When I booked this trip, I had no idea that I’d be in Spain for Semana Santa, or as we call it in the USA, Holy Week.
I will confess our group was more than a little surprised to see what looked like (to us) the Ku Klux Klan everywhere. But no, these are the different “brotherhoods” who hold processions every evening during Holy Week.
Members of my family will not be shocked to learn that I accidentally stumbled into a church where one brotherhood was assembling. I had wanted to see the interior of the Church of San Isidoro after I learned this door was where you entered to get “indulgences”.
For those who didn’t spend your youth in Catholic school, I will explain. Indulgences are sorta like a “get out of jail free” card. You give the church a sum of money, and regardless of the sins you committed, indulgences get you on the escalator to heaven. Fortunately, the middle ages were chock full of sinners. How else do you think the church could afford all that art and gold stuff?
Can you imagine my surprise when I opened the door to find a PACKED church? EVERY bloody pew was filled with people wearing the same color coordinated outfit. My cream jacket stood out in a sea of purple, so when the door creaked open, and the assembled all turned to stare, it was easy to figure out who really didn’t belong.
I wasn’t gauche enough to take a photo then. I waited till they were all almost out the door. Hey, I wanted my friends back home to share in the experience. So here ya go.
Notice that THIS brotherhood allowed sisters to join in the fun, but instead of hoods, they wore a “thingie” to hold their mantillas high atop their heads. Also notice, they were at the very end of the procession.
As I exited the church, I spotted some people wearing uniforms, carrying instruments, so I followed them to their assembly point — a bar.
Doing so earned me a primo spot when they started to play. I haven’t quite mastered the ability to imbed a link, but if you click below you should get a feel for Holy Week in Leon.
Despite the mob scene, fellow traveler Camille managed to spot me in the crowd. Equally surprising, I heard her call my name.
Somehow, in spite of the madness, four of us managed to link up with Shahin, our trip leader, who took the photo of Loren, me, Sheldon and Camille atop this post.
Before we went bar hopping, we saw a man standing in front of a building, swinging around a silver incense container, so we HAD to go inside. Much to our surprise, we found these elaborate “floats” that the devout carry on their shoulders during processions.
Sorry, there are no photos of our bar hopping extravaganza. We were far too busy drinking “lemonada”— red wine, lemons, cinnamon and seltzer water— León’s official “Holy Week drink, to take pictures
Our second day in the area was spent outside of León in the little village of Morgovejo, for what OAT calls a “Day in the Life” , another unique feature of OAT travel. We spend time with local inhabitants, visiting them in their homes, sometimes participating in their daily activities.
During our visit, Carmen showed us how she works with disabled children and adults, using a horse she rescued and trained. Her partner, Emelio demonstrated the various exercises that can be done by riding bareback .
The farm has horses, sheep, goats and dogs. Some of us were thrilled to be able to hold this baby lamb.
León was a fantastic stop, and it was over far too quickly. Next stop — Santiago de Compostela, the final destination of pilgrims on “The Way”.
Destination NOW 