Valencia - Las Fallas!

Valencia--eastern Spain, on the coast of the Mediterranean, capital city of the autonomous community of the same name, home of one of the craziest fiestas on the Spanish calendar: Las Fallas--traditional celebration where colorful, artistic, monumentally sized sculptures of wood and Styrofoam are put on display throughout the city and then burned sacrificially on the last day of the festival.

The sculptures are called 'fallas', as the language spoken in that part of Spain is not the same as everywhere else. A little more than half of the people speak Valencian, which is like a mix between Castilian Spanish and French, which is also quite alike Catalan, which is widely spoken in Catalunya, the autonomous community of Barcelona.I'm on top of Valencia's cathedral here in the in principle tower called 'La Micolet', checking out the sunset lit rooftops of the city below.


There was a river in Valencia which was causing flooding problems, and so they dried it up, and they created within the riverbed a line of parks, sportsfields, paths, and a zone of museums known as the City of Arts and Sciences. These museums, a few of which are still under construction, are modern marvels of architecture, the visionary work of one of Valencia's own, Santiago Calatrava.


Las Fallas is also well known for its typical dress, dance, and music. Even the young 'falleras' get involved.

The 'fallas' grandes are usually thematic, and they use a lot of satirical symbolism to poke fun at local and world politics, culture, and whatever else they can carve up. Besides that, they're also beautiful works of art. Could they be 'Art' even?

Here's our President Obama! Fresh off his prize fight against ex-President George W., Barack stands victorious in front of a crowd of a few of his biggest fans, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, and Kim Jong-il.

Another shot of the City of Arts of Sciences, a collection of museums which include an Imax cinema, an interactive science center, an opera house, a bridge, a beautiful gardened pathway, pools (not for swimming), and the largest ocean aquarium complex in Europe (for fish to swim in). You can spend more than a day there, tranquilamente.

Here's the Imax cinema. I saw a film about the Alps which was pretty dang cool.

And the science building.

Here's a typical snack from Valencia. The drink is called 'horchata', and it's available all over Spain, though it comes from Valencia. It's a vegetable drink that is made from tigernuts, or chufas, and water and sugar. It's very sweet, served cold, and tastes great with the sugary bread rolls typical of Valencia called 'Fartons'. I went to the nearby town of Alboraya just to try this lethal combination, because it's said that the best horchata comes from there.

I stayed at a backpackers hostel in the center of the city and met a lot of people from all over the world. These young travellers became my buddies during my six-day stay in Valencia, and they proved to be really cool people. I had a blast with them cruising about the city, watching the fireworks, cooking at the hostel, throwing tons of firecrackers (another great tradition of the fiesta), and telling each other about our respective areas of the world.

Let's see if I can do them justice: from left to right, they are Doug from New Zealand, Dave from England, Paul from Queensland, Australia, Nick from Sydney, Australia, Adam from Ontario, Canada, and Jackie also from Australia. What a mix of the English language. We also met a bunch of Americans, Italians, Spaniards, and other people at our hostel.

A picture of one of my favorite fallas; almost a shame it had to burn like the rest, but that's the way the 'Crema' crumbles. The 'Crema' is the buring of the fallas the final night of the fiesta.

One of the famous fireworks displays is called 'la Mascleta', and its performed in the main square of the city on three or four consecutive days during the fiesta. The midday spectacular is the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life. They are noise fireworks, and they release I-don't-know-how-many tons of them into the air creating an echo-like effect in the plaza that gives you the impression that you're inside the engine of a highpowered jet.

Notice the view of the fireworks...

... and after...

The City Hall's falla is probably the largest one every year, located in the center of the main square where they hold the 'Mascleta'.

A parade of 'falleras', the Valencian ladies who dress up in traditional gowns and walk towards the Plaza de la Virgen where many of them offer flowers to a giant representation of the Virgen Mary. This Maria gigante is not burned.

Another view of one of the beautiful types of dresses adorned by the falleras.

A group of Spaniards from Seville were celebrating their fifth consecutive year at Las Fallas by cooking a 'paella' for everyone at the hostel. I couldn't believe how generous so many of the people I met there were; and to think we were all perfect strangers.

Here's L'Oceanogràfic, or the complex of fancy aquariums for animals and fish from all four oceans of the world, as well as most of the world's largest seas.

Of course they have dolphins, complete with a show that leaves you wondering what-can't-these-guys-do?

Finally there's the 'Crema' that I mentioned earlier when all of the fallas in the city, and in the surrounding cities, are burned, many of them simultaneously, turning Valencia into a tumultuous inferno of sprawling citizens and tourists, scrambling for views of nearly a full year's work of sculptures ablaze, firefighters and police securing the areas and plazas around the seventy-some-odd fallas in the metro area by placing barracades and "controlling" the flames by hosing buildings and the fallas themselves if necessary. Cool, huh?

Intrigued? Check out more about Las Fallas at Wikipedia.

In continuation with my attendance at the major Spanish fiestas, I hope to make it to the San Fermines this summer. !!!

Salamanca

I went to lovely Salamanca in the south of the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon for a weekend with my friends Isabella (from Germany) and Cesarina (from Italy). We were really lucky and had great weather one of the days, bright sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s; not bad for half a month before the first day of spring.

Salamanca is most famous for its university, which is ancient old (founded in 1218). It's housed within huge gothic palaces, like the one in this picture. The city has a large number of students, many of them coming from all over Europe and the U.S.

We went tapas crazy when we were there, going out once every day during our stay. The picture above is of 'costillas', which are ribs.


Here's a nice view of Salamanca from across the Tormes River. The Romanic bridge is the old entrance to the city, full of Romanic architecture. The big cathedral is actually two churches combined together. The older cathedral on the right is Romaneque, and the larger on the left is newer and Gothic.

Here's a tapa we had called 'jeta', which is similar to something called 'morro', which is literally the face of the pig. Mmmm...

The Plaza Mayor, the 'Main Square', is Salamanca is one of the most beautiful in Spain. It's a hot spot for students and tourists and Salmantinos alike congregate there to take in the sun and the relaxing atmosphere. There are many cafes, restaurants, and shops in the square that used to be a the bullfighting ring. Concerts are other big events are usually held in the Plaza Mayor, which is said to be able to fit 20,000 people.

Here we are, Isabella on the left, Cesarina in the middle, and me on the right. We're on top of the cathedral looking out over the city.


We're sitting in the Plaza Mayor at night.

We shared tapas and tried to order different things. There are potatoes on the left, bread and goat cheese in the middle, and Spanish mushrooms (setas) on the right, accompanied by good old Spanish cervezas (cañas con limon para las chicas).


Here I am standing in front of the towers of the new cathedral.

Carnival in Logroño

Carnival is definitely celebrated in Logroño. My roommate's friends came to town to stay at our apartment and we all had lunches together and later when out on the town.

Here we are having lunch out on our patio. We were lucky and it was a nice sunny February afternoon. It was the first, and thus far only, meal I've had out on the patio. I hope that spring comes soon.

They all dressed up as geishas, which was a nice coincidence since the only costume I had that I wanted to wear was that of my Japanese man (the same costume I wore to celebrate Halloween). My roommate if you're wondering is the one to the left of me; her name is Alicia.

We went out to the famous Laurel street for pinchos and met lots of other people dressed up in costumes. It's really a shame that we in the States don't celebrate Carnival like the rest of the world, because it's really a good-humored fun holiday.

This was an interesting scene. This guy was dressed up as Superman in a cage. His friends were feeding him through the bars. At least he had a chair...

Visit to a Riojan winery

Or, rather, una visita a una bodega riojana. I went with a wine tasting group called a 'Curso de Catas'. Our group learns about tasting and elaborating wine. Although I just started with the group a week ago, we all went to Fuenmayor, a pueblo less than 10 km out of Logroño, to visit a ancient yet little known winery called Marques de Arviza.

Fuenmayor is a village with a large number of wineries, many of which have centuries old caverns underneath the buildings and the streets. Although Arviza is one of the oldest wineries in the region, dating back to 1874, the stone arches located in the ancient caverns 12 meters below the surface date were first created by the Romans in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since that time they've been reenforced, but nearly all of the old stones remain.

Here's our group tasting the wine after a tour of the winery. Their 'reserva' was fantastic. The reserva is a red wine that has been aged for a longer time in the barrel and then again for a longer period of time in the bottle. The harvest for their reservas was in 2001.

San Sebastian & a Sidreria experience in Astigarraga

I was invited with some Spanish friends to go to San Sebastian for the weekend. Our plan was to go out for dinner in a 'sidreria', or cider house, in a small town nearby. Cider houses are typical in that region of Spain (and also Asturias).

Here's a picture of a few of us standing on a pier in beautiful San Sebastian.

Here's the majority of us standing on a little mountain top overlooking the bay of San Sebastian at nightfall.


The small town, or village, we visited was called Astigarraga. It's a place that's famous for its cider houses; and it has many. We visited a traditional one where the food is served to you on big plates and we all share. It's also custom to eat standing up, something that might be annoying to some people, but not to me. I'll explain why.

The first plates served were that of 'chorizo a la sidra', which is Spanish sausage cooked in cider, and then 'tortilla de bacalao', which is a Spanish omelette made with cod. Both of those plates were fantastic.

The third plate you see above is another serving of cod with fried green peppers, or 'bacalao con pimientos verdes'. We ate everything with bread.

Do you drink anything else besides cider in a cider house? I think you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. You get all the cider you can drink. In the restaurant we went to there were giant casks or kegs or containers of cider, and there were waiters or assistants who would open up these containers and let cider squirk out in long smooth sprays. The idea then is to catch the cider in your glass, but just a little. This fresh super tasty type of cider is best drank immediately after served, which means you just fill your glass up a little bit and either drink it immediately and get another one, or bring it back to your table and drink it very soon after.

That's why I didn't mind standing up all the time, because I was always going back for more cider. Ha! Check out the video below showing you how it works. It's so much fun! I'd recommend this to anyone!



The next plate was a very tender meat called 'chuleton', or ... big meat slab. I don't really know how to translate this one. It's a really tender cut of meat that looks a little like a tenderloin. It's served quite rare, which makes it chewy, juicy, and extremely flavorful!


Last we were served dessert. There are a couple things here. In front, and in my hand, are two typical desserts made from almond, which is typical of the north of Spain. The flat brown cookie-looking dessert is called a 'teja', which is literally a roof tile, which I suppose it resembles. On the flat and in the basket in the background is a combination dessert that you put together. Those are walnuts that you must crack and then put over the combo of a really good Basque cheese and 'membrillo', which is quince jelly.

One of the best meals I've had in Spain. Definitely check out these 'sidrerias' if you make it to the north of Spain. The best ones are in Asturias and Pais Vasco.

León & Astorgas

First trip that I've made in a while. Found some decently priced bus tickets, made a schedule for a weekend, and booked a hostel, and away we were to León, capital city of the province by the same name. León is located in the northwest of Spain in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It's a province that's characterized by ancient Roman ruins and walls and by the mountains (los Picos de Europa) it shares with neighboring province to the north Asturias.

León the city is one of the highest capitals in Spain elevation-wise; and we decided to go there in the middle of winter. It was cold and a little rainy when we got there, so we made for the first monument we could, which was the Basilica of San Isidoro. The picture below is the patheon which holds the tombs of past kings of León. The Romantic paintings on the walls and ceilings were especially impressive, and they're supposed to be some of the best example of such work in all of Spain.


Walking, we were able to see most of the old part of the city, which is surrounded almost entirely by medieval walls. At some points near the walls you can see evidence of the even older Roman walls that were there before.

I went with my friends Julie (from Florida) and Danny (from Logrono, Spain).


Another of the most important points of interest in the city of León is the fantastic cathedral with its massive stained glass windows.





Here I am standing outside the great gothic cathedral of León at night.


The second day we were there we took a short bus trip to nearby Astorgas, another ancient Roman city with walls, another grand cathedral, a plaza mayor (main square) with a nice ayuntamiento (town hall), and a palace constructed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. Both Gaudi's palace and the cathedral are visible behind me and the wall in this picture.


Here we are in the plaza mayor. I tried to set a timer on my camera, and it was a little low, I guess.

Happy Holidays!

Hello to everyone out there, and a very Merry Christmas to you and a happy 2009!


I celebrated my holidays back home in Fargo with my family. We had nice dinners together, played games, watched movies, and had a great time.

Above is a picture of Christmas Eve at my parents' house. From left to right, we are myself, my mom Gail, my dad Ken, my brother-in-law Roger, my sister Becca, and my sister Rachel.

We were very lucky this year because my grandma (my dad's mom), my aunt Laura and uncle Scott and their family all came to visit us in Fargo. We were all together for three days, and it was really wonderful to see everyone and to hang out.

I went to a Minnesota Vikings game with my good friend Joe Rezek. The Vikings are the American football team from my home state, which makes them my home team. Their colors are purple, white, and yellow.

The Vikings play in a dome stadium near Minneapolis, Minnesota, the largest city in the state. It was a good game, and we won it in the end against the defending champion New York Giants.


I passed New Year's Eve with friends in Minneapolis. We went to a nice restaurant and then later to a big bar restaurant where there was a live band playing. They were a blues-rock band from Chicago, and they were excellent. We danced and talked until midnight and cheered to welcome in 2009.

After New Year's, my family traveled down to southern Minnesota where my grandparents live. We celebrated yet another Christmas with them and other relatives from my mom's side of the family, the Buldhaupts. It was fantastic to catch up with everyone and play games with my cousins.


I hope everyone had happy holidays. Take care! I'm back in Spain now, so I'd love to hear from you!