A fireman's worst nightmare and a little boy's dream come true...

Yesterday...I embarked on a very interesting journey to Valencia. Our bus left at 8:30a.m. from Murcia and we arrived in Valencia at around 12:00p.m. we were not scheduled to leave Valencia until 3:00a.m. (just so this is clear for everyone it ended up being an 22.5 hour trip)!

A little background information is necessary:

Last week I went to Cadíz with this same group and I had a horrible time. Honestly, I felt tortured. We were on the bus for so long and then when we did finally get to Cadíz we were stuck with no way to get back to our hotel until the scheduled departure time. Everything the group had planned was focused on binge drinking, and they were the most horrendous organizers I have met in my entire life. Why...you ask.... did I go on another trip with them? I almost didn't, but mostly I did because it was such a great deal. It was only 18 euros to get to Valencia when normally it is around 40 euros. BUT...this time I had a plan. My wonderful plan was:

1. Find a buddy
2. Once at Valencia ditch the group immediately with my buddy!

You will be happy to hear the plan worked out fabulously and I had one of my best experiences in Valencia:)

The reason there were 6 huge busses (3 from one group and 3 from another) going to Valencia from Murcia was because of the Fallas. The Fallas is one of the three biggest fiestas in Spain and not to be missed if you have any way to get to Valencia in March. The fiesta consists of huge sculptures made, in honor of San Jose (Saint Joseph), out of foam, cardboard, and papier-mache. Each sculpture is sponsored by a group or neighborhood and they cost a ton of money. This year the most expensive Falla cost 600,000 euros and the total cost of the Fallas surpassed 7.4 million euros. The kicker is...they set them on fire during what is called the Crema...lucky me I not only got to run around seeing the Fallas during the day I also then saw them burn late into the night. I know, I know, it is crazy...who burns 7.4 million dollars worth of art...Valencianos...in a fiesta that rivals anything I have ever seen:)

When we arrived in Valencia I literally did exactly what I said. I grabbed my buddy, Jessica, and we booked it. We didn't stop to take a group picture or stay with the group who was lingering around outside the busses like a massive heard of buffalo...nope we left them in our dust! Before we had walked for more than 10 minutes toward the city center we spotted a Falla. It was extremely exciting! The energy in Valencia was at an all time high. The streets were packed and citizens were tossing around fireworks like you toss out the trash. I said citizens on purpose because I can't decide if I saw more little kids throw stuff at me or more grown men. The smallest pyro I saw playing with a firework was a two year old. I am not lying...a two year old! What parent in their right mind lets there kids play with fireworks...pretty much every single Valencian parent. You would think I would have been scared for them, but I was actually more afraid for me. Those little boys were crazy they don't pay attention they just light and toss. I felt as if I was in a war zone..probably because I was...me against the entire male population of Valencia. Adding to the fireworks are the Mascletas. The Mascletas are loud bomb like fireworks they have no color, no beauty there sole purpose (in my opinion) is to make noise and render you deaf. Almost every Falla had mascletas set up with them and they went off from 1:00-2:00p.m. in a racket that would wake the dead. Here was a small set...yup this is small! (p.s. this is my first try at posting a video so if it doesn't work cut me some slack)


Back to the Fallas:) the best way I can explain how I felt was it was like going on an Easter egg hunt. I would see a Falla run towards the beauty of it and then screech in joy as I saw one down another street. They were everywhere and they were amazing! You cannot believe that they burn these works of art when you first see them! Here are some pictures of the awesomeness of the Fallas!

If only I had a bikini I would've looked just like her with blonde hair...right?

This Falla was in the Plaza del ayuntamiento (the main plaza where city hall is located...it was huge!)

I have no idea what this nun is doing but apparently the words beneath this "ninot" mean don't touch the bell:) I guess that means karate chopping it is ok?

froggies...

Jessica and I went from one Falla to the next. We didn't have a map of Valencia we followed the trail of Fallas and were hopelessly lost in no time. I have to say I have never had such a good time without having any idea of where I was. You couldn't help but stumble upon fallas everywhere you went. By the time it reached 5:00p.m. we were both a little tired so we ended up taking a nap in a park for 45 minutes and then we headed back toward the crazy racket in the city center. They had a fire parade at 7:00p.m. where the women who had won based on their traditional dresses walked with their court. There were dancers in the beginning and in the end there were a bunch of people in fire resistant suits spraying fire everywhere. They even had little boys in the parade spraying fire. We would never be able to do something like that in the United States someone would be suing someone else for getting a scratch in five seconds flat. In Spain I feel like nobody cares, in fact, I am pretty sure some people were purposely aiming at others but they think of it as harmless fun and part of the excitement.

Traditional Valencian dress...I wish you could see their hair close up it was so intricate...it must have taken hours.

Yes...this is a little boy shooting fire out of a dragon...these people are crazy!

After the fire parade we went in search for dinner but before we finally found a place we ended up seeing about 6 more Fallas and having to stop for photos. Weirdly, we also ran into some guys walking camels. I don't have any idea what the camels were for but I rarely see camels outside of the zoo so that was a treat. We ate at an  Italian restaurant and it was delicious. I felt like a grown woman because I ordered wine to go with dinner knowing anything else I ordered to drink I would drink too fast and have to keep ordering more. The wine lasted for the two hour dinner we had so it worked well. I had the Tortellini and since we had walked so much it tasted heavenly.

yummmy!

After dinner we ran to find a Falla we wanted to see torched. We ended up going to a big one and it was  crowded so we couldn't get too close. I then had the bright idea to go wait for a smaller one to burn so we could get closer. That was not my smartest plan. We were in the front row for the next Falla and I am ashamed to say I was shrieking like a little girl. I don't even remember saying half the stuff I said but I happened to catch it all on video because I was recording. This is embarrassing but it is the best way to show everyone how crazy Valencia is during the Fallas so do me a favor and don't laugh at me even though you will want to:)





After that experience where my skin was being singed and my backpack was steaming from the heat my adrenaline was up and my heart was pounding. It didn't help that at night the older guys seem to start playing with their fireworks which are louder and larger. The older guys are also more insidious about throwing them. They drop them sneakily so you don't realize that all of a sudden you are about to step on someone's firework and it goes off right next to you. Being me I jump about 10 feet in the air and hightail it in the opposite direction. Which led me to this tip...

Tip #5: Do not show them your fear. It resembles Halloween in that when the characters know they scared you they are relentless. Unless you want the next five guys that saw you shriek to drop their fireworks around you do not run screaming in the opposite direction. Even though you feel as if you are in a burning city that is being bombed and it is your natural fight/flight response... don't give in! If the Valencian two year old can handle the fireworks so can you!

We tried to go see the firework show in the main plaza at 1:00p.m.  but Jessica and I were having so much fun being burnt by the falla and having fireworks thrown at us that we sort of didn't realize that the fireworks had gone off an hour earlier and our bus was about to leave. Since we didn't have a map we ran around asking for directions until we found someone with a map. Luckily we made it back to our bus and I was back in bed by 7:00a.m. this morning. The Fallas were like going to Disneyland on drugs. Everyone is crazy and the city is burning alive. There is nothing like it and I am so happy that I was able to experience this crazy night that comes around once a year in Spain.