This weekend was the infamous “Las Fallas” festival in Valencia. I went to go visit Kime and to experience this crazy weekend with her. And crazy is an understatement. It is something that you need to see for yourself to really understand but ill do my best to describe it. First of all, the word FIRE should come to mind.
Fireworks, burning, (kind of) bonfires, firefirefire. Basically the festival is for each neighborhood/area of Valencia to spend thousands and thousands of euros (yes, even in this poor economy) on these large “statues” (also called, Fallas) that are very artsy, bright and very random. I think they are made from wood and a Styrofoam-esque material. There are contests for the biggest, best, etc. And after all of that money and hard work spent over the year, they BURN them on the last day. So imagine 350 HUGE bonfires (I mean, HUGE) in these residential areas all over Valencia. No, not dangerous at all. This is Spain. Meanwhile, they have these firework shows both during the day and at night. The “big one” during the day that I saw was just weird… I’m not sure why people gather around to watch, I mean LISTEN, to fireworks during the day but they do – and they are SO loud that you can feel them all over your body. These people love it. Smiles all around. The crowds of people were impossible to get through if you wanted to escape the insanity. The fireworks at night however were pretty cool…but they would be more enjoyable if you were not scared that some kid in the street would throw a firework either AT you or so close to you that it kills your eardrums. Now, not to be confused, Kime and I had a really, really fun time despite all of this craziness. Somehow we really enjoyed ourselves and laughed at the fact that NONE of this could ever happen in the USofA. It was really cool to see the beautiful attire that the women wear – incredibly gorgeous dresses and crazy hairdo’s and the different fallas that were constructed by the different neighborhoods. And you could definitely tell which fallas came from neighborhoods with more money. Also, the lights that decorated certain streets were unbelievable and really fun to walk through. So despite our fear of the whole city going up in flames and our hair getting singed, we had a really amazing time at Las Fallas!
So, Las Fallas aside… Valencia is a really beautiful city. Kime gave me a great tour of the city -- It is full of cool things to see (which of course there is never enough time…) such as the aquarium, science museums, art museums and planetarium. The city is full of parks and incredibly interesting architecture, which combine to create a lovely feel for such a big place. The cathedral was gorgeous and of course the beach was nice – and had SAND! I could not leave Valencia without eating Paella (it comes from that area) so despite our difficulty finding a place that was not “completo” we finally found a place and stuffed our stomachs with deliciousness!! (But really, over 15 different restaurants told us they were full (completo)…for the whole day… when we saw empty tables. You mean, youre just exhausted from all the people this crazy weekend and you are too lazy to serve us? Yeah, I think so). Although the sky was full of smoke and haze, we had nice weather and of course wonderful conversation nonstop between the two of us. I would love to return to Valencia – I loved it! and to visit the places I didn’t have time to.
Now… after a long, (about 10 hour) long trek back to Motril I am preparing for the big family visit! Papa arrives on Tuesday and the rest of the family (including Øistein) this weekend! I am looking forward to seeing them all and showing them around Andalucia for the next (almost) 3 weeks – phew!
Oh, also worth noting – before I left for Valencia we made a huge discovery. OUR ROOF!! Not only does it give us a 360° view of the Mediterranean AND las Sierras Nevadas, it is a perfect place to soak up the rays. It will be a good next few months…
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