Text & Photographs: Claire Lessiau & Marcella van Alphen

At last, after another long day of riding I have eventually arrived at my final destination. I am entering Barcelona on the Carrer de la Flor de la Lliri (or street of the lily), the main road from the kingdom of France to the capital of Catalonia. It is mayhem in the noisy streets. Drunk sailors just off the ship seem to enjoy themselves very much as they are following the statues at street corners leading to brothels. In a narrow side street, one of them has just inadvertently avoided a bucket of excrements been thrown out of a window. The offending smell merges with other filthy smells that are just an insult to my nostrils. The sailor stops in front of a red door where the street number is slightly bigger than others, signalling the location of the house of joy. The chaos in the street suddenly seems to organise itself as the crowd is pushing towards an intersection. I inquire about the reason for the excitement: “It’s the shame parade of a few thieves who are humiliated on their way to jail. We are going to have some fun!”