Sunday spectacles

Bear with me as I slowly upload the literally hundreds of pictures I took during Mercè.

On Sunday we observed the sardana, a Catalonian folk dance performed in the square in front of the city's cathedral. For Mercè, there was some sort of contest going on — at least 20 different troops performed the highly regimented dance while costume-clad judges peered on with clipboards.

We then headed back to the Plaça de la Constitucion to see more castellers. This time we were able to push a little closer to the front and we stayed to see the extra-large constructions. Here's a sampling... and to note, the children on top could not be more than five or six years old. Again with the very trusting parenting over here...

To get down from the top, the kids shimmy down the backs of the rest of the tower. Eek!