¡Las Fallas en Valencia!

Okay, so it has taken me a while to update this blog, but if you were having the same 75 degree and sunny weather everyday, it would take a lot to get you to sit inside for several hours in front of a computer, writing. Well, I've compromised, it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and I am sitting out on my balcony with a pillow on my back and the sun on my face. Man, Saturdays here a really busy. Not for me of course, I like to take it easy, relax. In fact, I am meeting my friends in a few hours to have a picnic up on Montjuic and then go watch the fountain show when it gets dark at Plaza España. But everyone on the street below me seems to have somewhere to go. I see a young father and his son playing on a bench, taking a snack break from their walk through the town. I see a nicely dressed family of 8 walking below, going somewhere special no doubt. And cars rush by, motorcycles, tour-busses, and taxis. Sundays show a stark contrast to this bustling weekend activity. On Sundays, few stray cars pass by, the stores are dark, and the people are happily waking up with their families and spending a mellow day indoors, or at the park. Here is Barcelona yesterday out front of the University, but the weather just seems to be getting better every single day.

Okay, now to last weekend at Las Fallas in Valencia! It was crazy! I didn't know much of what to expect before we left, only that the festival brings in about 3 million people each year, and that I should prepare for fire and lots of it. Las Fallas is a annual celebration of Valencia's patron saint, the saint of carpentry, where people work all year creating these giant statue/figure things called falles, just to have them be publicly and elaborately burt to a crisp in front of the entire city.
I went with a group organized by my program here in Barcelona, and at 8am we all left by a hired bus for the 4.5 hour drive to Valencia. The drive was beautiful, as we cruised down South along the Mediterranean coast. We were told that we would have until 2am in Valencia, so that we could see the final burning in the central plaza at 1am, and they sent us off with a packed lunch and a bottle of water. We immediately jaunted off towards the old city, and right away began to find the impressive figures around each corner. There were about 800 of them around the city, including the child figures that were more geared towards kids, and stood at the base of the larger ones. The big figures generally make fun of Spanish political figures or celebrities, but there were a lot that were simply whimsical and Disney-like. Enough description, I'll just show you the pictures:

I'm pretty sure this one won 2nd place in the judging

Largest Falla, in the central plaza and the one that they burned for the finale at 1am...more pictures of that in a bit

We walked all over the bustling city, with firecrackers popping at every second, and mini fireworks in the streets put off by young kids. There was even fair food too, but Spanish fair food is pretty different.

Tamar getting in line to try some festival food

I wasn't quite brave enough to try it, but Tamar ordered the fried pumpkin dough.

Here are some pictures from walking around the city.

After walking around for a while, we decided to try the local cuisine that we had heard so much about--Valencian Paella. They are known for their paella, and lucky for me, it's not sea-food paella which is what it always is in Barcelona. Instead, it is made with chicken and rabbit. Well, all 7 of us entered the first cafe with paella written on the sign, and all ordered a plate. Since it's made in the morning, we got our food in about 30 seconds. Here's what it's like:

It was gross. That's just because I don't like paella in general, but wanted to give it a shot. It's literally just rice with heavy yellow sauce that usually doesn't have much flavor, some peppers, a few stray beans, and giant chunks of meat. If you order the paella de marisco, you often will get an entire crawdad just chilling on top staring right back at you, it can be quite frightening.

After dinner, we headed back out to watch the parade through the city. There were fire dancers, men and women in traditional Valencian dress, and ladies on stilts!

Then, we walked around to pass some time while everyone waited for it to get dark enough to begin the explosions. We meandered through the city, taking in our last glimpses of the standing structure before they would be reduced to ash. Then it started. First with the kid falles, that are about 10 feet tall. The set off fireworks in the sky first, then ones that exploded right through the center of the structure, and then just let it burn. Everyone cheered when one of the characters heads would fall off, or a post tumble down, and in the end, there was nothing left but a big pile of ashes. Here is the evolution:

Fully intact

End result.

That was cool and all, but the real show was yet to come. We made our way back to the giant plaza for the grand finale, called "La Crema" for the last night of Las Fallas. There were so many people in the crowd, while we were just trying to cross the plaza to go down a few blocks away everyone was pushing and shoving trying to get to the best vantage point. Once we got a better spot, about 3 blocks from the plaza but with a direct view of the giant figure, the show began. There were more fireworks and then the structure just went ablaze. From 3 blocks back we could feel the heat from the flames on our faces. Here are some photos:

After the burning ended, we all headed back to the bus, and made the sleepy 4 hour trip back to Barcelona, arriving home at the break of dawn.
Since then, weather here has been simply amazing. Everyday has been spent walking through the city, going to markets, sitting for hours in outdoor cafes with friends, and reading on my balcony. I really wish I could delay the real world forever and always enjoy Barcelona in the Spring. This week Catalan classes start up again, this time with the advanced level (although beginner's advanced), and I am still working as an English teacher every week. Next weekend will be one of the last spent here in Barcelona before the flood of travel begins again, so everyday has been spent mellowly but full of sights, as I make sure to soak up every last moment here in my city.
I hope you are all well, and since I am not traveling for a little bit I can go back to actually blogging about Barcelona! Hurrah!
Love, Meghan