Yesterday was a holiday here in Alicante – el Día de Santa Faz. It's a huge Alicantino tradition to wake up early, meet at the Catedral (San Nicolas), and walk about 8km (about 5 miles) to the Church of Santa Faz.
There is a point around halfway where a group sets up a table and serves shots of very sweet wine and a few cookies to everyone. The catch is, you have to wait in "line", and by "line" I mean huge cluster of crazy old ladies who will elbow you in the face to get their cookies and shots. It got a little bit nuts.
It's said that the church has one of the cloths Mary gave to Jesus with which to wipe his face as he was carrying the cross. Many people walk barefoot, to ask God to grant them some favor, but most just walk to enjoy the day off. You can bring a sandwich or buy food at one of the many food vendors at Santa Faz. Also, many teens will steal grocery carts and load them up with their bags and alcohol...pretty funny. It was a very fun day – but also exhausting.
(That last photo is my Madre Ileana's old house!)
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