Harps / el Arpa

Harps. Lately they seem to be popping up all over the place. Joanna Newsom plays one (although someone recently told me that her new album doesn't have much harp). When my dear friend Karen was here, we saw a man playing one in Plaza Mayor here in Madrid. And he was not a harp-playing type. He looked more likely to be in some sort of death metal band. Although with the celtic influence from NW Spain / Galicia, it made a bit more sense. As he fixed a broken string a three year old little boy stood by extremely attentive. It was the event of the year. He watched every move and despite the kids playing around him, he stood glued to the harpsist. Soon after a small following of little kids joined him in awe of this man in his twenties playing this celestial sounding instrument. If it weren't for the fact that Karen was exhausted with jetlag we would have probably stayed around even longer.