La Madrugada! We don't really have a word for it in English, I guess you could say the 'wee hours of the morning,' in Spanish it means the time from about 1 am to 4 am. Holy Thursday in Sevilla is the most famous Semana Santa celebration in Sevilla, so I had to see it.

Basically all week the Nazarenos, those pledged to a church/convent/brotherhood all march from their home churches to the main Cathedral in Sevilla. They all march in .... um... KKK atire carrying candles or crosses depending on their tradition. Some people walk without shoes/socks as a petition for a sick family member or something along those lines. I was asking the Spanish people around me to figure all this out-- good thing the people in the South of Spain are known for their hospitality.

We got into Sevilla at around 11 pm, no map, no nothing. We asked directions and met up with a couple of Angelina's friends (the girl I met on the bus) to watch the processions. I bought a hotel manager a cup of Cafe con Leche - coffee with milk - to let me leave my backpack in their coat room over night so I didn't have to worry about it. Angelina was heading back to Madrid the next day so she didn't have anything with her, that's the best way to travel.

So we met up with her friends and tried to find the processions, but the maps and guide books were looooong gone so we were clueless. Finally a police officer explained to us that at any given time there's 3 to 6 processions going on, and gave us a map and a couple places to go to see the processions. At that point one of Angelina's friends remembered she had a guide... just didn't know how to use it. So we went for tapas, sat down, and marked out a route. The guide says where all the processions will be at half hour increments so with that we could make sure we saw everything.

Some people rent out balconies along the route for a thousand dollars per night, and some people have tickets in seats near the cathedral. Getting those is kinda like getting season tickets with the Packers... good luck.

It was tiring, but I'm glad I went. El Silencio is one of the most famous processions, the one that commands the most respect from the crowd. Some of the other processions, especially during the day, are a little disorganized, and more relaxed. Family members and friends walked with the Nacerenos, but on Thursday night that wasn't the case. The crowd was silent, reverent and respectful all night.

All of the religious orders build a massive float that they carry after the Nacerenos, to Mary or to Jesus usually. We got to see the men change from underneath the float which was pretty cool- it takes about 15 to carry it, and they only carry it about half a block before taking a break.

One of the coolest parts is that at times a random person in the crowd will start singing to the statue (la saeta), I was lucky enough to be next to a couple of them, once during la madrugada, and another during the day when a lady popped out onto her balcony.