Las Fallas in Valencia

¡Hola a todos!

There is some new news. I have moved from the eastern part of l´Eixample to the western part, about 100 m away from the famous Plaça d´Espanya, a central traffic junction for metro and night busses, and also one of the central places of Barcelona, where usually a lot of tourists go. For reason, since there is a lot to see: e.g. the Museum of National Catalan Art (MNAC) or the Font Mágica every Friday and Saturday evening, which is an amazing spectacle of a combination of water fontains and music.

View from MNAC down to the Plaça d´Espanya

From the other direction - unfortunately somebody was hovering through the picture...

For sure the reason for moving out were not my flatmates, they where perfect :-) But due to the change of my flat it only takes a thirt of the time to university than before. And of course the cost-benefit-ratio of my new apartment is much better. But we will stay in contact!

Fairwell with my former flatmates

But now the interesting part: LAS FALLAS

The fallas is a Spanish spring festival, which is celebrated in Valencia every year. The main attractions are figures several meters high and made of paper and wood, which are inflamed and burnt during the end of the festival.
The trip was organized by the ESN, the Erasmus Student Network, an organization by students for students to help the incoming students and to ease the exchange of experiences and they usually organize several events every week.

Valencia, perfect weather

tThe origin of las Fallas is not exactly known. It is assumed that in the past carpenters and handymen burnt their old candles and lights on the streets after winter, since they would not need them anymore. Coming with time, the date for this ceremony emerged to the day of Holy Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters.
Nowadays regional Fallas-clubs compete against each other to have the best Falla. Besides those statues, the city will have a huge side program including competitions and fireworks, also the traditional Mascletás - a long string consisting of firecrackers that explode to the beat of the music. Although this is Valencian tradition, it reminds me more of the annoying bangers I know from my childhood times on New Years Eve.

Ofrena de Flors - the Holy Saint of the unprotected (building process)

The city of arts and science (Ciudad de las Artes y de las Sciencias) is the futuristic part of the usually more traditional city Valencia. After Franco´s dictatorship the population wanted a place for their own, a park to rest and a place for art. This resulted in a marvellous place for both your eyes and your mind. For your mind, because there are science museums and a planetarium, and also Europe´s biggest aquarium. For your eyes: just see :-)

Left: Ozeanográfic - Europe´s biggest aquarium
Right: the 3D-cinema l´Hemisféric

View to the poolside

To finish, there is still something missing: the food
Valencia ist the origin of paella, a dish usually consisting of rice (or sometimes pasta) and some kind of meat or seafood. Now you can imagine how happy I was when I finally got to try the traditional paella valenciana with chicken and rabbit meat. And I tell you, it definitely was worth waiting for it!!

If this is enough for me..??

In the end I had to be satisfied with a smaller plate :-)

That´s it, hasta pronto!