La Virgen de los Llanos

My day started with the bike ride I told you all about...only I had to leave early because I needed to be back here by 12ish to help Angelines with preparations for the paella and porra. So after boiling nine eggs, chopping peppers, onions, garlic, tomato (probably at least two pounds) and chicken breast, it was off to the pub for set up. I'll cut to the chase and tell you all that the picture below is the only one I have of the FANTASTIC paella we made. It looks good, doesn't it? Well it tasted even better, but unfortunately for my taste buds, and fortunately for out checking account, I was too busy serving people to properly enjoy it myself.

Opening at midday with food was a success. Antonio and Jesus made the paella--every time they do it, it gets better--and there were nothing but compliments for my porra. In the end, there wasn't a grain of rice left and we only had to dispose of half a plate of porra. It wasn't a huge money maker since beers are cheap and we were charging 2 euros a plate; but we covered the cost of the food many times over and everyone had a good time. By 9pm we were closed and out enjoying the festivities ourselves. :)

However, I didn't stay out long at all. My legs were so sore from standing all that time at the bar and after having gone for a bike ride in the morning, it was all I could do to watch the procession for about 20min and then collapse into a chair at el Leiva and eat dinner. I was 100% worn out.

Under normal circumstances I might have made an effort and endured a bit more of the fun, but today I am going to Granada in the afternoon. There's an English teachers' conference and I'm going to be a speaker! (I'll tell you more about it when I get home on Saturday). I definitely wanted to be well rested so I was home and in bed by 12:30. Although I didn't actually get to sleep until past 1:00 because they began shooting off fireworks. :) I had a great view from my little second story piso and so this was the first time I've EVER gotten really good pictures of fireworks. Enjoy!