27/04/2015

The past few weeks I've seen a lot of my friends and family with friends coming to visit me and with me getting to go home for two weekends. The first week in March my friends Katie and Nicola came to visit me in Valencia which was so great and included some of the strongest cocktails I've ever tasted and them being probably more well known that I am here. They managed to get a lot of funny looks and comments whilst wearing shorts and vest tops in 25+ degree heat while everyone here was still wearing their knee high boots. It was a great week and I'm so glad they came here.

 

 

Definitely the happiest I've been whilst here 

The weekend after they left I went home for the weekend as it was Katie's 21st birthday so we went to Liverpool and then after returning to Valencia for four days, I went home again where I celebrated another friend's 21st and my brother's 18th.

Las Fallas

The month of March is when the city of Valencia goes crazy in a festival called Las Fallas. I'd learnt about this festival at college and university but no lesson could prepare me for the transformation that occurs in the city for this event. From the 1st March there is a Mascletá in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento everyday at 2pm which consists of fireworks and loud bangs to a certain rhythm. It is one of the loudest things I've heard and everyday the Plaza was packed with so many people.

There are lights all over Valencia but the most impressive are in the Ruzafa district which had the most amazing light displays I've ever seen. There are two streets, Calle Sueca and Calle Cuba, that are in competition with each other every year for the best lights and they really were incredible.

Along with the Mascletá and the lights, each area builds a Falla from paper, wood and other materials which will burn. A Falla is a huge figure which represents certain topics and problems that Spain is experiencing, they range from around 2-15 metres high. They are planned and designed throughout the year and then around the 15th March they are constructed in the streets for all to see. On the 19th March all the Fallas are judged and then burned. A teacher at my school told me that the government had to cap how much money is spent on each Falla at 300,000 euros because there is a wealthy district that used to spend millions on their Falla and other districts couldn't compete. To some it seems silly to spend so much money on something that is going to get burned at the end of the festival but to the people of Valencia it's the best time of the year. All the pupils were so excited for it, even more so than they were at Christmas and it's something they all feel very passionate towards.

Even during the day and especially at night people are letting off petardos which are hand held fireworks that people light and then throw them on the floor to create a bang, so walking through the streets is like walking through a war zone. It really was a great experience to witness, here are some photos of different Fallas: