Las Fallas

This past Friday I went with some friends in the program to Valencia for Las Fallas. This festival is supposed to celebrate the ending of the dark winter months and then beginning of spring. To celebrate they close off a huge portion of the center of city. They create these huge foam and papier-mache statues, which poke fun at who every they choose to. And by huge I mean the biggest one in the center square was at least 5 stories high. In addition to the massive ones in the various squares and intersections of the city, there also smaller ones. Then on the last night of the festival, Friday night, they burn the little ones at 10pm, big ones at 12:00 and the huge one in the city center at 1:00 am.


To arrive in Valencia we took a 4 hour charter bus that left Madrid at 9:00 am. Unfortunately the company was unorganized and also instisted on stoping at truck stop for half an hour. We arrived late and missed one of the main events, la Mascletà.

La Mascletà is a massive collection of firecrackers that occurs in the main square at 2:00pm. Apparently pregnant women are prohibited from attending, in additon to people with weak hearts. Also a lot of people put ear plugs in because of how loud it can get. My guide book also recommended keeping open your mouth to equalize the pressure in your eardrums. One of my friends from the program was able to attend though. He said you could feel the concussions in your chest.
When we arrived we began to tour the center and check out all of the fallas. I was amazed how detailed and gravity defying they were. It was amazing to think people spent months building them only to burn them. Only one falla would be spared and that was the one the people decided was the best. Another thing that surprised me is how a lot of them were positioned in various intersections of the city with buildings close by.
One other tradition they have for Las Fallas is that each group of people that construct a falla makes an offering of flowers to the Virgin Mary. Then they use the flowers to construct a statue of the Virgin. It looked and smelled amazing.

One thing that shocked me about Las Fallas was all of the little kids playing with firecrackers. These were kids about 6,7 years old lighting firecrackers and throwing them at unsuspecting passersby's feet. It was hilarious to watch, especially when they would frighten groups of teenage girls. It was crazy to think these fireworks are illegal in most states for everyone, yet here were these children have a hell of a time with them.

Plaza de Toros on the left, Train Station on the right

Of course we had to join in the fun and we bought two boxes of a hundred 'chinos', which the fireworks were so tastefully called. We spent most of the afternoon drinking beer and blowing stuff up. Also frightening American college students and other young tourists with our 'chinos' was a major source of entertainment. Later that night we turned on each other and began to throw them at eachother's feet. The funny part was that police officers would just passby and laugh.

Later in the night we ended up getting in bit of trouble. One of the guys had bright idea of throwing one into a garbage can in front of a police officers. He comes over and gives us the "you have got to be kidding me" lecture. Then he begins to say how he could of started a fire and said this was punisble by a 300 euro fine along with being locked up in jail until Monday. So he takes the 3/4 full liter of beer my friend has and proceeds to dump it into the trash can to put out any possible flames. Then he asks everyone to take everything out of their pockets. He takes all the firecrackers and lighters, but lets them keep their beers. Finally he tells us to get out of here. Afterwards we bought more and continued to throw them at eachother's feet.

La Falla that was choosen as the best and spared the flame, the picture doesn't do it justice

Finally around 10pm they began burning las fallas infantiles, the smaller structures. We managed to get a decent spot somewhat close to one. This particular neighborhood had a band march close to it and play a few songs beforehand. Therewas also a decent size fireworks display, though it was somewhat concerning how close they were to the buildings around. Not to mention feeling pieces of the fireworks land on your shoulders and in your hair.

The Firework display before they buried a falla infantile

The way they light all of las fallas is with a firework cord. They light the cord and watch the fireworks go off, getting closer and closer to la falla. At first it started with a slow burn and I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed. Then all of the sudden it became an inferno and the crowded close to it had to push back to get away from the heat. It was incredible to watch and lasted about ten minutes.

Afterwards you could taste the paint from the falla in your month and it was bit concerning to be honest. Not to mention all the ash that ends up on your clothes and in your hair.

Afterwards we began to walk around and continued throwing firecrackers at each other. At the main square people were already waiting hours in advance for the main burning at 1:00am. We had the good fortunate of stumbling onto a good sized falla in one of the side streets and had front row seats.

We watched as they prepared the structure for the burning, punching holes in the structure and filling it with fireworks. Also throwing the smaller sculptures onto the base. Once again they began to rig it with firework strings. There were some people in traditional Valencia dress holding a banner and people were taking pictures while they gave short speeches.

Soon they were ready to burn. They had about a half dozen people light off small mortars around the structure in a decent sized firework display. Then they light the firework cord. I was not prepared for what happened next. All hell broke loose when the fireworks inside went off and you could feel the force of the concussions in your chest. In a few moments the structure was engullfied in flames. The people around me and I quickly realized we were way too close the structure as a wall of heat hit us. It also occured to me that if the structure collapsed in our direction it would land on us.

With a wall of heat, smoke and ash everyone began to scurry back for cover. The attendants of the falla were soon grabing the baricades to stop them from melting and to keep people back, though the heat did the job for them. It was an amazing sight to behold and a huge adrenaline rush.

After basking in the flames for awhile, we started to head towards to the main square for the finale. The crowd was absolutely massive and completely packed together, I have never seen that many people, so close together all fixated on one object. The spot we found was pretty lackluster but you could at least see most of it. Around the main falla police had cleared a huge area with tons of Red Cross people around with ambulances. Not to mention the various fire trucks ready to go. All the palm trees near by were bundled up and covered with sheets to protect them from the inferno. Clearly they weren't taking any chances.

Getting ready for the big one in the main plaza

It began with a massive fireworks display that would rival any major city's 4th of July display. Then came the fireworks around la falla and finally the multiple firework cords that draped la falla went of. When that thing went up it was like watching a building burst into flames, the scale of the inferno was hard to image. After awhile the fire department began to douse it with water to keep it in control. It was quite the spectacle and I was so entranced by it I forgot to take pictures of the burning.

Unfortunately I only took an overall picture form behind but you can see the scale with the fire fighters around the base

At 3:00am we left Valencia and I managed to sleep the whole way back on the bus. We arrived in Madrid at 7:30am and I stumbled home barely awake reeking of smoke. I woke up Saturday afternoon feeling like the day before had been but a dream. Las Fallas was incredible.

The mermaid engulfed in flames was a little creepy

Origin of Tapas and other Amusing Jokes

One joke my hostsister's husband told me when I was in Granada was the origin of tapas and why they are called that.

Supposedly the king was sitting in restaurant's terrace having a wine when a carriage was about to drive by. The waiter saw the carriage was going to possibly splash mud into his wine so he took one of the pieces of Pâté covered bread he was about to serve someone else and covered the glass with it. After the carriage passed without splashing him, the king finished his wine and told the waiter "Another glass of wine and more tapas as well."

'Tapar' is to cover in Spanish and is conjugated to 'tapas', which means you cover.

Another amusing play on words the director of the program told me in Barcelona was the following:

-"No nada nada?" (You aren't swimming?)

-"No, no traje traje." (No, I didn't bring my bathing suit)

Both, of course, are a lot funnier in Spanish.

Out in Granada with My Hostsister & Her Husband

My hostmom's daughter and her husband both live in Granada and I spent part of 2 out of three nights out on the town with them. They are amazing and generous people that insisted my euros were worth nothing in Granada.

Both of them spoke Spanish with a little English. It was great practice for me and I really enjoying telling jokes with her husband. He seemed to enjoy them and really liked telling me Spanish jokes as well. I will post one I particularly enjoyed later.

The places they took me to all had amazing tapas. One place they were full sized sandwiches with lamb, fried egg and mayonnaise, they were delicious. I found the tapas in Granada to all be savory and all very large portions compared to what I have seen in Madrid. Though I have found that they often make me more hungry then before.

As you can see we are both equally photogenic.

On the last night out with them in Granada they took me to a Salsa Club. At the club I came to the swift actualization that those several salsa classes that I have taken are nothing and I need a lot more practice. Also the club had a real middle school dance type feel to it in regards to way more girls then guys were present. All of them were lined up against the wall waiting for someone to ask them to Salsa. Unfortunately I did not have the courage, nor the salsa skills to oblige. Next time!

Another thing that held me back, though it shouldn't have, was how good some of the guys danced. Granted one was an instructor with his students but he was absolutely amazing. I ended up dancing for a few songs with my hostsister after her husband told me he doesn't dance. Right after we finished, his wife proceeded to beg him and managed to get him out on the floor. Little did I know that he wasn't a bad dancer at all, a lot better then me, and proceeded to show me how it was done. I had a great time at the salsa club and I loved the feel of the place. Both of them were a lot of fun. Also the club has renewed my determination in learning to Salsa.

La Alhambra in Granada

The main site to see in Granada is the Moorish palace, Alhambra. It is situated on a hill overlooking the city of Granada and the surrounding farmland and mountains. To access the palace itself you have to purchase a ticket for to enter the Alhambra and pay extra for the ticket for the palace. The ticket has a very specfic time at which you must be at the palace ready to enter. A friend in the program had gone a few weeks earlier and had warned me that they are very strict on the entry times. She had a pretty in depth sob story about not being there on time. Not to mention it is rather difficult to get tickets and they strongly recommend you order them in advance.

Of course I decided to be lazy and just buy tickets when I got there. Plus I wanted until the last day of my trip to go see it, I would be leaving that evening. To account for my lack of planning, and to be sure that I got tickets, I decided I would wake up at 7am and make the somewhat strenous hike up the hill. The alhambra opened at 9am, so I assumed I would be the first one there and hopefully not have to worry about not getting a ticket

The night before, like all the nights I was there, I went out to the bars and had arrived home late, by late I mean 5am. My friend claimed that night that there was no way I was going to wake up at 7am to go, to which I responded with the claim "¡Soy una maquina!" (I am a machine). The next morning I promptly awoke at 10am and proceed to put on my cigarette scented clothes from the night before and headed off to see the Alhambra. I looked and smelled terrible.

Once again my stupidity and laziness paid off and there was a ticket to enter the palace inside the Alhambra soon after I arrived. Also I had to good fortune to have excellent weather that day, it was about 60 degrees and sunny.

The Alhambra as a whole is huge and consists of various gardens and living areas surrounded by a huge wall. The walls and towers had some amazing views of the city, countryside and mountains.

Someone told me that the Moors really emphasized water and greenery in their palaces. I guess that would be natural way to display wealth in a desert culture.

The tour of the palace itself was amazing. There was so much detail work on the walls, mostly carvings in Arabic. Various reflecting ponds were a sight to behold. Its difficult to describe all of the beauty I saw that day and as a result I ended up taking about 200 pictures of just the Alhambra and the views to be seen from it.

After about 5 hours of just walking and drinking in the sights, I decided to call my friend and see if he wanted to get lunch with me. It was about 3:30pm... he was still sleeping.

In the end La Alhambra, along with the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, was one of the most amazing things I have seen in my short life. Both of them literally took my breath away.

Here is a photo take by a kind German who suggested the pose. It felt like high school photo day and I appreciated the direction.