Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/80542
fi ll the time. One does not eat supper, but tapear (the verb form of tapas) from 8 p.m. until close to midnight. And if you're hungry at 6 p.m.? Forget about fi nding a meal. The Spanish keep long, but strictly contained, hours. If a Spaniard is hungry at that time, he orders ice cream. Yes, before dinner. And while in Canada you might be secretly annoyed when your friend orders the same dish as you in a restaurant, in Spain you always order what your friend is having: the house specialty. So, at bustling Casa Balbino on the main plaza, we have the shrimp omelets, while at Los Caracoles (The Snails), the little bar at the end of our block, we order cups of tiny snails boiled in broth and eaten with the shells still on. Strange. But this is the sort of thing you become brave enough to do after weeks of immersion. NEAR THE END OF OUR VISIT, WE COME across some posters advertising a Saturday night religious festival to honour Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Sanlú- car. It isn't a tourist event, and there is little other information. So come Saturday evening, we walk around Barrio Bajo until we fi nd crowds of locals lining a historic street, Calle Ancha, and stand among the hundreds, waiting for whatever it is they're waiting for. Everyone is decked out in their Sunday best, right down to four-year-old boys wearing suits. First we hear trumpets. Then we see a procession approaching. Burly men in T-shirts emblazoned with the Virgin's image are taking turns bearing a painted wooden statue, heavy with silver, of her likeness on a platform. The statue normally resides in her namesake basilica, in Barrio Alto. Up, up, up the old cobbled streets to the height of the city, the men bear their glittering burden, as a brass band plays and young men in surplices wave silver censers, leaving a smoky trail of incense. The crowd moves to follow the statue. Children with candles scamper alongside. We follow, watching as they fi le into the basilica, returning the Virgin to her home, now that she's made the circuit of the old town. The next morning, out our window, we see a crowd carrying the statue back down the hill for another tour. This procession is more sombre, and now the women wear the traditional black mantilla, or lace veil, WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 2012 43 held aloft by an ornamental comb. As they pass down our street, our neighbours throw rose petals from their balconies while troupes of boys tap away on drums. We later learn that this procession happens every year, and the statue is 400 years old. I'm awed by the history, and moved at having witnessed the beauty and grandeur of everyday life and faith in this place. I close my eyes and picture the pink torrent of rose pet- als, knowing I will return to Sanlúcar one day because it feels like home. AMA MEMBERS SAVE MORE Before you go: Base yourself in a one-bedroom apartment in Benalmádena, in the heart of the Costa del Sol. From $1,625 per person, plus $590 in taxes. Includes airfare from Edmonton or Calgary, 20 nights' accommodation, return transfers and the services of a local Canadian rep. 1-866-667-4777; AMATravel.ca While you're there: Save 10% on Hertz car rentals and 10% on the best available room rate at Best Western hotels in Europe. AMARewards.ca/SearchForDiscounts