Feria Day!

We had originally planned to sort of wander Europe on this trip, however I had lunch with a work buddy, Luke, who was telling me that it would be Fair Week in Seville...after a tiny bit of research we decided that this alone was worth planning out trip around. To make it even more enticing Luke texted some of his friends who live in Seville and they agreed to meet up with us if we visited. So here we are.

The fair kicked off at midnight Monday so today, Tuesday, is the first full day and the excitement in the air is tangible. We spent all afternoon watching women of all ages, shapes, sizes and coloring dressed to the nines in full traditional flamenco gear walking, hobbling, being pushed in strollers etc toward the fair.

We've decided that we are so jealous of this yearly tradition, it's like prom once a year for women of all ages. We can't think of any traditions in the US that can even compare.

It's funny because the style of the dresses is mermaid which is the states is not really that common and is typically considered to be a style that is only flattering on very trim figures, but here every woman seems to pull it off beautifully. It seems like every woman becomes so confident when she puts on her dress that she instantly becomes stunning. And the jewelry they were is literally costume jewelry, the sort that we would see in the US and think it cheap and tacky even. But here, in this environment, used in the way it is, it is so perfect! So much so that we went in search of our own accessories so that we could dress up our jeans and boots as much as possible to fit in at least a little bit. By the way, fitting in with short blond hair and blue eyes is not easy, and for Megan with green eyes and 'puelo rojo' (red hair) it's impossible, but that doesn't mean we can't try. :)

We stumbled into a department store near our apartment that had a whole section, organized by color, of all of the last minute flamenco purchases a girl could need. Lucky us!

Once we left the department store we had only a short walk to our apartment, maybe 50 yards/meters, and during this short walk we passed more than 20 women dressed and walking down the street. I happened to capture this Beatles like moment as this family of girls as the crossed through traffic.

 Megan and I both got a good giggle out of this woman, all dressed and ready to go and about to take off on her matching vespa...

So now that we have our accessories and are all dolled up we're ready to head back out and experience Feria de Abril...