A few years ago, I found myself in Valencia, Spain during one of the city’s oldest and most important religious festivals. Witnessing the annual ‘Corpus Christi’ celebration was a complete accident — I was on a cruise that had stopped in the city for the day — but as I followed the music down foreign streets, I encountered the processions and watched, transfixed by the artistry, the costumes, and the spiritual fervour. Since its start in the mid 13th century, Corpus Christi has been celebrated each year across Spain, sixty days after Easter. On the morning of my visit, droves of locals, along with tourists like me, stood along the decorated streets, watching as carriages processed through the city and 16th century dances took place between masked “Nanos” (dwarves) and “Gegants” (giants,) representing the coming together of all people who worship the Lord. When I checked my Instagram earlier, a story from my friends @theexvotos popped up on my feed sharing the Corpus Christi festival taking place in Seville. It reminded me that I’d never shared these pictures from that bright, sunny day in Spain when I stumbled upon a little piece of history! Beyond the religious context, I find comfort in the continuity of these age-old traditions, and the ways that travel can delight, inspire, and even surprise us when we least expect it.