Big heads

Sunday, shortly after noon, De Anne came back to the apartment very excited. She had passed the warehouse/museum where the big heads are kept and discovered the Sunday afternoon admission was free until 2:00pm. We gulped down a quick lunch and set out.

You have seen a few of these in a previous post, but some are used in a September festival, and were new to me. Most of these were made in the 1800's and used yearly since then. The festival of Sant Magi dates back to 1071, but did not really get going annually until 1356. 

Notice the attachments at the mouth for fireworks on the bull and dragon. That is a pigeon in the gold bird's mouth; however, watching a video in the museum we saw that less appropriate items can be substituted for the pigeon. 

The creepiest one.

Jesters or clowns carry these with big sparklers attached to the top.

We went out for tapas last night, almost a requirement for a visit to Spain. Finally, a real tapas bar! No English menus. I played it safe with a plate of fries, then went wild with a mussel dish and a meat dish that I had no clue what they consisted of. I went back to slightly safe with a mushroom dish that listed ajo (garlic) as part of the description. Very proud of my adventurous palate I asked De Anne what she wanted. After repeated requests from her to go to a tapas bar she ordered a salad! She did try a bite of the sausage and the mushrooms, thus fulfilling the letter of the tapas law if not the spirit.

I had already started to dig in before De Anne reminded me to get a picture. Every item was great!

We are studying our Rome guide book. Friday we board a ferry from Barcelona to Civitvacchia, Italy - then a train to the Eternal City for a one week whirlwind tour.