Ok – so there are a ton of events happening during the Sant Naricis festival.  There is a circus, a clown cabaret, dancing competitions (Soltado????), lots of things to do.  But a) the circus is really popular, and you have to buy tickets in advance, and it’s not cheap, and well, it’s a circus, b) clowns?  Uh, no!  And I mean NO!   Does anyone recall “It”??????  Does anyone recall my absolute fear of the middle bathroom stall at Crestar/SunTrust because of that stupid @#$$$@@#$$!! drain???   So, clown cabaret, uh, no, c) dancing would be great, but it’s sort of cold and well, it looked ok when we researched it, but, d) The Human Pilar is what I really, really, really want to see. So – there you have it!

It starts at 7pm, at the Cathedral.  We strike out at about 6:15, figuring we’ll have a better chance at getting a good position to view it.  And we so luck out!  We manage to snag a table at the little café right at the foot of the Cathedral stairs!  Amazing!  Beer and wine…we’re handled.  We have the perfect location to see the beginning of the pilar – they start in the courtyard directly in front of us. 

Of course, we nurse our drinks, watching the crowd start to fill in.  The steps fill up with a path left open to the top.  We continue to nurse….

The band arrives, parading down the side road around the cathedral, then the “pilar” people show up.  We order another round – this time in plastico – “for safety” of course! – and continue to maintain our seats and viewing.  It is amazing!

The pilar forms with I don’t know how many people on the base, then 2 guys climb up.  Then 2 women.  Then finally these 2 little girls climb atop and salute to the cathedral.  Totally wild!  They do this 3 more times – once at each patio on the stairs and then twice at the top, but the doors to the cathedral.  Such a great cultural event!  It was so worth sitting in the cold (yep – it’s a tad chilly here – but we are loving it in our puffy coats!) watching the entire spectacle. What a great time.

When the pilar is over, we abandon our lucky table and wander back through the quiet (now) cobblestone streets to our cute little apartment for another night cap and then bed.  No need for dinner tonight – we are still totally full from lunch. 

More adventures tomorrow….