Fallas - all "locura" all the time

Howdy interwebs! Some catching up to do. First some photos of Las Fallas, with a link to a superior expat blog with fancy photos: http://nothemingwaysspain.blogspot.ca/2014/03/valencias-fallas-2014-another-hangover.html

What is Fallas? Perhaps the biggest festival in Spain with some cultural significance, but mostly characterized by the following ingredients: firecrackers, strange costumes, amazing paper maché sculptures, debauchery, fire. To prepare: shake, add churros and buñuelos (a superior churro-donut that may or may not contain zucchini), top it off with fear of small children throwing firecrackers, light everything on fire, and serve, then regurgitate on streets. Then clean it up and pretend nothing ever happened.

As most people we know, we also chose to escape much of this madness for the serenity of mountains (more on this later) -- the 2 AM brass band music, 4 AM bad dance music at full volume, 8 AM firecracker wake-ups can only be tolerated for so long before one utters a string of expletives at the city and its insane inhabitants. So consider this a very very partial post.

Our local Falla under construction

Our local Falla in more advanced stages of construction

Very lit up bits of our neighbourhood

Another Falla nearby

And another

The big bad Falla in the main square (built by city)

This year's winner

This one comes with a cute "fallero" family

 

Some satire and/or very complex toilet humour and/or scantily clad ladies are usually a must

Endless processions in cute outfits

To build a giant Virgin Mary made of flowers (i.e. an offering)

The final result by day

More flowers

One of the crows to "watch" the firecrackers. Things get hazy and insanely loud.

Suddenly there is a yak at our front door

And various other animals and costumes

Leading to some sort of Arabic-themed parade

Then all is set on fire. Everywhere. With simultaneous fireworks. Firefighters hose down buildings as the city smells a bit like solvent for a few hours.

We were fortunate to have a big one beside our house and another two big ones within 2 blocks

Bad kids + explosives = bad

 

Adorable kids + beer = good

Short trips outside from Valencia

We have been on two short trips just outside of Valencia, one to the town of Xativa, Sagunto and one to La Palma in the Albufera, a salt flats area where rice is grown.

Xativa

Less than an hour outside of Valencia and a 4.25 euro commuter train ride away is a gorgeous old castle town. There are many references to Borgias and Bourbons. The castle is walking distance from the train station and this small tourist town is very well sign posted and full of bakeries and cafes. The castle has had significant amounts of restoration work of the ruins (the castle has rich Iberian and roman heritage). The cost of entry is small < 3 euros if memory serves and there is a cute cafe at the entrance with nice views of the city. The castle grounds are extensive and there is a picnic area inside if you bring food with you.

Me, running around the castle and admiring the mountain views around

Doing an unexplicable pose in the jail at Xativa. 

There was also a nice hike nearby with the stations of the cross and more nice views at the top. 

La Palma in the Albufera

We went to the Albufera by local bus, very economical but we looked up times as they are not very frequent. It was a cloudy Sunday when we went. The Albufera is full of rice fields, and apparently where all the best rice for paella is grown and a popular spot for eels. As a result, the small towns in the area are full of restaurants for paella that are full on Sunday by 3pm, a respectable lunch starting time. To try the rice and eel dish, look for "all i pebre" on the menu.

The area seems quite rural but the wetlands are large and are impacted by industry. Local fisherman and farmers complain and argue it has negatively affected the waters over the years, but as a visitor, it is still lovely. 

There area is all wetlands and you can take a boat ride to see the area. We opted to walk but on a warm day, a boat ride did seem like a great idea. 

Sagunto

Sagunto is a commuter train ride away (7.5 euros round trip). The town itself is not particularly interesting, with some heavy industry in the main town (if you walk north of the train station) but the castle ruins are clearly visible from the train station and if you walk towards them you will either follow the main road up or find a pedestrian path along the mountainside the leads towards the castle ruins. There is not much left of the castle but its grounds are large, there is no fee to enter and there are a lot of stones with roman and hebrew inscriptions. A lovely day, but unlike Xativa and the Albufera, maybe not the best place for a fancy lunch after your wander. 

A 2000 km trip around Andalucia

After Christmas we rented a car for a week and set off on an adventure to see southern Spain. We wrote directions down and we had "off-maps", an app for iphones that Matt's cousin told us about. It was great for getting around new towns without using any pesky data. Also good when you are a couple and neither is known for the great sense of direction. Here is a map of our travels:

We had already visited the Cabo de Gata last year along the southwest coast near Aguilas on the map. We did a four day hike- no roads, just a trail, right along the mediterannean, lots of beautiful beaches, AMAZING. I have put pics here just in case anyone is tempted.

Our trip was by car and we spent our first night in Elche, a cute small town strangely obsessed with palm trees. We stayed in a lovely hotel, ate some mediocre food and passed a local fare with a "North American" ride- possibly named Bronco Loco. The pic is below. Note the totem pole, the wolves and the palm trees in the background.

ELCHE (B)

On our next day we drove some serious kilometers and ended our day in Nerja, along the easternmost edge of the Costa del Sol at a hotel owned by a British couple. It was our first chance in a long time to chat in English with a stranger. Also to eat before 9pm (in Valencia, no restaurants open before 8:30 pm). Lots of beaches and beautiful views here. We passed many, many a greenhouse on our drive that day as Andalucia grows much of Europe's fruits/vegetables.

 NERJA (C)

Now we were in the heart of the Costa del Sol and drove to Estepona, near Malaga to meet up with Heather and family for a couple of days. This part of the drive was very slow because there is no proper highway so you drive right along the coast on local roads but as a bonus you get great views. Along the way, we stopped in at Torre del Mar for a snack and wander along the beach. Full of Spanish tourists and a worthwhile stop. In Estepona we were treated to a particularly clear day with gorgeous views of Africa and the rock of Gibraltar (it's giant). It was very quiet in the off-season and we went to the town of Marbella for a delicious fish dinner. Marbella is a lovely town, we saw some classy looking buildings and have heard it is reputedly a favourite spot of Russian mafia who have obviously invested some money in the town.

ESTEPONA (D)

We did a small side trip to Casares (30 min from Estepona), a little touristy mountain town, full of gorgeous views and eagles and a cemetery that looks a bit like a theatre.

CASARES (E)

We'd heard about the "pueblos blancos" and so stopped in at one-Arcos de la Frontera. These small towns in the hills south of Seville are tiny, full of white buildings, winding streets and giant churches. The narrow town roads are only allowed to be driven on by locals, which seems reasonable considering the windyness, steps and labyrinth nature. Worth seeing these towns for the drive to get there alone, along on some narrow, marginally terrifying country roads with beautiful views if you take the back roads (which we did).

ARCOS DE LA FRONTERA (G)

Seville was our first big city stop on this trip. This classy city is a cultural centre and a favourite among locals and foreigners alike. Seville got fast trains long before cities bigger in size, simply because people love visiting it. We were no different and loved it. We were there during the holidays where most everything was closed, but did manage to see a small local pub overflowing with people (I have noticed Spaniards love to be in crowds and will create them whenever possible! Why pick a larger location when you can mill around a smaller one and be outside?!) 

 SEVILLE (H)

We did not stay in Seville, but in a small town outside, called Carmona. If you can't make it to the pueblos blancos, Carmona is a great alternative with a similar vibe and has a gorgeous parador (state-run hotels, often in old castles as is the case in Carmona). We, on the other hand, stayed in a strange but giant roomed and perfectably acceptable apartment hotel.

 CARMONA (I)

We made a super-quick trip to Cordoba, home of an incredible mosque turned cathedral. It gives you a feel for the long history of Spain and the various influences Andalucia has had over the years. I would recommend to anyone and everyone to visit. We also had lunch with Paria and Mehdi, who we ran into by chance in Seville the day before! A wonderful surprise.

 CORDOBA (J)

Our week was almost up, so because I sneakily was not insured to drive, Matt drove us to Alarcon for the night. This town of 300 is really a purely tourist town with another fantastic parador. We stayed in a great hostel and were recommended kayaking along the river. One of our favourite spots and close to Valencia as we had to leave early the next morning to return or rental car and return to regular life!

 ALARCON (K)

Christmastime in Valencia

Christmas time for us here in Spain has been wonderful and full of visitors! We bought a small plastic tree to make it feel more christmassy as well as some Catalonian christmas items. You can buy real trees here but they are in shorter supply so pricier and also still alive and potted! We live in Valencia, which celebrates Christmas in much the same way as Canada does, roast turkey and all, with the one exception being that King's day on January 6th is the traditional gift giving time and holidays last until January 6th. Oh yes, and on Christmas night we looked out when we thought we heard carolers but there was a large group of folks in hallowe'en costumes. We have asked around but to the best of our knowledge it is just that we have unique neighbours and not that we discovered a secret Spanish Christmas tradition. The one funny thing I have noticed is that Santa breaks into your apartment here (everyone lives in apartments- so there are very few chimneys). Here is a photo that you have to look closely to see santa but he's there, catburgling into a random apartment. These Santas are everwhere (bottom right corner of photo).

Barcelona located in Catalonia, on the other hand, has MANY strange traditions. Melissa had taught me all about these traditions earlier so we went to Barcelona to buy trinkets and discover them. The first is the "caga tio"- a log you feed treats to for a month and treat well, and then on Christmas day you beat it with a stick as hard as you can and it poops out presents. Here is are two links: one of an actual child showing how it's done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB_N7-HXTlI and here is the song with the translation that you sing to make it happen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB_N7-HXTlI. We bought a tiny log but did not follow through with the beating. The other is the "caganer". This is a man, generally, who is squatting and mid-shit that you add to your nativity scene. I obviously bought two of these and put them below our tree as I could not bring myself to invest in a full nativity scene. And here the nativity scenes are not like at home- they are full villages (so your shitting man does not need to be right next to baby jesus)! They often include Egypt and some pyramids (as the kings originate from there) and functional water features and full kitchens are the norm. We saw some impressive incense burning stoves so that you could have a realistic cast iron stove. We also saw a number of devils for sale in the Christmas markets which caused me some confusion until some native Barcelonians told us every year there is a play where devils trick shepherds trying to go see baby jesus into a trap where they get put in a cauldron (witches may or may not be involved) and are about to die until St. Michael saves them and the devils go back to hell, tail between their legs. Obviously. There are many versions of Els Pastorets but here is one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aog_lcSS6E

So we had lots of wonderful visitors. First was Melissa and our Barcelona adventure- we got some great weather and had some good times. First, Melissa learned that gin and tonics in Spain are served in ridiculous glasses- I assured her not just for ladies. She seemed unsure at the glass choice:

Then we saw the usual pretty things- the olympic site:

The fort above Barcelona: 

the still uncompleted Sagrada familia:

 and the art museum (we didn't go inside but lovely from the outside):

Then for Christmas proper David and Rosemary visited us in Valencia and we cooked and ate delicious foods and went for some nice walks although sadly Christmas weather not perfect every day and a cooler wet front had moved in- think still positive double digits but definitely jacket worthy.

All in all, a wonderful holiday and I can't lie, reading the Canadian weather did help me feel we picked the right year to escape! As always, a hilarious photo I couldn't help taking with a Spanish Christmas wish- I hope you all had a tender Christmas!?!?