Another birthday in Spain

This time it is not mone. It was my Aussie friend Mel's pre-birthday fiesta. Mel is well organised and on the buzz all the time. She knows what's going on and where to go at any given time. I think she should live here - given how "in tune" with this place she is. It is a pity Mel is leaving on Monday to continue her travel en route to Australia. I am glad I bumped into her on the street a month ago - and wish I had been in touch with her a lot longer. She is lots of fun and is always having a get together or arranging things.

Fiesta De Gracia

The first thing we did on Friday was to go to watch the Human Pyramids. The Fiesta de Gracia is on at the moment - in the area called Gracia. The residents come together to decorate their streets and squares and terraces in a competition. The street/terrace/square which is judged the best will receive a prize. The residents use recycled materials such as plastic bottles, cardboard, glass etc to create all sorts of decorations which are hung up in their part of the suburb. Each street has a different theme. The Fiesta de Gracia is a musical festival which has various bands playing different types of music in the different parts of Gracia. So many people go to Gracia to see the decorations, listen to the live music and to eat in the many restaurants or just to party, dance and chat to other partygoers.

Human Pyramids

Partying in the streets of Gracia

So Friday kicked off with some Human Pyramids in one of the squares in Gracia. This is an ancient sport whereby the people build pyramids up to 6 humans high, by standing on top of each other's shoulders. Then a poor kid or two has to climb right to the top to complete the pyramid. Scary stuff. I was scared just watching as the little kid climbs with the agility of a monkey right up to the top of the human pyramid. As the people construct the pyramid, there are several people who gather around them on the ground, and hold up their hands to cushion a fall if any of the climbers should fall. As the pyramid gets higher, you can see how their legs begin to shake. I wondered at some points whether someone would fall. Luckily, no falls. I am sure these groups of people train hard and practice this well.

Street decorations in Gracia

Then Mel, Garth and I went to a Tapas restaurant for a quick dinner. The Patatas Bravas were excellent. I will be back for more... At 11pm we left to go to Bar Paraguay for live music. We met some of Mel's other friends before we went inside and had our first drink upstairs. The drinks upstairs are cheaper than the drinks downstairs!! Downstairs is where the Live music takes place so the prices are highly inflated. The music began just before Midnight. The band playing is a soul funk music group. The sounds were great. The lead singer is a Moroccan lady who sings in English, Arabic and French. She sang brilliantly. Just after midnight Zaida mentioned to me that we should go to say Happy Birthday to Mel. I said, let us ask the band to sing "Happy Birthday". So we put in a silent little request for Happy Birthday. The birthday song was sung in French and Mel did not even see it coming. She thought I had given the lead singer my phone number!!! We danced to the soul funk until almost 3am - when the band stopped playing. What a great night. Thanks Mel, Zaida, Ed, Tyler, Oleg, Lena, Garth. What a brilliant night. I had such energy and was in a good space. The Moroccan singer even came to thank me for my energy. She said she was feeding off my buzz! If you need a star audience, call me!! Wonderful night.

Soul Funk Music