Spain: Valencia for Las Fallas festival

When searching for a final destination in Spain I happened upon the Las Fallas festival and was intrigued. We typically travel during 'shoulder' season, when the crowds are less but the weather is still pleasant and things are open. This was our first vacation where we went for the duration of a large festival. We rode the train from Madrid to Valencia and at first I wasn't sure, the train station in Valencia was busy and the workers weren't that pleasant. We found our way where we belonged and after about 30 minutes of walking got to our apartment. It was a beautiful studio apartment with a breathtaking view from the balcony. By far our greatest Airbnb.com find yet!

We got settled and wandered the immediate area then spent some time familiarizing ourselves with the festivities coming  up.

Bright and early the following morning I went out alone with the camera to capture some of the statues and buildings before the crowd. I got to visit an old church and wander the streets before the crowds were out in full force. It was a rewarding trip since no one was out for almost 3 hours and I got some great shots. To end my morning out I stopped in the large covered marketplace across from our apartment for breakfast supplies.

Our goal for the day was to find as many of the Las Fallas statues as possible, manned with our map we set off on our quest. It was so fun with the crowds around and although it was a lot more people than I'm typically comfortable with we felt safe and everyone we encountered was friendly. Here are some of our favorite statues by far not even a tenth of the ones we saw, those things are everywhere! We also learned some of the history of the festival and the insane amount of money that is spent to erect these statues yearly!

After a long day of walking around town we relaxed in our apartment until the evening fireworks show which we could view from our balcony. It was a wonderful first full day in Valencia. 

The next morning we ventured to the small spanish cafe downstairs for breakfast, it was standing room only and non-english speaking. The food was delicious and we ordered very effectively by pointing to everyone else's food. We decided to venture down to the main square for the afternoon firework show and dance, it was essentially hundreds of firecrackers being set off to some beat and dancers. It was so loud I still don't know how those people weren't deaf doing that year after year. Then we watched the start of the flower offering parade where locals representing different regions would dress in traditional clothing and bring flowers to the courtyard outside the church to construct a  large virgin Mary statue that is burned to start La Creme (the burning) on the final day. Any locals can pay a fee to participate in the flower offering and it is considered an honor. The design on the back of the virgin statue changes every year, this year is represented the tree of life. 

That evening we participated in a food tour of Valencia, it took us to some delicious restaurants and although it wasn't as through as the one in Madrid we liked it. I'm not sure I could eat tapas daily but it was nice to enjoy them while in Spain. We even got used to the late dining hours, 10pm being the typical local dinner time most restaurants didn't open until 8:30.

The following day since the winners had been announced we decided to seek out the ones we hadn't seen which of course meant quite a bit of walking. After finding all of them and relaxing over a long lunch we ventured to L'Exaimpler where all the lights were. We happened upon this information that a certain section of the city puts up lights like Christmas. I'm so glad we did, it was amazing to see. The lights danced to different songs and the crowd really got into it. We were out well passed one in the morning and thanks to our overly friendly 3 yr old got invited to enjoy a private party and dinner. Although the language barrier was pretty limiting we still had a blast dancing the night away.

 

Next morning not so bright and early was the final day of the festival, it had passed so quickly with all the celebrations. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that by the morning all these amazing works of art would be gone. Today we just took some leisure time to explore parts of the city we hadn't seen and revisit some our favorite statues before they were burned down. Pieces of the winning statue are preserved in the Las Fallas museum but it is considered a part of the offering to have your statue burned completely. I even heard that the winner sometimes feels robbed because their statue didn't get to burn completely. At dusk was the fire parade, we lined the streets around the colosseum five people deep. I had high hopes for the parade with such an awesome name but it was essentially just the people who set the statues on fire marching down the street to some music.

We wandered the streets for awhile longer and the atmosphere was defiantly charged. Everyone was looking forward to this climax of the festival. The smaller children statues are burned starting at 10pm and the larger statues are burned starting at 12am. After a crowded early (by Spanish standards 8:30pm) dinner at a local gem we headed to the statue outsider our apartment to await the first burning. It was such a unique atmosphere and I think some of it had to do with the finality of burning something that took such an effort to create. We were in the front row and the show did not disappoint, with a loud explosion of fireworks lined up the small statue was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. According to Maddy she got a 'sunburn' from the fire so we decided to head upstairs and watch the surrounding statues burn from our balcony. After the fire died down children joined hands and danced around the ruins singing songs.

 

It was an amazing sight, every large statue that burned was proceeded with aerial fireworks. You could see the burning men wandering the streets with their torches and large crowds following them. The statue directly below our balcony wasn't started on fire until after 4 am but the crowd was just as large and lively as ever. It was a sight like no other to be that close the the fireworks, literally right over our 6th floor balcony and then the flames from the fire reaching close to our building. The view was better for us then being on the ground.

 

The following morning the city seemed like a city reborn, no evidence was left at all of the fires. All the ashes and trash had been washed away and the streets were quiet. It was as if during the few hours we slept we were transported to a new place. We decided to utilize our final day to explore the Spanish country side, we hired a local guide who took us by car to a ruined castle, a local town, a waterfall and a small lake for swimming. It was a nice nature day and a good break from the last three weeks of just city dwelling. After coming back we all simply crashed from the festivities of the night before, our bodies obviously not having the restoring power that the city had in a couple hours.

The next day we were off, got a nice surprise of being upgraded to business for our flight to Turkey (first time for everything!) and before we knew it we were back in Bahrain headed for our Saudi home.

Spain: Madrid and farewells

We arrived in Madrid and found our apartment without too much fuss, we found out the concept of 'European blocks' is true in Spain too. Took us a far amount longer to walk to our apartment then we were originally told but we have come to expect that when traveling. Our apartment was nice and spacious but could have been in a better neighborhood. While doing our normal first day activities of grocery shopping we were surprised about how different the population is in the part of Spain from Barcelona. It seemed more of a urban city with less charm then Barcelona had. Our first full day we met a guide and took our first ever food tour.

We visited tons of shops and sampled traditional foods that are more common to this region of Spain. In addition we visited some interesting shops we wouldn't have known about other wise. Such as a nunnery for a box of cookies were you order through a turnstile so the nuns don't have to show their face and a high end Market that was designed by Eiffel. Word to the wise don't eat before a food tour! I was so full by the second stop it was a struggle. We started with a chocolate pastry, some local hard candy, nunnery cookies, local olives and sardines, spanish omelet, cured ham, two tapas bars, olive oil sampler, fish, meat stew and of course local beer and wine at each place. It was throughly overwhelming and wonderful! 

The following day we wandered around town on foot, I expected the area to be flat but was surprised by the incline of the streets we travelled. The weather was perfect for walking and the metro wasn't super handy to our apartment so it was a good way to see the town. First we explored the Plaza Mayor, the main square in Madrid and the surrounding shops. The street vendors were out in full force so we took some time to enjoy the feel of the square on a weekend.

 After a nice local prepared food at a restaurant recommended by our food tour guide we visited the Royal Palace. The courtyard was the prettiest part to me, we used Rick Steve's audio guide inside and that enriched our experience some. Even Maddy got in the royal spirit posing like the pictures in the palace. 
 

We concluded our day with a nice early evening playing at the park with the Palace in the background.












The following day we wanted to escape the urban feel and decided to head to the park for a picnic and day of relaxing in the sun. The park was huge and gorgeous! It had paddle boats for rent, multiple beautiful fountains and tons of locals enjoying a lazy Saturday.

 

 

We finished our relaxing day out with a visit to the best churro place in all of Spain. I have loved churros since I was a child and they are not the same in Spain. They were plain fired pastry and served with bitter chocolate. I'm glad we tried them but won't be trying them again. 

Sadly Madrid was the end of the trip for Felisha and my mom, they headed back to Texas for work and school the following morning. It was a tough goodbye but I'm so glad we were able to share this experience with them. We got on our train and headed onto Valencia for the Las Fallas festival. 

Spain: Getting there and Barcelona

This journey started out similar to all the others, we've gotten down a pretty good routine now. We spent a much needed pre-vacation day in Baharain and found a wonderful cafe, after a couple Mai Tai's we called it an early night for an early morning flight.

 

Once we got to Istanbul we had a 6 hour layover but the Turkish lounge made it relaxing. I don't know that maddy will be able to adjust to going back to sitting in the regular waiting area. Poor spoiled kid! 

Our arrival in Barcelona was uneventful and with unclear metro directions we decided to splurge for a taxi. Our apartment was right off the Ramble in a nice little alleyway with a park across the street. 

We were surprised to encounter a lack of English speakers and had to adjust to menus and conversations in Spanish. Right across from our apartment was the delicious family owned Cafe Elsibeths.  The only thing we could identify for sure on the menus were hamburgesses and they were delicious! The next morning I took the metro to the airport to pick up my mom and felisha. It was so wonderful to see them again after so many months! They came back and rested while Trey, Maddy and I wandered down to the local outdoor market to shop and have lunch. On the way we met some really nice expats at the park and got recommendations on the town. It was so nice to get involved in the community. The Boqueria Market was unlike anything I had ever experienced, a huge market with all types of fresh products from meat markets to fruit to candy and wine. We had a good afternoon just roaming it. 

Barcelona Cathedral (La Seu), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, The Magic Fountain at Montjuic, Gran Teatre del Liceu (opera house built in 1846). It was a long day filled with lots of sightseeing and information about the Barcelona culture. To finish off the night we took the Metro to The Magic Fountains at Montjuic and enjoyed the show. It was a spectular lights and sound water display, similar to the one in Vegas but in my opinion better. 
The following morning we decided to visit the inside of the Sagrada Familia and the recently opened to tourist Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. I didn't realize that the Sagrada Familia is still being worked on before visiting Barcelona. It was a different experience to visit such a world treasure that isn't completed. The building currently has two of the three sides complete the navity side that was completed during Gaudi's lifetime and the passion (christ's death) which was completed after. It is interesting to see the distinct difference in styles. 

That evening we enjoyed the Spanish custom of eating with a little tapas snack around 6pm followed by dinner at 10pm. In between we enjoyed a traditional Flamingo dance which  wasn't at all as glamorous as I thought it would be. The footwork and singing was amazing but I thought the clothes would have been more flashy.

 The following day bright and early started our tour of Barcelona. We meet our guide and he took us to multiple sights including Sagrada Família Church, City Hall, old Roman church, Borne district, La Pedrera (Casa Milà), 

I love old churches but this on didn't do it for me. It was too grandiose with all the designs and too many concepts in one building.  

That night we got to indulge in a much needed date night! The restaurant was a little further out in the suburbs than we expected but it was delicious.Next morning we wandered back down the Boqueria so mom could explore it with me. We spent the afternoon exploring the Barcelona Cathedral even visiting the roof for a photo op! I really am a sucker for old churches. We had high hopes to visit the Piacasso Museum but Maddy wasn't interested, next time for sure! Instead we wander the El Borne shopping district for a while. 

Overall we loved Barcelona, the vibe of the city was very new mixed with old, tons of modern conveniences but enough history to make it unique. And you really can't beat the amazing buildings and architecture around the city. It was surprising kid friendly with parks every couple blocks and tons of green space for a big city. I would have never considered Spain somewhere I wanted to visit but now I can't wait to revisit Barcelona, it warrants another couple days for sure! We boarded our first ever budget airline flight to Madrid and we're off!