The beauty of “shiny object travel” is that you happen upon a lot of random things you would never find in a guide book. While walking around Barcelona, I saw groups of people who were similarly dressed, all heading to a park.
So I followed them. Not in a creepy stalker way, more like a 
“What’s all this then?” way.
I had chanced upon a long running Catalan cultural event – Castells. Like other uniquely Spanish activities (see Running of the Bulls and La Tomatina), it’s a unique, crazy and totally random pursuit.
The premise is pretty simple – groups of people get together and train to build human towers of various heights and configurations. In practice, though, they are incredibly well choreographed and experienced so they know exactly when to ascend and what their positions are.
On this afternoon, there were 3 groups from different communities around the area. Each took turns creating their towers, with four rounds per group for a total of 12 towers – all with a unique configuration and varying levels of difficulty.
Step One: The Wrap. All participants are wrapped with a long sheet of fabric. This serves a few purposes – as with a weight lifters belt, it stabilizes the person’s spine for the load they’re about to carry. It also provides creases and foot holds for the people climbing to higher levels.
The wrap is extremely tight for those who are in the middle sections of the tower. This woman put her full weight into ensuring her friend was snug in his rug.
Step Two: The Foundation. The bulk of the members of the team (and the bulkiest members of the team) all group together, pressing hard against each other, raising and clasping fists. In this, there is no competition between teams as others join in to ensure the base is as stable as it can be (hence the mix of green, brown and purple shirts at the bottom level). The team creates its own foundation, then other groups fill in around the outside to keep the pressure on.
Then, the climbing begins. Each group has its own little band of pipers that plays musical accompaniment as the tower gets taller, finishing with a fanfare at the completion.
Step Three: The Ascension. One level at a time, the tower is built – each person knows their position, their role and is acutely aware of the people above and below who depend on them. As you might expect, the people get smaller as the levels get taller.
The participants on the lower levels clench the collars of their shirts in their mouths to prevent any of the climbers from getting caught up on their way to the top.
Step Four: The Crown. Finally, the tower is completed when small children (average age of 7 – 10) climb to the very top, stand on the shoulders of the person below, then wave their arm in the air to signal the successful completion. Some groups get as high as 9 levels, though on this day they topped out at 7.
A successful tower is followed by a quick descent, with kids sliding down as though they’re sliding down a fireman’s pole. The children wear protective helmets in case of any mishaps. There were none I saw, nothing even close. I was told that it’s been many years since there were any injuries of any significance.
Finally, a short video of the final stages of one of the towers I saw built so you can see it in action:
Have you seen any interesting and unexpected activities during your travels?
Wow, that’s very cool! Isn’t it great when you happen upon something randomly like this?
My best experience was when I visited the Notre Dame in Paris – you know what it’s like in there, all hushed and reverent – and then this girl started singing Ave Maria in the purest, clearest voice I’d ever heard. Was extremely moving! I had goosebumps all over.
Sunee´s last [type] ..No Road Rage in the Cape Peninsula
Very cool – while walking around in Bath today, I had a similar experience. Young women busking in the rain – but instead of some lame stunt, they break out in operatic songs. Pretty cool, actually.
If it weren’t raining, I’d have stopped to listen for a bit.
That pretty much sums up one of the best things about travelling, randomly running into the unexpected and wonderful!
I had something similar happen this week, I got to Bratislava to find out I’d arrived in time for their yearly coronation festivities. I’m not sure when my most interesting and unexpected was though, I’ve already had so many odd / great things happen this trip that I’d be hard pressed to choose a favourite.
Vagabond Roots´s last [type] ..Bratislava- Slovakia
It’s great to stumble on stuff along the way. I find summer is especially interesting with all the little festivals, but it’s hard to beat a coronation fest!
I love it when you just stumble upon things randomly. When we were at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing we came across a massive group of strangers all singing songs and another group dancing, in fact the more we walked round the park the more groups we saw.
On our first night in Hangzhou we cam across around 100 – 150 people all doing the exact same dance, one would start it and then others would just follow… totally mesmorising
Kirsty´s last [type] ..Jinshanling – The Great Wall Of China
Did you stumble into a Philippines prison? That sounds like those choreographed Michael Jackson dances that the prisoners always see to be doing!
This is AWESOME!
How fun! I’d love to see something like that in person. That’s impressive.
Gray´s last [type] ..Ten Things To Do In Montreal
It was definitely fun – and a much bigger deal than I would have expected. They actually had tables with team merchandise set up.
You did this too! So jealous.
ayngelina´s last [type] ..Is there room for both Che and Scooby
I can only imagine the bigger events when they add two more layers! Seven layers looked incredible enough – nine is tough to fathom.
How amazing! It was definitely worth following those guys! I would be quite terrified climbing to the top of all those people… the way everyone is sort of swaying and trembling with the weight. Eeek!
When I was having a leisurely breakfast in a cafe in Krakow all of sudden thousands of nuns and people dressed in military outfits where parading around the square carrying effigies of saints. It turns out it was Corpus Christi Day and we had prime viewing postions completely by accident.
Verity´s last [type] ..Friday five &8211 best things to do in Singapore
Very cool – it’s funny how being oblivious to foreign holidays adds to the spark of fun of travel. I’m finding that part of the difference of RTW travel vs. planned travel is that you don’t always know what to expect. I definitely enjoy that aspect of it.
Wow,I adore MJ! He was the best to ever do it! We will never have someone like Michael Jackson! Rest in Peace to the KING!