Purple People Eaters

I don't know what we were thinking. I take that back. I know precisely what we were thinking. We were thinking of churros y chocolate. What we were forgetting was that there are 2 million people in Sevilla this week. And 61 processions — some with thousands of participants — filling the streets 24 hours a day. Given the relative calm of our own plaza, we were lulled into a false sense of serenity.

GIVE ME MY CHURROS Y CHOCOLATE. I'LL REPENT LATER.

We decided to go out for a healthy walk in the evening, to culminate in an unhealthy dose of churros and hot chocolate. As we began to near Calle Reyes de Los Catolicos, the street that leads to Valor, the café with exceptional churros and chocolate (and also to our old churros stand), the streets grew more crowded. We reached our turn only to find ourselves stuck in the middle of another procession. Except for the corps of Roman soldiers and the thousands of purple-clad penitents, this was nothing new. We've seen two processions walk right by our house. No need to linger long on the float that had just passed bearing Jesus or the one near the end with Mary. Just give us our churros and chocolate.

THE CROWD COULD HAVE EASILY OVERWHELMED THE ROMAN SOLDIERS.

We couldn't turn left to get to Valor; that would carry us in the same direction as the procession and the thousands of onlookers. So we turned right, fighting the tide, to reach the churros stand by the river. By the time we got there, the procession had passed and we made it to the crowded counter to place our order. We stood at a tall table and enjoyed our well-earned treat as the skies again threatened rain.

WE FELT LIKE A COUPLE OF SALMON TRYING TO SWIM UPSTREAM.

Afterward, we got off the main thoroughfare as quickly as we could and we wound our way home through the backstreets, sheltering under an awning during a brief downpour. Ten minutes later we were relieved to lock our door to the outside world — especially to the Roman soldiers and Purple Penitents.