Feel the fire and the flames

wowzers. i am speechless after this weekend.

i have officially been to and conquered spain. this weekend i ventured to valencia for the annual festival of fire .. las fallas. 

valencia is the 3rd largest city in spain, after madrid and barcelona and located right on the mediterranean coast with a population of 800,000. even with millions of people there for the festival-- valencia was beautiful, clean and absolutely perfect. 

we left thursday afternoon and got in around 8.  thank you ryanair for your cheap and timely flights. there were 6 of us in total - 4 girls and 2 guys.  excitement and anticipation definitely overcame us on the flight and we had no idea what to expect. 

the only place we were able to secure for just 3 nights at a reasonable price was actually located 3km outside the city and it turned out to be such a sweet deal.  for just 30euros/night we had our own apartment with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, full kitchen, family room and dining room and a balcony that was RIGHT ON THE BEACH. seriously .. there is nothing like waking up to the sun shining out over the mediterranean. the little area of Port Saplaya is absolutely astonishing.  cute little restaurants, marinas with beautiful sailboats and buildings the color of the best gelato flavors, it was divine.  i recommend it to everyone.  the only downside was that it normally required a taxi to get to and from the main city center- but hey, if you dont have any other options, what are ya gonna do?  there is a bus system but it was infrequent and not reliable.

so after literally just throwing our stuff in the room we jumped in a cab and went back into town.  it was st patrick's day so there was an extra air of excitement and frenzy in the air and people were everywhere. because las fallas is the festival of fire and an homage to the spring equinox and saint josé, the patron saint of carpenters - there is an incessant nearly obnoxious onslaught of firecrackers going off.  its the 4th of july on steroids.  and the source of most of the commotion and firecracking.. are little children in the streets.  seriously, parental supervision not up to par in spain, but then again, its spain. the land of the 1 euro boxed sangria. aka, where all of my money went this weekend

so st patricks day in columbia can get pretty crazy- although- recap, its a drinking holiday in a college town, so of course its pretty wild- but valencia spain during las fallas was no different. we saw everyone walking around with these awesome leprechaun hats, and i of course wanted to have one.  rather than buy one, i decided to ask these group of people standing on the sidewalk. turns out not only were they willing to give me their sweet hat, but they were the nicest people in the world. we ended up hanging out with them all night and watching the beautiful firework show from the top of their apartment complex. it was the perfect setting and such a testament to the type of people you meet while traveling especially as a student in europe.


we spent the next morning making a nice hearty american breakfast- eggs and bacon and soaking up the sunshine. after getting nice and toasty we went into town and caught the parade of the traditional women and men and children in Valencian costumes and wandered around looking at all of the fallas! its a long standing family tradition for the women and men and then their kids to don the traditional dresses of Valencian ancestry -- theyre beautiful.  these little girls walking around like little china dolls- with so much poise and beauty- its astonishing

that night we rocked it college style and had family dinner of spaghetti and yummy potatoes. it was so nice to just relax and enjoy a cheap dinner and talk about all the differences between our respectful schools. In our group we had 2 kids from Big 10 schools . a girl from a small private school in pennsylvania , a boy from Arizona, a girl from a small school in connecticut and then me.  i still remain the sole southerner, which really has been a role ive enjoyed assuming.  and the nuances, differences and traditions that differ just between our respective schools and states is so interesting to me. 

the 1st place fallas to be preserved in the fallas museum

we spent the last and final day unfortunately walking around with our luggage for most of it because we had an early flight out in the morning and opted not to pay for another night in the hostel.  saturday was probably the most crowded it got where we were and at one point we were like little minnows swimming upstream in a narrow river of salmon during like mating season.  it was so intense. pushing and squeezing in between thousands of people just trying to find the lonely tourism office (that ended up being closed anyways) at one point, we opted to grab some sidewalk cafe seats and just sit in the sun and watch people, aka my favorite sport. man did we see some crazy people.

we were able to get great seats for the fire parade that was such a spectacle of colors, costumes and of course, flames.  seriously, these people go out.  the parade was about 30 minutes long and so entertaining. people were literally just swinging giant intense sparklers everywhere and cheering and clapping.  the main attraction of the last night is the burning of the 50ft tall fallas that they literally spend ALL year and thousands of dollars constructing.  thankfully, one winner is chosen each year and perserved in the fallas museum to be remembered for always. we met these foreign guys from denmark, brazil and slovenia and they were pretty stellar entertainment while we waited 2 hours for the burnign and the fireworks.  when that clock struck one am .. this crazy frenzy took over this square where we were waiting with millions of people and there is nothing like watching this giant structure erupt in flames.  one of the greatest memories i will take with me from europe. after much celebration and fallas'ing - we caught the metro to the airport where we got in a hearty night's rest on the benches in the airport (insert sarcasm) before we boarded our plane back to france.

burning of the giant fallas in the center plaza -- 50 ft high

its weird how returning to france - just getting back to an area where there is a concentrated group of people speaking french like at the boarding gate- has now started to feel so comforting.  i love traveling but i also have lots of respect and love for france, which is my temporary home for now.

 tomorrow, well technically right now, marks exactly 2 months since i have been in europe and it means that i have 2 more to go.  its been quite a rollercoaster of a journey that has brought me to where i am now, and i really cannot wait to see what the remainding months have in store