Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Semana Cervantina

Five days of a medieval fair in Alcala de Henares has just passed in honor of Miguel Cervantes including el Mercado del Quijote, expositions, theatre, music, and enough food to feed an army. I was told this was the biggest event in Alcala for the year. People from all over the world came. Tourists everywhere. Crowded streets! I spent a little bit of time each day walking around to all the vendors. All the things for sale were hand crafted and in the true spirit of medieval/renaissance Europe. Absolutely amazing! I ate roasted chestnuts, the most amazing lemon cake, and some really good roasted chicken on a stick. I even got my name written in Arabic! Good times were had by all. Viva Cervantes!


This street band pounded out a wicked beat that called to me across the plaza...
Me standing next to a creepy wooden statue.
Eating roasted chestnuts that just came from the open fire. Karen, Esther, Margaret, Lisa.








A puppet show for the kiddos.


A real basketweaver!


What the rows of vendors looked like.


The little boy on the right-most horse was really cute!

Don Quixote even showed up!


2 comments:

Johann said...

That's awesome! Joplin's going to have a RennFaire next semester at the park right next to school. I can't wait.

Anonymous said...

Lisa, what an amazing experience you're getting. You know, it's pretty cool because if you just went over there for a week or two you'd only experience a few things. Being there for so long you're getting so many experiences that are true to the culture. It's all so cool. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Ryan