Bury a sardine for Lent: A tradition across Spain

by Jamie Rhein on

Before today, I knew of only one other celebration centered on a fish. During the Walleye Drop on New Year’s Eve in Port Clinton, Ohio, townsfolk drop a walleye. Not a real walleye–one made out of some sort of fiberglass material. Here’s another case of fish frivolity. This Mad Culture video depicts the Burial of the Sardine in Madrid. The celebration, attended by folks of all ages, is connected to the end of Mardi Gras. The mood is fun and festive complete with people dressed in costumes, some carrying images of sardines.


Burial Of The Sardine Madrid from Phillip Stark, Ben Dornan, Justin Metz, and Karina Stenquist of RedHill Media (a new production house in Madrid, Spain specializing in travel videos) on Vimeo.

The sardine burying tradition, according to what I found out here, came about in 19th century when some students in Madrid wanted to recreate a pagan holiday connected to the allegorical characters Don Carnal and Doña Cuaresma. The symbolism has something to do with carnal pleasures over moderation. The festival has since spread throughout Spain, and does indeed involve burying a sardine. The video explains it all.

Gadling Take FIVE- Week of Feb. 28–March 5

by Jamie Rhein on

Yes, yes, yes. It’s 70 degrees where I’m sitting. People have seemed to be feeling chipper in Columbus everywhere I’ve gone today. I’m ready to head outside again, but before I do, here are some Gadling gems that you might have missed.

  • Brenda’s post Eddie Aikau and the Hokule’a voyage gives the back story to the term “Eddie Would Go” and news of the upcoming ’round the world voyage of the sailing vessel Hokule’a to commemorate Eddie Aikau, one of Hawaii’s beloved heroes.
  • Kraig’s post Touring the Taj gives a recommendation on seeing this national treasure of India. Go twice. I’ve been to the Taj Mahal once and it wasn’t enough.
  • In his post Into Zapatista territory: Exploring the Mexican state of Chiapas, Aaron presents a lush region of the country that offers adventure and natural wonder big time.
  • For those of us who didn’t make it to Mardi Gras, or those who did, check out Jeremy’s post Life Imitates Art at Mardi Gras. The photos are wonderful.
  • Tom, who really is a nice guy–really–wrote a humorous piece 7 Steps for Surviving a Destination Wedding. One thing he says that I definitely agree with is to take time out from the wedding crowd to do what you want. Any town can have an interesting aspect that might surprise you.

Hope that wherever you are, even if at a destination wedding, the weekend brings you all good things.

Life imitates art at Mardi Gras

by Jeremy Kressmann on

We’ve been taking a look recently at some of the fun that went down this past week in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and many of our fellow travel bloggers have been doing the same. National Geographic’s Janelle Nanos found herself in New Orleans for the festivities, and in the midst of all the good times stumbled upon some partiers who just might be her magazine’s biggest fans.

As Janelle tells it on her personal blog, she was enjoying the parade when she came upon Danielle King, a fellow reveler who had chosen to dress up as an “Irrational Geographic” photographer in honor of Mardi Gras. How does one accomplish such a costume? Danielle and friend had dressed themselves up in full expedition gear, complete with pith helmets, exploration vests and SLR cameras and were making their way through the crowd, snapping pictures of the local “menagerie” using National Geographic’s iconic yellow framed border as a photo prop.

Not only is Danielle’s idea quite clever, she also took some amazing portraits. They are at once warm and friendly, filled with the vibrant colors and fun energy you would expect from a Mardi Gras celebration. I think this guy is perhaps my favorite. Make sure to click on the gallery above to play the full slideshow of all the local “party animals” as framed by the famous National Geographic cover. And head over to Janelle’s blog and Intelligent Travel for the full story.

Val Kilmer, “King” of Mardi Gras?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

It’s Mardi Gras this week, and New Orleans has been living it up in honor of one the city’s most famous holidays. It’s not just Louisiana residents that are getting in on the action however. As Videogum reports, none other than Val “Iceman” Kilmer was on hand to help celebrate, decked out in a white skin-tight leotard and full Mardi Gras “king” regalia.

Mr. Kilmer apparently claimed the ceremonial honor of Bacchus in the city’s annual Bacchus Parade. C’mon guys, let’s not give Val a hard time. He was doing it for a good cause – Mr. Kilmer did stop by a local hospital to visit with sick children. An all-around good guy and quite a Mardi Gras king, don’t you think??

[Via Buzzfeed]

Click the images to learn about the most unusual museums in the world — from funeral customs, to penises, to velvet paintings, to stripping.

As Mardi Gras picks up, so do arrests in New Orleans

by Jeffrey White on

Here’s a fun fact: Nearly 400 people were arrested in New Orleans this past weekend, forced to chill out at central lockup after being charged with public drunkenness, lewd contact, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace and a variety of other misdemeanors that are probably par for the course during Mardi Gras time.

New Orleans Times-Picayune spent the weekend looking at mug shots. Sadly, the paper does not publish them. However it does report that 300 people were arrested just in the period from 12:01 a.m. Friday to 4 p.m. Saturday (so, like half the weekend).

A husband-wife team were thrown in the clink for having sex in public; various women were hauled in for prostituting themselves; a 48-year-old man was charged with “refusing to go to sleep or leave for home,” at 4 a.m. Saturday. One motorist was charged with “driving on curbs.” Lewd contact, of course, can refer to a lot of flashing for beads, but it usually refers to the act of relieving oneself on a city wall.

So, it’s a busy time at the city jail, and we’re still a day away from the festival’s climax.