Pota Blava

I don't care for birds. Whether it be a dirty pigeon or a colorful peacock, they are all the same to me: creepy! When I was told in early December that El Prat's biggest annual fair was coming, I was interested to hear about it. But when they told me it was a chicken fair, I got goosebumps all over.

In El Prat exist a very rare breed of chicken called pota blava, or pata azul in Castellano; basically, they have blue feet. I don't know where they came from and I don't really care to know but everyone here gets all excited for the feria de gallos. Weeks before the fair, signs promoting the event are posted on lightposts and in business areas. On the main streets, you'll find chicken statues painted by various local artists...very similar to the cow parade in Chicago.

The feria was held in an open parking lot a couple of blocks away from my house. Like all major European cities, parking space is very very limited, so you can just imagine the parking situation when the feria took over for a week and a half. The actual feria was only a weekend long, but the setup and de-setup took longer.

On the weekend of the fair (December 11 - 13th), I tried my best to stay away from it. But in the end I felt bad saying no to Francisco's mom and his aunt, who was visiting from Asturias. They assured me there would be other things there like horses and donkeys, which I didn't mind seeing. And they also promised to protect me from the gallinas, or hens, (ha!), and that we would get churros (how could i say no to churros).

Once we entered the chicken tent, I was in my own personal nightmare. First it smelled like ass. It was very reminiscent of the smell when you walk pass the horse carriages near Water Tower, but worse because the smell is all concentrated in an enclosed space. And then there was the noise. Oh that horrible noise: all the chickens cacawing and whatnot. The place was literally full of chickens placed on high platforms. There were hundreds of them just chilling in their cages. I wanted to die. As we circled the tent (which felt like forever), I looked down on the floor the whole time to avoid seeing these nasty (yet delicious!) creatures. I breathed a sigh of relief - and fresh air - as soon as we exited.

We went into other tents and I was happy to know that there were other interesting things at the fair. One tent was dedicated specifically to businesses in El Prat. Various negocios had their own booth to promote their products. Of course, in the middle of this tent is the always present Spanish bar where people stopped for coffee, drinks, and tapas.

Outside, there were fun stuff for kids like games and mini shows. There were also booths selling artesan food like ham and olives. But my favorite were the various churrerias. Francisco's mom bought a large order of churros. I thought we would all share it but apparently it was just for me. I almost fell into a diabetic coma.

So in the end the feria was fun. I'll probably go back to it next year. I'll just have to avoid the chicken tent.