Easter in Zamora

Yesterday's evening processions were rained out, but Easter morning was bright and chilly. Phil and I walked the mile down to the Plaza Mayor, where the two floats of Mary and the Risen Christ meet. We were there 45 minutes early and had a pretty good view, only about 3 people deep. As the time for the meeting approached, more and more people gathered, and there were about 20 layers of people behind us. A lady shoved Phil to get to the spot her mother was "saving" for her, and he nearly went down. Crowds in Spain are no more polite than crowds in the US.

As the floats and bands approached, the entire 1,500 member strong Confraternity marched into the square and stood in front of the gathered crowd with tall staffs topped in flowers. Then, as the floats arrived, people in front of us were climbing up on the barriers, etc, and blocking the view even further.

It was pretty inspiring (what we could see). There was a talented musician who played both the drum and flute at the same time when the floats met. Also, at some point, they removed Mary's mourning veil, symbolizing the transition and her recognition of the Resurrection (although we could not see that).

I'm glad we were there, although next time I would settle for seeing it on TV. It is an entirely different way of celebrating Easter and possibly a religious one that is more exciting than I recall in the US. I'm glad if it gets the Easter message out to more people.

Tomorrow early we take a train to Madrid. We've been there several times and this time if the weather is good, we'll try to go to the botanical gardens since it is spring and not really cold or really hot as it has been when we were here in the past.Read more