When I was in Washington DC I discovered a beautiful little monastery hiding in the Brookland neighbourhood. The secrets of the interior are the subject of my post Catacombs and Old Byzantium I, but the grounds of this beautiful monastery were equally captivating. It was ablaze with colour, flowers bursting out everywhere, and graceful arches surrounding the carefully manicured gardens.
As I wandered along the winding pathways and covered arches, I noticed girls in brightly coloured dresses wafting across the lawns. The first group I saw looked for all the world like a wedding party.
However, as more and more groups appeared in their dazzling finery, I began to suspect there was something different going on. After a few conversations, I discovered that I was witnessing the centuries-old Latin American tradition of Quinceañera, a coming-of-age celebration, sometimes referred to as Sweet 15. Resembling a cross between the casual Sweet 16 and the more formal Debutantes’ Ball; the celebration usually includes a religious ceremony, a dance and a feast. The grounds of the monastery provided the perfect setting for each Quinceañera and her court to have their photographs taken.
Tradition is an integral part of any culture. The word comes from the Latin traditio, and means to transmit or hand over for safekeeping. It is something handed down from generation to generation, and can be a ritual, a holiday, socially meaningful clothes, even an object. Traditions can be widespread throughout a country or specific to just one family, and I thought it might make a fascinating travel theme.
What is your interpretation of tradition? If you’d like to join in, create your own post, title it “Travel theme: tradition” and put a link to this page in your blog post to make it easy for others to find your post. Don’t forget to check back in next Friday for a new travel theme.
What does tradition mean to you?
xxx Ailsa
Where's my backpack? 
I’ve never seen this monastery in Washington and I’ve lived there for over 20 years!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing…
Ooh Cathy, wait until I post about what’s inside (and underneath) the monastery, then you’ll have to visit for sure. Working on the post now!
Great, can’t wait to read it. I’ll have to go visit it when I’m home in 13 DAYS!!!!
Right, I promise you I’ll get it posted before that! 😉
Wonderful!
Even though this recycles an old post, here is a tradition that we still try to keep up: http://windagainstcurrent.com/2011/12/27/christmas-tree-light-the-old-fashioned-way/
It’s never too early, or too late, in the year to think about Christmas!
Oh Vlad, this is divine. You have captured the very essence and magic of Christmas. Can I spend Christmas with you? xxx
Sure can! Don’t forget to bring your fire extinguisher 😉
Sounds like a plan! xxx
Totally gorgeous tree, Vlad, but I’m still recovering from my panic attack from your use of actual fire..! Wow. That’s brave.
Great photos for the theme, Ailsa. Those dresses are beautiful. 😉
I did a post today, but I don’t think my subscribers received notifications. I know you subscribe to my blog. Did you get an e-mail? http://adinparadise.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/lovely-florence-michelangelos-david-and-the-italian-bridegroom/
Hi adinparadise, I found your post, but not through the above link – it seems to have been published a day later. The link that works is http://adinparadise.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/lovely-florence-michelangelos-david-and-an-italian-bridegroom/ published 7/20, not 7/19 – so it looks like your notifications were just delayed. Love the striped police! 🙂
I’d been having internet problems, and had to trash the original, and re-post. Thanks so much for the feedback. You’re a star. 😉
Oh well… this is challenging. Will try to come out with something… xx Eli
Can’t wait to see what you rustle up for us, Eli! xxx
I could have taken this in a few different directions…nice theme, Ailsa.
Thanks Cinova! That heritage festival looks very interesting, and I want to hear more about the food you ate!
camel wrestling in Turkey to celebrate the new year
Oh boy, some really great photos, but I can’t help but worry about the camels. Do you know if they get injured during the wrestling, or do the owners make sure they’re safe once one camel has admitted defeat? The blankets are stunning.
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I wrote about a Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition in my family last November. I may submit something else for this challenge, but for now, here is a link. http://fourdeeroak.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/thanksgiving-traditions-and-root-vegetables/
Sorry to link to a link, but I originally posted this on OpenSalon (before it got too spammy and slow & I gave up posting on it). What I posted on WordPress at the time was a link to that essay. I wanted to repost in WP but am having trouble logging into my OS account to import the text. I hope you find it worth two clicks; it’s one of my favorite essays that I’ve written.
I love swede – at least that’s what we call it – Helenbagas to you, and neeps to the Scots. One of my favourite ways to prepare them is to dice a whole load of root veggies – swede, parsnip, carrots – sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and then grate some nutmeg over them before roasting them in the oven. So good! What a wonderful story, Anne!
Ummm – that sounds delicious Ailsa – wow, what an age since I saw a swede or a parsnip!
Just for you, Wanderlust, here’s four swedes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg7ZsOFSV7c 😉
Hahahaha! Thanks dear:)
Absolutely beautiful! I LOVE all of the different colors!
Me too, Joy, I felt terribly underdressed 😉
How fun would it be to wear one of those fabulous dresses?!
I know, that turquoise one was particularly stunning. I love her elbow-length gloves too.
Great theme Ailsa! I am sorry to say no time to get something together as I am packing and heading off to Cuba for 2 glorious weeks! Maybe that is my tradition… summer vacations!
I can’t think of a better tradition, CTB – have an amazing time, and take LOTS of photos to share with us all! xxx Ailsa
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Great post: love the arch shot and the colorful dresses!
My entry is here http://nprimopiano.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/lucias-boat-under-glass/
Really lovely, Marina. Do you actually live on the shores of Lake Como? I cannot imagine a more beautiful place to live! xxx
I was born in Lecco on lake Como. I moved to USA at age 28, and I go visit my family regularly. And, yes, it is a beautiful place 🙂
Washington D.C is such a lovely place… would love to go there again 🙂
It’s spectacular, tacts. I wish I’d had more time to explore; there’s so much history there.
Buddha’s Bone
http://projectmagellan.net/2012/07/21/buddhas-bone/
Wonderful photo, Miguel, I love the reflections you captured too.
Ailsa, your story about the debutantes is very interesting. I learned something. Photos of colourful cultures always make me feel pale. Perhaps I should take the hint!
I found a photo of a buffalo herdsman continuing his traditional slow-paced agricultural ways in the middle of a modern city (well, modern 1940s). http://soundslikewish.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/ailsas-travel-photo-challenge-tradition/
I’m the same, Trish. Watching those girls, I thought I should really make an effort to brighten up my predominantly neutral wardrobe. Your photo is wonderful, that little baby buffalo is too cute for words. xxx
Wow! beautiful tradition they have. Lovely pics.
It really is lovely, isn’t it, cocoa? They all looked so beautiful – and I made sure to tell them too!
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Love the colours of the dresses! Mine’s a little bit similar 🙂 http://ayearinmyshoes.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
Gorgeous, Livvy, you can’t beat a good old wedding! And it is travelling of a sort – travelling along the road of life, right? 😉
How wonderful that you happened upon a Quinceañera! They are celebrations of culture, family and blessings. Thank-you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it, Cathy. I feel very lucky that I was there at the perfect time to catch not one, but three different celebrations. xxx
I am getting a headache! I thought about this – obsessively – yesterday. I feel TRADITIONLESS! Is that a word? And I feel horrible because of it. If my brain doesn’t explode, and I come up with something, I’ll be back (as Arnold says). Otherwise, I’ll jump on board next week. 😦
Oh Gemma, you make me giggle. Do not, I repeat, do not, get a headache over what to post – or give your husband one 😉 Do you have any places you frequent or things you like to do when you visit Atlantic City, that might have become a kind of tradition to you? And don’t worry if you can’t come up with something, there’s always next week! xxx
Thanks. Phew! But I’m not giving up!
I guessed you might not 😉
YAY!
Yay right back! Love that photo of all the different trees in a row – where was that taken? So cool! xxx
Charleston Place Hotel on Meeting Street.
Let’s see if this works – http://travel.downtowncharlestonhotels.com/hotel/?refid=2488&rs_hid=5622305
We didn’t stay there. We were at The Mills House also on Meeting. Both gorgeous, but we’ve stayed at a couple others off the beaten path. Just a great place to visit, and I WOULD want to live there. That’s the goal…
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Here’s my entry for this week! http://beyondpaisley.net/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
Yeehaw (with an Irish accent!) Love it!
Looks beautiful!
Thanks gkm, it really was the most colourful surprise. Delightful.
Hi Ailsa,
What a cheerfull pictures, and a lovely theme you chose for this week.
As Flanders is famous for its Burgundian lifestyle and its lust for partying, and this fortnight the capital of our province ‘Ghent’ has its traditional “feasts” I thought it might be a good idea to give my personal impression in a picture, accompanied with a traditional song from a local artist who anualy opens the “Gentse feesten” with this song for more than 40 years already…
Hope you enjoy my entry (the music you can hear by clicking on the picture) :
http://dauwgalerij.blogspot.be/2012/07/gentsche-fieste-2012.html
Kind regards and have a nice weekend
– Dauw –
Really cool photo, Dauw, I love your unusual choice of focus, and the song is awesome! 🙂
I can’t help it, but instantly this song popped up in my mind when I saw your new traveltheme,
and now I’m constantly singing : Traditiooooon, tradition… not able to put it out of my head =)
I wonder if it has the same effect on you..?
http://dagendauwsnotenbalk.blogspot.be/2012/07/tradition-uit-fiddler-on-roof.html
Haha, excellent, now I’m singing it too. I love that film! xxx
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Hi there! I decided to join to the Travel Theme, so here´s my contribution!
http://reginasavy.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
Welcome, Regina, and what a splendid post – I hadn’t heard of that tradition before, thank you for sharing it! xxx
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Thank you for this week’s challenge. Your photos are wonderful and very colorful. Here is my entry for this week. Tradition of the Amish http://wp.me/p23TG1-13h
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Fascinating, Francine. I adore the colours of nature that they use – that shed almost blends into the hill behind it – and the house interiors are really lovely. I don’t think I would do too well without electricity though – it would make blogging a little difficult! xxx
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In England you can’t get more traditional than this! Love them or hate them!
http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
Chuckling away right now, Gilly; when I read your comment above I guessed immediately what you had decided to post about. Love it. Have you seen the play ‘Jerusalem’ – it was at the Royal Court with Mark Rylance (it came to Broadway too – won all kinds of awards)? It had an absolutely hysterical Morris dancing scene in it. xxx
The monastary is GEORGEOUS, but, the dresses are out of this world!
Yes, the dresses were dreamy – but wait until you see my next post about the interior of the monastery, spectacular! xxx
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My contribution th the travel tradition theme. http://implicado.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
Wow. Just wow. Straight out of Alice in Wonderland. I absolutely love it. Great shot, Cedric.
Love your blog! Francine introduced me through her blog. I will have to follow. Fun stuff! How lucky for you to happen upon this interesting ritual and happy occasion. Absolutely LOVE the photos of the monastery, the gardens and those arched walkways took my breath away! Can hardly wait to see the interior! I do love a challenge. I’ll try to come up with something between now and Thursday. 😉
Hi Carol, nice to meet you (thanks Francine!) It really was a stroke of luck to be at the monastery when those girls were there in their gorgeous dresses. I’m writing about the interior now, there’s so much to show it may well end up being two posts – should be up shortly! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the challenge! 🙂 Ailsa
Looking forward to your interior posts. I’m trying to think now on what I could post for the challenge, and thinking…. 😉
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Here’s mine for the week, http://missperfectlyimperfect.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
What a fun tradition! Does your mom like the series ‘Larkrise to Candleford’? 😉
HI Ailsa – this is my contribution: http://lynneayersbeyondthebrush.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/travel-theme-tradition/
Brilliant, Lynne. Those two guys in the video are hysterical. 🙂
Oops! almost forgot my contribution
http://cocoaupnorth.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/travel-theme-tradition/
So cool, I love the colours in the photo. Is the ingqayi traditionally made of wood? I love how it’s so smooth it gleams in the sunlight. xxx
Thanks:-). Ingqayi is traditional made of clay, more like pottery. There could be a wooden version of it, perhaps.
Have a great week…x
I wasn’t sure from the photo whether it was wooden or clay. So have you been offered this home brew just the once, or has it happened on several occasions? I’m guessing the beer is an acquired taste….
I come from a background that practices this tradition (Xhosa people of South Africa). Not only have I been offered, but we brew it when having traditional celebrations e.g. weddings.
The taste leans towards sour. Personally I don’t like it (gives me heartburn) but the sorghum porridge which is made from I like:-)
I’ve only ever used sorghum in bread; I must try making a porridge out of it!
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Just one picture to show how sometimes tradition is carried to its excess… http://autumninbruges.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/travel-theme-tradition/
Very thought-provoking post. Great shot.
Another Lungau tradition to view! http://annarashbrook.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/travel-theme-tradition/
Oh Anna, this made me laugh out loud, the idea of poor old Ramingstein falling over because the guy inside had too much shandy – and then putting his head on back to front. Hysterical.
Colorful, cheerful, and beautiful photos! Thank you, Ailsa! Here is my contribution: http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/travel-theme-tradition/
Your photos are equally colourful, cheerful and beautiful, Amy – I feel the need to visit Siena just to experience that parade. Those costumes are outstanding, as are those from Athens. I find traditional dress so fascinating.
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Thanks Ailsa! My contribution to the theme : Tradition, The Thai Rituals – https://colorodyssey.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/the-thai-spirit/
Gorgeous series of photos, Ritu. The longtail boats are my absolute favourite, the boats themselves are such stunning colours, and made even more beautiful by the addition of flowers and ribbons.
Thanks Ailsa! Yeah! I love the boats too! 🙂
Am enjoying the weekly themes!
Me too, Ritu – I’m learning so much about different parts of the world, and getting to know some really wonderful people! xxx
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