day 21: La Romeria del Rocio

This post is about Thursday. During class we were able to go on a field trip. We headed over to Constitucion to see the processional called La Romeria del Rocio. It is a procession to honor the Virgin del Rocio. They walk from Sevilla to Huelva and back again. The whole journey is an 8 day trip. Wealthy people bring their horses and ride them, walk alongside, or ride in wagons pulled by oxen. They live out of the items carried in the wagons and camp each night along the way.

This was the beginning of the procession.

All the ladies rode side-saddle in their pretty flamenco looking dresses

this picture shows the guys outfits

lots of people were walking in the procession as well. and stepping in horsey poop.

more walkers and the silver car being carried is where they have the statue of Virgin del Rocio

these are the huge oxen pulling the Virgin

so beautiful and shiny

 

oxen pulled the other wagons that had their supplies for the journey and some of which held other travelers

i felt bad for the oxen. they had their heads tied together with wood and a man stood in front of them and guided them. he had a stick that he'd carry and tap them with to slow them down.

big oxen

big oxen with hats.

one of the wagons with kids in it.

I thought it was really an interesting experience. I haven't seen something like this in the US and I'm not even sure if people do something like it there. Being able to see this was just one of the many ways the culture here became more evident to me. Traveling the world and being exposed to things like this is such an eye-opener. I wish Rob was able to have seen this. I had no idea it was going on and didn't know that was where we were going until it was too late.

While we were there we went around asking questions to people about the procession and the tradition. One of the WORST things I learned from one of those people was that they didn't bring food and water to care for the animals. I'm not sure if this is true BUT it was what I heard from a Sevillano.

After the procession we went back to finish class. Once school was over for the day I headed home to siesta with Rob before the excursion at 5. We were going to an olive oil farm/factory. There we were able to learn about the process of growing olives and making the oil. After that we were able to try a few of the different products the company makes and buy some in their gift shop.

These are some of the pretty flowers in the entry area of the olive gardens.

we look odd and hunched over because the branches hung low and i wasn't trying to put my head all up in 'em.

these are some of the rows of olive trees

pretty baby olives!

these are some of the types of olive oil they produce and sell.

This is an old time olive grinder in front of the museum they have.

some of the artifacts in the museum

Some of their world award-winning olive oils

another grinder in the museum

This is what the process originally looked like

Then it was a bit more modified mechanically

We then watched a video of the process now.

Next we walked into where they box their oil...

and saw the machines they use to make it.

Afterwards was the super fun and tastey part, we got to try them. We were told how the professionals taste them: warm them up, swirl them, smell them, taste and breathe weirdly at the same time. The first we simply tasted and the second we tasted and then tried on it on chocolate ice cream! Weird sounding but SUPER tastey. It was an orange flavored oil and it went great with the ice cream.

Now it was on to the gift shop!

 

Rob and I bought a hot sauce and 3 types of oil. We're super excited to try them at home!

After we got home from the excursion we went out to dinner with Kristen. We walked around in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz and stumbled upon a little restaurant called Bar Patanchon. We had tapas and loved it! The restaurant itself was super adorable and the food was amazing. It definitely became a new favorite of ours.

menu

Inside the restaurant-

The restaurant's front-

Two of our super yummy tapas :D

meatballs

this is a tapa of their "special" dish. It was AMAZING, especially since I love goat cheese :D. It was bacon, ham and goat cheese wrapped in one and fried.

Rob and I at the restaurant

Once we were done eating we all went our separate ways and Rob and I headed back to our hotel for the night. So nice having him here, oh and AC in our hotel room. Love air conditioning.