Quasimodo Day - the Campo

We followed the caravan to it's parking place amongst the olive groves and while Maricarmen & friends unloaded the table, chairs, food and beers, we took our leave to wander off and have a look around. We were however invited to return for something to eat and no was not an answer that was acceptable. So promising to come back, we went for a wander.

The following pictures give a good idea of the general scene.

After about an hour we returned to the party and were warmly welcomed with food and more beers and wine. I know we have mentioned in previous posts about how welcome we have been made to feel here, but the warmth and generosity shown to us today surpassed anything that has gone before. We had nothing to offer in return but that didn't matter as long as we had a good time....and we certainly did.

People flitted in and out of the party and this chap is Maricarmen's brother, David. She told us that she had seven sister's and six brother's and that she was number thirteen. David was number nine. We also met number four as well.


Quasimodo day apparently goes on through the night and into tomorrow. We had a fantastic time and I hope that sometime in the future we can repay some of the generosity shown to us today.

We left the party at about five thirty and headed off home.

Quasimodo Day - the procession

The second Monday after Easter Sunday is celebrated as "Romeria del Lunes de Quasimodo" and is when the Olverenos meet in the campo (countryside) at the church of Nuestra Senora de los Remedios to give thanks for the rains that ended a prolonged drought in 1715. According to tradition it rained on this day and thereafter every year since there has been a mass pilgrimage from Olvera to celebrate the event. Where the name Quasimodo comes from though is a mystery lost in the mists of time.

Apparently, the exodus to the church which is about 3kms or about a half hour stroll from Olvera, begins at six in the morning when families start to arrive to lay claim to the best pitches for their barbeques and picnic's.

Due to the number of pictures, I have divided the post into two parts....this one, the procession and the next post about our arrival in the campo.

So, our day started at about 10am when we started the walk out to the campo. Arriving at the Plaza de Concordia, we unexpectedly came upon a procession of tractors pulling a variety of brightly coloured carriages, made to look like old gypsy caravan's and each belonging to a family or group of friends. So we stopped for a while to take it in.

So there we were, sitting quietly enjoying the procession when........"Anna, Anna, Venga, venga (come, come).....it was Maricarmen, our neighbour. Cervesa o vino (beer or wine) she asked. So the beers were handed out and we became camp followers and part of the procession. This is a picture of the family caravan with Maricarmen and her son Paco sitting on the back.





Another of our neighbours, Monica with Lara her daughter, both dressed beautifully in traditional dress.











Maricarmen and friend doing some street flamenco......and very good they were too.












Not far now. The final destination is ahead but after a few beers, good music and a few laughs along the route, it hadn't seemed that far.











Lara again....she's going to break a few hearts.













Anne with Paco, Maricarmen's husband. he is a really lovely guy, very quiet and reserved, totally the opposite of Maricarmen.


Nearly at the campo now. More on the next post.

Pruna market

Unfortunately our Spanish lesson was cancelled today so we took the opportunity of going to Pruna market, just for a look around. Surprisingly, it is a bigger market than Olvera given that Pruna is a much smaller village. As we strolled around we bumped into several close neighbours from Olvera and Richard, Anne & Alfie from Pruna who we had met a month or so ago when we went for Sunday lunch at the Miramar. For Dave and Heather......they pass on their regards and best wishes and will be in touch soon. So just a few pics today of the general scene.

One size fits all....... only joking!!!


Todo 1 euro (All 1 euro)....hence the scrum.




Beautiful flowers and plants on sale....Anne couldn't resist so we ended up buying a fuschia for the roof terrace.






And finally, a picture of my nearest and dearest in her new blouse.....I knew there was a reason to go!!!

Linked posts:
Pruna

Pruna spring
Ermita de Navazo

Hang gliding

As mentioned in our previous post, the Sierra de Lijar is a popular venue for hang gliding. So we were fortunate on our descent from the top to come across this group preparing for a flight, who subsequently turned out to be French "pilotes".

We stayed for around an hour and watched the preparations and finally the jump off's in the direction of La Muela.

Linked post:Sierra de Lijar
Sierra de Lijar re-visited