El entierro de la sardina (The Burial of the sardine)

I saw carnival processions before, but I never saw the El entierro de la sardina (The Burial of the sardine) up till yesterday. I looked it up and apparently other ceremonies like this - burning of an effigy, accompanied by a procession/ritual - exist in Spanish tradition in various places. The burning symbolizes cleansing, passing of old and new beginnings. In this case, it marks the end of the carnival. In "normal" circumstances, burial falls on Ash Wednesday, but, it being Fuerteventura, it's not really linked to anything, and feels like a way to end the carnival with a proper bang.

I didn't take any pictures, because it was dark and crowded, but below are some videos of the event. It all happened on the small main town beach in Corralejo.

First, we could hear the sound of samba drums and a small torch-bearing procession of people dressed in black appeared. They were carrying the large figure of sardine with them. It was placed on a podium. If you look to the right of the sardine in the second half of the video, you could see some people dressed as priests, and just about see a crucifix in someone's hand. The whole thing is meant to look like a funeral; priests and lamenting women ("adios! adioooos!"), the works.

New Year fireworks in Corralejo

We all like fireworks, and there were some planned, so we debated for a while were to go for New Year midnight, and eventually decided to go to the tip of the pier in Corralejo. I was hoping to get some nice "across the water" shots. We took the essentials - grapes (Timur hated them and Yuri loved them), tripod and cameras.

The position we choose was probably the best one - we could see all Corralejo fireworks, plus Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen displays on Lanzarote - but I must say that it was not really impressive. I don't know what is the reason - lack of money seems like the most likely one though - but the only place that put up a longish display was RIU hotels, far way away from where we were. I got just a handful of good shots, one above being my favourite. It it was nice low-key New year though, something different for a change.

Now I am seriously considering going to Madeira for next year. Their fireworks is something else altogether. We saw them once and I didn't take any pics, but if I ever going to be there again, I will :)

Happy New Year :)

sparkler games

 Today we finally found sparklers for sale in Corralejo. Not that we were looking very hard before, of course, but there weren't any in first two likely-looking shops we asked. Third time, in a basement "shopping center" off the main street, they have some - short and thin ones, unfortunately, so they don't burn for very long, but it's a start.

Madeira fireworks

it's just a cover picture, not really taken in Funchal.

I want to write something about amazing NY fireworks which we saw three years ago. I didn't write anything back then, want to fill the gap now.

We did know that NY fireworks were going to be spectacular, and we also heard that the best way to enjoy them is from the water - booking a ticket with one of the tourist boats. But by the time we arrived, most of the larger boats were fully booked, and the ones that were still available failed to impress. So we made plan B - to go down to the harbor in the evening and stay there till midnight. And then _somehow_ get back to the place where we lived - self-catering cottage inside a large quinta (estate), far-ish from the harbor and, more importantly, long way up from it.

Luckily for us, the quinta owner turned up on the 31st and invited us to watch fireworks from the grounds of his house. I think he invited pretty much everybody who stayed on the estate, and about fifteen people turned up.

In the evening I tried to get kids to have a little sleep. Didn't work really, for two reasons: a. it seems that locals had private supplies of fireworks comparable in volume to official ones, which they were exploding with increasing frequency as the midnight approached, and b. the place was full of extremely nervous and loud dogs. Deafening combination.

So. I don't know what it looks like from the boat, but I think we got a better deal. From the terrace we could see all of Funchal, illuminated and decorated. We could see the cruise ships that came there and formed a big semicircle in front of the harbor - illuminated and decorated, or course. We could see most if not all the firing points for Funchal, and we could see a big burning year sign quite clear - so clear in fact that Yuri was worried that it will start a forest fire. Fireworks were incredible. They only last about 15 minutes, but there was never a pause and they keep changing and they are color-coordinated, etc, etc.

For other photo maniacs out there - tripod and remote release essential, and set your camera beforehand. Don't try to zoom in and out and search for blasts with hand-held camera, you will not enjoy the show and won't get many good pics either, there is no time.

And my personal recommendation is _not_ to book a ticket on a boat. We were simply lucky, granted, but I think if you do some homework you can find a place which is well up from the water and has unobstructed view towards the town.

fireworks at shutterstock