As
part of the Cherry Blossom Fiesta amongst the many activities offered was one
that raised my curiosity: they enacted a typical Extremaduran wedding in the
village of El Torno. Even though it was raining all day there were still many
tourists around to see the event and we joined the crowd to be part of the
event.
El
Torno is a little village in the Jerte Valley nestled on the side of a hill at 900m.
It has the advantage of offering incredible views over the whole valley and it
was surrounded by the white flowers of the blooming cherries. AND it has a stork
nest right on top of its Town Hall. Now that’s something to boast about!
We
walked through the market and browsed through the local products.
Then
we went to the main square where in a huge tent we tried three different types
of the typical wedding pastries. The smiling ladies who served us were wearing
traditional outfits. They got all excited when they realised that we are
foreigners. The cakey things they pushed into our hands were the bañuelo, the Rosa de San Miguel (the one with the weird shape) and a piece of
sponge cake. We also got a cup of coffee to wash them all down with. Sweet!
Meanwhile
out on the street the ‘happy couple’ and their parents were having a great
party walking around the village and stopping at every square to give a good
old traditional boogie. The music was provided by a small brass band.
The
whole entourage ended up in the tent. From here on it was complete chaos in true
Spanish style. Everybody was shouting, people were dancing and laughing. The
audience ushered the whole wedding bunch up on the stage, the poor band was
commanded to play without stopping and the ‘happy couple’ had to dance until
they couldn’t move. From time to time the crowd loudly demanded a kiss from the
participants and cheered happily when it finally happened.
We
watched all this from the side and found it extremely entertaining! Here’s a
little video of the dance.
Up
until now they were dancing around with the wedding cake with some flowers in
the middle. Suddenly somebody on the stage turned around and threw the whole
thing into the crowd! No, not only the flowers, the cake as well! It ended up
on the floor but was swiftly picked up (well within the limits of the ‘3 second
rule’) and everybody got a piece of it pushed into their hands. This is how we
ended up trying it, too.
What an experience!
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