We only had school Monday and Tuesday, because everything in Spain closes down for festivities (anything is an excuse to close down in Spain, even naps (siesta)!).
On Wednesday we went to Valencia for LAS FALLAS celebration. We had told Luisa our plans a couple days earlier, that we were leaving at around 7am and wouldn't be back until the next morning at around 7am- a proposition to which she did not even bat an eyelash...if anything, she was more concerned that we were having to get up so early to leave for Valencia (she usually goes to bed after us at about 1am)!
So Las Fallas are a bunch of colorful intricate statues made of cardboard and wood that they burn at night as part of a contest for the best one. "Las Fallas" means "the losers." We walked around the city all day looking at the Fallas, and cursing every sweet child who threw firecrackers in the ground. Had it not been for the Fallas celebration, I swear we could have been walking through the streets of a war-torn country, as it sounded like bombs were going off every 10 seconds the ENTIRE day. The Spaniards didn't even flinch at the noise ("ruido")- many were laughing and enjoying it, drinking their copas and dining on paella al fresco in the streets.
All the people!!! There were about 2 million there just to see "Las Fallas"!!
They were amazing structures, and so creative!
Valencia is known for their Paella, so of course we had to have some. It was so delicious, and they made it in the biggest pans I have ever seen!!
At around midnight they started burning the Fallas, and what more can I say- it was nothing short of any pyromaniac's dream: Multitudes of people (all with varying amounts of intoxication levels) cheering, singing, eyes fixated on the fire. We watched them (the fires and the people) until 3am when we had to meet the bus again at the Plaza de Espana. When we rolled in back at home at 7am we didn't wake up until 3 that afternoon!haha
No comments:
Post a Comment