these kind of steps so that it looks like the Virgin is dancing. Marina tells me that they call it Bailando a la Virgen. It is really cool to see, unfortunately the site will not let me upload videos right now, so you just have to trust me and imagine it.

The second part of the procession was on the other side of Puerta del Sol, and before heading out there, Marina and I stopped for a refreshment. And I found a fountain! 

After my refreshment and view of the fountain, we headed out to the other Church, San Gines. From this Church, the Cristo Yacente was going to join the procession along with the Virgin Mary. After the image of the Christ joined the procession, they were going to finish off at the same Church were the Virgin Mary had come out of in the beginning. 

I was behind a lot of people and these were the best photos I could take from this part of the procession. I have a video that it's much better than the pictures, but again, I cannot upload it right now.

And that's it for today. I'll be writing about the Real Palace of Madrid on my next post coming this Friday.

P.S.: If you happen to be in NY and want to hear some good music, go to www.broadwaywoodside.brownpapertickets.com for tickets to attend a benefit concert with Broadway stars like Jessica Tyler Wright and Matthew LaBlanca and more. The proceeds go to the Corpus Christi Church and the John H. Mark Scholarship Fund. 

--Paulina Ochoa - F.