After the drumming finished last night, we had a pretty good sleep. The morning wasn’t quite as cold as it had been, so we got up a bit quicker. We cycled in to Zaragoza for a coffee and Starbucks mug (we have a collection) with the expectation of being there for a an hour and then heading off.
As we arrived, it was obvious there was something going on. There were a lot of people about, and some of them were dressed in random costumes. A quick Google search and we found out that we’d chanced upon the last day of the Zaragoza carnival. After quickly finishing off our coffee, we found people gathered down the sides of one of the main streets. Shortly afterwards, the music started.
The main feature was the ‘gigantes’ (giants) and are common at Spanish festivals. The gigantes from Zaragoza represent famous people from the town’s history and popular culture (thanks Jess!) and we enjoyed these the most… although the giant catapult of recycled paper, the glitter cannons and traditional music were also fun.
We went back to the main square, the Plaza de Pillar, which was now extremely busy, and had a peek in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but we did see the statue of the Virgin Mary where the tradition is that they change her skirt every day.
We then cycled back to The Van to de-camp. We drove east and stopped early evening in a village called Pont just beyond Figueres for the night…