So this is a week of firsts for me; I took on the weekly photo challenge, I visited Cartagena and now I´m going to give Ailsa´s travel theme a go. This week, if you hadn´t guessed from the title, the theme is red! A perfect travel theme for Spain! So come with me as I show off Spain at its best, lets paint the country red!
Red theme one: Love.
One thing has to be said about Spanish people; they really do love their country, and who can blame them really? What´s not to love?
The only thing that they love as much as their country, if not more, is football. So you can only imagine what happens when you combine the two in lets say an event like, o I don´t know, something small like…the world cup for instance. Now that´s when you see their love for both at its finest, there is so much love it´s contagious! The following images were taken in “Las Tendillas” in Córdoba just after Spain’s world cup win! The atmosphere was just electric. I feel that these images capture their pride, their joy and their love for their country perfectly.
Red Theme two: Passion.
Another thing the Spanish are famous for is their passion. Whether it´s the latin blood pumping through their veins that causes it or not I don´t know but to me, as long as it´s not over powering, passion is a great quality to have.
One of the best demonstrations of their passion is through the world of Flamenco. Flamenco is an emotionally intense style of Spanish guitar music which is always accompanied by either dancers or singers. They say that Flamenco means “to have the quality of fire”, in my eyes, there is not a better explanation of passion than this!
The following photos, taken at a show near Quesada, capture the emotional intensity and the passion of this dance.
The next photo was taken in Córdoba in July 2011 at the launch of the guitar festival.
Red theme: Powerful.
Imagery, religion and love for thyself and thy neighbour are all important parts of the Spanish culture, here is a festival that incorporates all these elements into one celebration:
Las Cruces, or Crosses, is a popular competition of crosses which is held every year in Córdoba. In this competition each barrio dedicates time and money in order to create these beautifully artistic floral crosses. Each cross is a representation of the pride and spirit in the barrio and are typically surrounded by potted plants and flowers in colours that complement the unique attributes of each zone. The crosses bring the community out in force in order to honour the work that has gone into making these elaborate and colourful crosses while also delighting in the possibility that their cross could earn them the much sought after title of Best Cross! To find out more about this years competition click here and here!
Red Theme: Joy:
The last few images I have decided to share with you show the joyful, fun side of the Spanish culture, a side that is often forgotten about or ignored. Spanish people are an amazing group of people filled with love, passion, sensitivity, joy, vigor and romance. Some of the greatest most interesting people I have met are Spanish, so this last part is to share the joy.
To see other bloggers interpretations of the theme check out Ailsa´s blog here.
Have you ever been to Spain? What did you think?
As always, thank you for reading,
Until the next time,
Giana
xoxo
Chasing Butterflies 