Locura

Las Fallas

This Saturday, I had the opportunity to travel to Valencia for one of Span's most famous festivals.  I had read about it in my tour book which had offered a warning somewhere along the lines of; “If you have never been to Valencia before, you will think this festival is complete chaos.”  What was in store for us when we arrived was nothing short of chaos.  The streets of Valencia, a gorgeous port city, were packed with thousands of people.  The main attractions, the actual “fallas”, were sprinkled throughout the city which led to an Easter egg hunt of sorts trying to find them on unfamiliar roads.  The fallas were huge sculptures that varied in size from one to six stories tall.  They are characterized by bright colors, a distinct whimsical design, and decorated with cartoonish characters called nimots.  In essence, it’s a competition with each block trying to outdo the next so the bigger the better.  The fallas are often telling a story or making a political statement, but unfortunately all of the signs were written in the dialect of Valenciano which is much more different from Castellano (traditional Spanish) than I ever could have imagined. 

Throughout the day, innocent victims are assaulted by children throwing fireworks at their feet, but the real craziness started in the early afternoon when “mascletas” began to sound throughout the streets.  Starting at the largest falla in the center of the city, loud fireworks were set off at each falla.  These fireworks were not the pretty, colorful ones but ones that were made with the intention of temporarily deafening anyone within a 100 meter radius.  After a day of finding fallas on every street corner, the real insanity began.  At dusk, we watched the fire parade where each region of Spain is represented by one chosen lady and her court dressed in old-fashioned attire.  After the ladies followed by marching bands pass, there are more fireworks.  Basically, men and boys run through the streets spewing sparks into the crowd from fireworks that they hold in their hands.  There is little to no discretion as to where the sparks are sprayed. 

By the end of the parade, the streets were dark enough to start the most important part of the festival: la crema.  Around midnight, the fallas are lit on fire.  The fires are staggered because the firefighters have to be present to spray surrounding buildings with water and flame retardant.  The cremas were breathtaking.  I was able to see a few, but due to large crowds I couldn’t get too close to a big one.  So, in order to see one burn up close, my friend Sarah and I decided to wait for a smaller one.  We were in the first row, and it was a little close for comfort.  The heat that the fire throws is enough to push the entire crowd back.  We also got damp from the fire hose because flames were dangerously close to the building we were standing near.  The funniest part about the whole festival was that nobody seemed to think that it was dangerous or out of control.  It fit perfectly with the oft repeated Spanish mantra: “No pasa nada.”
Pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=1401660433&aid=2071460
And here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=1401660433&aid=2071466

Madrid

This week, I was lucky enough to have my friends from ECU come visit! I took the midnight bus out of Murcia to meet them at the airport in Madrid.  From there, we took the metro to the hostel.  We bought a two-day tourist pass for the metro—best decision of the trip.  We were able to take it everywhere; fortunately, there was a stop very close to where we were staying.  The hostel was great: a repurposed palace with a stained glass ceiling and mosaic tiled walls for only 15 Euros a night.  Madrid is a city full of museums.  We went to two of the famous art museums: the more traditional Prado (El Greco, Velázquez, Goya) and the more modern Reina Sofia (Picasso, Dalí, Miró).  We were able to time our visits so that we didn’t have to pay entrance fees.  This meant extra crowds, but it certainly saved us some cash!  Jackie, Allen, and Tyler got to experience the bizarre Spanish eating schedule: lunch at three-ish and dinner at ten-ish.  We found some awesome tapas and cafes, but Madrid is so much more expensive than Murcia.  Food and drinks are generally three times the price! Thanks to gorgeous weather we were able to walk the streets of the city and see some of the famous sites: the cathedral, crypt, and royal palace were beautiful.  We also saw remains of the Arab wall, firefighters protesting, the river, and several parks.  We were certainly exhausted by the time we boarded the bus back to Murcia.  For the most part, we fit right in because there are thousands of tourists in Madrid.  Sometimes I would need to ask someone for directions, and it was hard to find a local! 

See pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=2070308&id=1401660433