Sunday 17 March 2013

Fallas Part 1

So this will be the first of a few posts about Fallas, simply because I took so many pictures last night, that it'll have to be spit up into daily posts.

Nothing from the first day, Friday, I'm afraid, because although we were out and about, I forgot to take my camera.  I was more prepared last night.  After a (much needed) lazy day, we headed out at 10pm ish to see the sights of Russafa, and then went to meet friends for drinks in the centre, before watching the 1am fireworks and then heading to Canovas.

I enjoyed the evening but it was scary at times too.  As people get more drunk and careless with fireworks, it can get very worrying when you're in a busy area.  Nevertheless, we kept our wits about us, and didn't drink much, and we had a good time.  Here's a few pictures...


Our local falla in Montolivet has an Avengers theme.


On the way to Russafa, walking down Peris y Valero.


The lights on Calle Suerca.  Just unbelievable!


A tunnel of light.


Looking back down the street, you get the full impact of it. 


The Calle Suerca falla appears.


Calle Suerca.


I love the humour in the fallas. 





The lights on Calle Cuba, with a very shadowy me!


On Cuba, the lights are supposed to look like Tower Bridge. Pretty impressive.  Last year, they did the Eiffel Tower.



Incredible how they hang over you. 


I loved the "cages" of flowers that hung down, it was a really pretty section.



The Calle Cuba falla.  We weren't on the right side of it really, but it was so busy and we had no chance of getting round to the front at that point. 





So then we headed for the centre of town.  The bull ring looked pretty all lit up.  Fallas marks the start of the bull fighting season, but that's one element of Spanish culture that I won't be savouring.


The lights that wrap around the centre of the street are so beautiful.


There is an "infantile falla" next to all of the much larger ones, in each falla (confusing the area is called a falla and the statue is called a falla, with the celebration being called Fallas) and these are amazing works in their own right, but are quite literally overshadowed by the larger ones.


We then headed into town,and saw the bull ring lit up and looking rather pretty.  Although Fallas marks the start of the bull fighting season, that is one element of Spanish culture that I have no interest in. 


Some of the Fallas are less comical and more subdued, such as this one, not far from Plaza Ayuntamiento.


Traditional dancing on the stage outside the town hall in Plaza Ayuntamiento.


It's quite tricky to get a good photo of some of these fallas with the floodlights, but here is the one in Plaza Ayuntamiento, with a Valencia tourist bus and tourists of different nationalities. 






Photos never do a very good job of capturing fireworks, but it was a great display nonetheless and I'm excited for tonight's already.  We're planing to watch that from along the side of the Riverbed park to get a better view. 

So today the plan is to go and see more of the fallas as we have a map detailing some of the best.  It's important to do it now, because come Tuesday night, they're all being torched!  After that we're heading to Plaza de la Virgin (just behind the cathedral for those of you that know the city) for the flower offering to the Virgin Mary that the Falleras do.  I'll upload more pictures soon!

2 comments:

  1. That looks absolutely amazing! Glad to see you posting again :-)

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  2. Thanks hun! It's been a very busy winter for me at work, but things have settled down a bit now, the weather's warming up and there's lots to do, so expect loads more posts!

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