Christmas Market near the Cathedral

These little guys are called 'Tiós´, much like the piñatas in Mexico, which the children hit with a stick, the Catalan children hit their ´tiós´ with a stick and immediately go hide. The point is to get the ´tiós´ to SHIT sweets... (side note, the Catalans often associate themselves with the act of excretion and Christmas together. There is another dude who sits by the nativity scene and does his business, topped with the popular red hat old Catalan men wear). Once they return, the ´tiós´ have been covered under a blanket, and if the children have been good during the year, all sorts of Christmas sweets will have been ´shitted´ by the tió and can be found under the blanket, such as turróns and polvoróns, if they have been naughty, instead of sweets, they will find coal under the blanket....coal?? after all that big talk about sh*ting?

Every year, the Christmas market around the Cathedral draws tourists and locals alike to the center to celebrate the month-long chaos before the holidays. Today, we joined the crowd and fought our way around on a cold, but sunny afternoon. As dreadful as the crying babies in strollers, pickpocket experts at their busiest season, and the kitchy ornaments may be, as soon as we enter the vicinity, the smell of the Christmas pines and that special crisp in the sunny afternoon air so characteristic of the winter always cheer me up.

It seems like the stalls sell the same crap year after year and the same 'hot' spots get hit by different herds of tourists day after day. As we strolled around the old town today, a renewed sense of wonderment came over me. Yes, it has been the same old cathedral for a few centuries already, but its 'face-lift' project has led to the façade to be covered with plastic, contrasting the pointed roofs in the back which still implied its old grandeur and splendor. And this afternoon´s sun had casted a special light over the entire entrance, along with the bustling market. Although probably not what we had imagined to be ´picture perfect´ to have the great cathedral covered in pastic, it is nevertheless, a process which calls for embracing, like a bump in the road which we call life. While Nabí was too shy and embarrassed to be taking any pictures, for the fear that he may be misconstrued as a tourist, I was clicking away left and right. By doing so and ´feeling´ like a tourist, I, once again, rediscovered a city which has now grown familiar and tiresome to me.

Then it dawned on me, what I´ve been searching for all along: the delicate equilibrium between keeping traditions and discovering a renewed sense of awe in familiarity. The traditions don´t change, we do. Isn´t it the foundation which to keep us grounded since invariably, we change year after year? Our experiences bring a new sense to the tradition. The Christmas carols stay the same, at first, we sing them as children, years later, we sing them TO our children, then to our grandchildren. The same melody, but a whole different story behind every year and every generation. The beauty of it is, that we don´t even have to strive to change, it happens whether we like it or not, our constant change is the only constancy in life.

A fruitful and meditative walk, indeed. I thank the noisy children and the pushy parents, the innocent tourists and the haughty towners, for contributing to a virtual mosaic in my memory, not much unlike the stainglass window on the Cathedral.


Capella de Santa Àgata, where I hope to play a solo concert next Spring


advertisement of an exhibition by Santa Àgata


sunny street


grouchy Nabí outside the bakery


´the scene´ at Plaça St. Jaume


bustling Plaça St. Jaume


piano waiting for confession


2 cutties outside the store with products by local nuns neary Sta. Maria del Pi


farmer´s market at Plaça del Pi