Las Falles, la playa, y paella

An old friend was visiting what basically amounts to family in Valencia,a lovely town on the Mediterranean sea during a huge festival, las falles, and invited me down for the weekend, and I never refuse free room and board so it was off to Spain again! ;)

Friday night, after a flight in one of the smallest planes I have ever had the pleasure of boarding (so small that you bring your luggage to the tarmac to then be put in the hold) I arrived in Valencia to meet up with Martin and Marian, and we were off to the streets of the city, which were glowing under the lights of las Falles.

Las Falles is a celebration of St. Joeseph, (that was refreshingly non-touristy, as I literally only heard Spanish except for Martin's moments of rapid translating) when artists called falleros create huge sculptures that can be anything from cute and cuddly to scorchingly satiric pieces made from wood and paper maché that are as high as 8 to 10 meters, which are set up all over the city (it was amusing to walk around a corner and suddenly come across, for example, a three stories high broadway singer). There is also a great deal of fireworks both done by professionals and your neighbor (at times it literally sounded like a war zone, or felt like one as you never knew when someone was going to light a fuse next to your feet), bands playing, churros stands open all night, and gazing upward at the falles. You may be asking where all these art pieces go after the end of the week of festivities. Well after viewing with oohing and ahing, they are (drum-roll please) subsequently burned to ash in what is known as la cremà. Not kidding, these structures costing up to 1 million euros, are burned during the last days of las falles in a glorious display of fireworks and flames, except one which is voted to be saved and kept in the museum of Valencia. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I was unable to stay until the last days, so will only keep memories of towering monoliths of colorful fancy.


one of the larger falles, a close up of some detail from another one, and one of the young ladies in traditional Valencian clothing (each falle has a girl who represents the art)

But Valencia is much more than simply the building and destruction of huge artworks, it is also a beach city, which Marian made sure we enjoyed my second day. After a trip to the market, we watched la mascleta, which is basically a huge fireworks show, mid-day in the town center to celebrate, an event that is not about the colorful lights, but moreso volume (which they accomplished perfectly as I was definitely suffering from a little ear-ringing post show).


crowds and smoke at la mascleta

Then we hopped on a bus to eat paella by la playa. It was a fantastic lunch, followed by a short frolicking in the water (well I frolicked, the boys sat in the shade and Marian patiently took pictures for me) Then a nice siestà before more las falles gazing, church visiting and bunelos eating (a special donut made at this time, from I believe a pumpkin like gourd). Then a dinner of tortilla espangola and ham at Marian's home with her son Carlos and another of her friends from Spain. The boys did an excellent job translating during dinner (I speak no spanish and Marian only a little english...we got by with lots of gesturing all weekend) Then it was off for a night of fun with Carlos and his Valencian friends (again they spoke a bit of english, so gesturing, smiling, and nodding became my standby for the night). The weekend finished with last minute faellas and market visiting and watching fireworks from Marian's balcony (they set off fireworks when each falle is completely finished).


la playa (beach, see I learned a bit while there) outside the restaurant where Maria treated us to an amazing lunch of paella; putting my feet in the sea (it had been too long since I had felt sand between my toes) and myself (wearing my Valencian scarf) and Marian, the most lovely of hostess a girl could possibly ask for

All good times must end, and so this morning it was an early taxi ride to the airport and back to Paris (and class, which starts in half an hour!) Muchas gracias to Marian, Carlos and Martin for a fabulous weekend and thanks to everyone back home who was praying I would not catch on fire :)

much love, xxoo