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.