Energizer´s new mascot
In case they ever tire of the pink rabbit. I´ve discovered a new mascot for Engergizer batteries, the Valencian Independence Day Parade.
(SIDE NOTE; Since I posted yesterday I have learned that the independence that Valencia was celebrating yesterday was the defeat of the Moors by the Christians in 1236. )
I mentioned in my previous post that the streets had been lined with chairs in the afternoon in preparation for what I anticipated was to be a parade. Sure enough, not 15 minutes after I had started my late afternoon seista (around 6pm) I started to hear the beat of a distant drum. Not wanting to miss the parade (as the earlier procession had been quite short) I got up and raced to the balconies off of the kitchen to watch the parade.
It started with rows and rows of people dressed in arab attire, belly dancers, etc (It wasn´t hard for me to gather that these people represented the moors). these were followed by nights and crusaders showing off large weapons and crosses (obviously the christians). These people were accompanied by percussion only and you couldn´t help but get a real sense of anticipation. Then around the corner came two men (one dressed as a moor and they other a christian) holding a sign that read Moros i Christians 2006.
This is when the real parade really started. Lines and lines of people in medieval attire. The order was as follows. There would be a solitary woman in front (usually brandishing some sort of weapon), followed by a row of like 10 women, followed by a solitary man (also with a weapon), and a row of 10 men. These people were followed by a band of like 15 or so playing loud spanish big band music. This procession order repeated, each time the costumes would change slightly, (it seemed perhaps they represented eras of valencian history?) Occasionally the order would be intersperced with a float, or a man on a chariot or three women riding horseback standing up.
It was quite cool...... for about an hour and a half.
Then we started wondering when it was going to end. Frankly the music was getting to be a bit much and there was no where to escape it in the hostel. Well, the parade (and loud music) just kept going and going and going, at one point I checked in outside to find the rows of men and women were now in african attire and followed by a large mechanical elephant (this kind of blew my valencian history theory). And still the parade kept going and going. 8, 9, until finally at 10 we were sitting up on the roof terrace and it started to fade and then stopped. We couldn´t quite believe it had stopped, I mean, our ears were still ringing and we thought at first we were just imagining the silence. 30 minutes later we exited the hostel to find the streets empty, all of the chairs removed and hardly a sole left on the street or in town.
Apparently a 4 hour parade signals the end of the festivities.
(SIDE NOTE; Since I posted yesterday I have learned that the independence that Valencia was celebrating yesterday was the defeat of the Moors by the Christians in 1236. )
I mentioned in my previous post that the streets had been lined with chairs in the afternoon in preparation for what I anticipated was to be a parade. Sure enough, not 15 minutes after I had started my late afternoon seista (around 6pm) I started to hear the beat of a distant drum. Not wanting to miss the parade (as the earlier procession had been quite short) I got up and raced to the balconies off of the kitchen to watch the parade.
It started with rows and rows of people dressed in arab attire, belly dancers, etc (It wasn´t hard for me to gather that these people represented the moors). these were followed by nights and crusaders showing off large weapons and crosses (obviously the christians). These people were accompanied by percussion only and you couldn´t help but get a real sense of anticipation. Then around the corner came two men (one dressed as a moor and they other a christian) holding a sign that read Moros i Christians 2006.
This is when the real parade really started. Lines and lines of people in medieval attire. The order was as follows. There would be a solitary woman in front (usually brandishing some sort of weapon), followed by a row of like 10 women, followed by a solitary man (also with a weapon), and a row of 10 men. These people were followed by a band of like 15 or so playing loud spanish big band music. This procession order repeated, each time the costumes would change slightly, (it seemed perhaps they represented eras of valencian history?) Occasionally the order would be intersperced with a float, or a man on a chariot or three women riding horseback standing up.
It was quite cool...... for about an hour and a half.
Then we started wondering when it was going to end. Frankly the music was getting to be a bit much and there was no where to escape it in the hostel. Well, the parade (and loud music) just kept going and going and going, at one point I checked in outside to find the rows of men and women were now in african attire and followed by a large mechanical elephant (this kind of blew my valencian history theory). And still the parade kept going and going. 8, 9, until finally at 10 we were sitting up on the roof terrace and it started to fade and then stopped. We couldn´t quite believe it had stopped, I mean, our ears were still ringing and we thought at first we were just imagining the silence. 30 minutes later we exited the hostel to find the streets empty, all of the chairs removed and hardly a sole left on the street or in town.
Apparently a 4 hour parade signals the end of the festivities.
posted by mnlrs at 8:47 AM
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