Human Towers

Barcelona is famous for its Castellers, or Human Towers.  They have a website with a list of their performances.  There are numerous teams, so on any weekend, three might be performing in one park, while three others may be across town in another park. 

There were two performances at noon on Sunday, September 15th, including one at Poblenou Park, just four Metro stops away from our stop.  So we headed there, not quite sure what to expect.

We, like others, went to the wrong part of the park first (there are many, many trees, and it is much bigger than we thought when we first got there.  At noon, we decided to leave where we were and walk around.  Just then we heard some cheering and music, so we knew which direction to go.

We came upon the groups in a clearing surrounded by trees.  We clearly had found the place, as there were red teams and blue teams.  

They did single towers to start, as

a warm-up, I suppose

The columns of four are quite cool.

Little kids were the toppers,

and they scrambled up like

Peter Parker.

We grabbed chairs, sat down under the trees, and watched as the teams milled about.  There seemed to be mass confusion, until suddenly they all built single towers.  There was music from teammates playing trumpets, recorders, and drums.  

That was neat, but I was hoping for the four column tower.  And that came next, after the smoking and talking break (not everyone smoked, but more did than I would have expected!).  

First the red team went up.  It's very cool to see -- and there were less than five hundred people to watch!  Next Sunday they are doing it in the heart of Barcelona during a massive festival, so the place should be packed!  I will definitely go see it Sunday (if we can get close enough).

I'm not sure what the coolest part is:

• Watching them form up the base?  
• Watching the next tiers scramble up the backs and shoulders of the base?  
• Watching additional people provide support to the base?  
• Watching the kids scramble to the top, looking like young Alex Honnolds?  
• The burst of applause from the audience when success is reached?  
• The choreographed movement down?

Actually, the last moves might be the coolest part of it all, just because what goes up, must come down, but in a seemingly synchronized fashion.

We headed back to the Metro through the neighborhood, pretty darn happy to have gone.  As we left, we walked past kids in the colored shirts with their parents, sitting on blankets playing games.  It was like a swim meet -- lots of sitting around for a few minutes of action!

There's a pretty good chance Carol and I were the only tourists there.  And that's kind of neat.