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Semana Santa is a tradition which is repeated year after year; a time when the devout and curious join together to participate in the procession and converge on the streets and squares which take on the ambience and mystique of an open air temple.

The "costaleros" who carry the weight of the floats and their sculptured representations of the biblical scene are directed by the overseer or head of the group who ensure that the float is carried with maximum seriousness, grace and tradition.

The high point of the procession is when the float exits and enters the respective church. This is the moment when art and religion seem merged into one.

The Gold Museum, part of the Bank of the Republic of Colombia, preserves and protects this fabulous cultural legacy. The most important museum of its kind anywhere, Museo del Oro showcases the work of ancient peoples who believed gold is the materialization of the life-giving energy from Father Sun.

The Museo del Oro in SantaFé de Bogotá, Colombia, offers a splendid presentation of more than 33,000 items of gold and emeralds and other precious materials crafted in pre-Hispanic times.

Not only is it one of the city's most beautiful locales, but it is also considered among the most beautiful plazas in all of Spain.

Much of the daily and night life of Salamanca takes place in the Plaza Mayor.

Small boutiques and trinket shops line the inside of the Plaza and continue out onto the streets directly outside the walls.

Las Fallas is undoubtedly one of the most unique and crazy festivals in Spain (a country known for unique and crazy festivals). What started as a feast day for St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, has evolved into a 5-day, multifaceted celebration of fire.

Las Fallas literally means "the fires" in Valencian. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of ninots--huge cardboard, wood and plaster statues--that are placed at over 350 key intersections and parks around the city today. The ninots are extremely lifelike and usually depict bawdy, satirical scenes and current events (lampooning corrupt politicians and Spanish celebrities is particularly popular). They are crafted by neighborhood organizations and take about six months to construct (and often cost upwards of US$75,000). Many ninots are several stories tall and need to be moved into position with cranes.

Starting in the early evening, young men with axes chop holes in the statues and stuff them with fireworks. The crowds start to chant, the streetlights are turned off, and all of the ninots are set on fire at exactly the stroke of midnight. Over the years, the local firemen, called "bomberos," have devised unique ways to protect the town's buildings from torching along with the ninots, such as by neatly covering storefronts with fireproof tarps. And each year, one of the ninots is spared from destruction by popular vote and exhibited in the local Museum of the Ninot along with the other favorites from years past.

But its notoriety comes from the locals' habit of wearing the produce as well as tasting it: every year, Buñol hosts La Tomatina, the world's largest vegetable fight.

this charming town erupts into a fiery blaze of tomato-hurling on the last Wednesday of every August

The "batalla" takes place during a week-long celebration filled with on-going festivities and with even greater anticipation for the monstrous tomato battle that serves

The festival in honour of San Fermín celebrated in Pamplona

And all of this packed into one long week starting with a bang at midday on the sixth of July and ending with the nostalgia tinged with expectation at midnight on the fourteenth.

The San Fermines have always been a special festival but when Pamplona was still a small unknown city -provincial and clerical- the San Fermines found their most fervent supporter in the American writer Hemingway.

The Kuna women of Panamá are known for their colorful and intricately sewn mola blouses.  The mola panels of the blouses are hand sewn using several layers of colored fabric.  More about molas . . .

The Antón Martín market is in the heart of Madrid, with access from Santa Isabel street and Duque de Fernán Núñez, and the Doré passage, where the National Film Library is located, which used to house the old cinema Doré. The market was built in 1941 and it has a surface area of some 4,500 square metres, including some 70 stalls, of which 17 are fruit shops, 10 meat markets, 9 fishmongers, 7 sell chickens and the remainder other food produce, products and services. Another market that deserves a visit is the Chamberí, located in the neighbourhood of Madrid of the same name, in a residential area serving the centre of the city. It was inaugurated in 1943, and has a surface area of some 2,500 metres.

While Valencia is clued up to new technologies, the Boqueria, the emblematic market situated in the Ramblas of Barcelona, has developed a novelty for the tourist and sells for the reasonable price of 5 euros, fruit peeled and ready to eat, or stupendous milkshakes whose fruit content is chosen by the client and freshly crushed on the spot.

The Parque del Buen Retiro is the most popular park in Madrid. It can get crowded during weekends when many Madrilenian families go for a stroll in the park and street musicians, sidewalk painters, fortune tellers, jugglers and street performers animate the crowd.

The Retiro Park was created as a royal park; it belonged to the Real Sitio del Buen Retiro palace. In 1632, the palace was built by King Philips IV as a retreat for the Royal family.

Of the original palace, only two buildings survived, the rest was destroyed during the Napoleonic wars.

The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day

Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday

The Quinceanera tradition celebrates the young girl(la Quinceanera), and recognizes her journey from childhood to maturity.The customs highlight God, family, friends, music, food, and dance.

The Quinceanera celebration traditionally begins with a religious ceremony. A Reception is held in the home or a banquet hall. The festivities include food and music, and in most, a choreographed waltz or dance performed by the Quinceanera and her Court.

It is traditional for the Quinceanera to choose special friends to participate in what is called the Court of Honor.