We headed out fairly early toward the Square. The weather was a little drizzly, but not bad. It wasn't even worth an umbrella, except for a couple minutes here and there.
The streets were closed to traffic for several blocks, kind of felt like a Sunday, and we were able to walk in the streets and enjoy the peace and quiet. We admired the flowers and all the Green! along the way, no snow on our Christmas Eve!
It's a tradition for us to see the big parade each year from Parque Calderon. We stopped and had a cup of coffee on the way. It was fun to see all the children in their holiday outfits passing by...
The Parade hit the Square about 11am, so we wandered over to check it out.
Holy Moly! The crowd was HUGE! We think it was bigger than past years. Thousands of folks were expected to come into Cuenca for the parade, and that sounds about right! It was crazy, noisy, crowded, almost overwhelming and we loved it all! But, what a madhouse.
It was hard for us to get good pictures. We didn't feel comfortable jumping into the parade (as some photographers did)...why hold up a parade (or get run over) for that perfect shot? But we're not professional photographers, and truly, we were there to enjoy the parade, not disrupt it.
We stood there behind a wall of folks for awhile, (which was ok, as we're taller than most and we could still see). Then, we walked a bit against the parade route on Bolívar, on the shady side of the street. The sun was out and it was a bit intense to stand or walk in. The sidewalks were jammed with folks, so it was slow-going for us to move. And, we were stopping every few steps to watch the parade, too.
We thought some of the other walkers and spectators were just as interesting as the parade. participants.
We love this Parade! We watched the fun for a few hours, then headed on for lunch and walked on home.
We had a great day!
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For more pics of the Parade, you can check out other blogs, or go back in ours for previous years. It's a must-do if you're ever in Cuenca on Christmas Eve! The Square is a great place to see it, but anywhere on the parade route is just as good (or try to score a place on someone's balcony!)
You can also catch a Christmas parade around town after Christmas. There are smaller parades almost daily, up until Carnival time. So fun!
More pics in part 2.
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