Barcelona Day 3

Following the recommendation of some nice people I met a few days ago, I took a day trip to Sitges, a coastal town about 30 miles south of Barcelona.

It’s a really nice place























if you like beaches . . .

. . . and dogs (who also get to ride on trains).

Checks all the boxes for me; it would be a nice place to go for a long weekend once in a while if I didn’t live 4,000 miles from it.

Then back “home” for a quick dip.











But the big news is that the Mercé is only three days away. This is the annual festival that consumes Barcelona each year at this time with several days of music, performances, parades and various dangerous and artsy activities across the city all day and all night.

For example, nothing shouts “a good time for the whole family” like having people dressed as demons shoot fireworks into crowds of people crammed onto one of Barcelona’s main streets. As the program says, “Carrefoc is the appointment for fire lovers” and some precautions are in order, like (and this is not the entire list):
“Protect yourself from burns”
“Protect your neck from flying sparks”
“Protect your eyes”
“Follow the instructions of the devils.” You bet I will.

It seems chaotic, but the program assures the public that everything is quite orderly – “From the outside, the fire and the dances of the devil are seen. But behind what we see as viewers, there is an internal organization.” Is the Carrefoc dangerous, meaningless and unnecessary? Yes. Will I be there? Absolutely.

And the sparks don’t end there. There will also be a large fireworks demonstration put on by a group from Lebanon, this year’s partner country. I can guess what you may be thinking about the concept of Lebanon and fireworks, but let’s be open-minded. Per the official program, “Fireworks will arrive in Lebanon, with the company Nazih Tabbara Fireworks. The gas breakwater, on the Barceloneta beach, will fill with light with an aesthetic proposal that will remember that Beirut is the city invited this year.” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I sure hope whoever is setting off the fireworks is better at his or her job than is the person who translated the program into English.

But putting the riskier parts of the program aside (which also include the 8-story human towers and the live birds-of-prey demonstration), there really is quite a lot of great music, performance art and good feelings. Stay tuned.