Trip to Valenica Spain 2009 (Las Fallas)

We left Houston on a 5:30 pm flight to Paris. Once we arrived in Paris we cleared customs and made our way to the local terminal to catch our short hop flight on Air Europa to Valencia.

The plane was late leaving the gate in Paris due to some passengers who had not shown up. They indicated they needed to remove their luggage since they would not be on the flight.

Once we backed out from the gate we were stalled for a bit longer. Must have been some medical emergency as the pilot actually came on the intercom and asked if there was a doctor on board. Never saw what was going on, but we did not go back to the gate and were eventually on our way.

By the time we arrived in Valencia we had been awake the better part of 24 hours. We checked in and decided to take a walk around town and have a look see.

It’s crowded here. And there’s an endless barrage of fireworks being detonated. And from what we hear, the festival not even in full swing yet.

We headed for the mascaleta but it was over before we got there. Even so, it was LOUD. We’re going to attend tomorrow’s for the full effect.

After that we had some lunch and then took the bus to the Ninot Exhibition. This is where they take one of the smaller figures or components from each of the fallas that will be on display during the festival just to showcase the artisans. Today was the last day of the exhibition before the minots were returned so the falls could be setup.

We headed back to the hotel and took a 3 hour nap before heading back out this evening for the Folkloric Parade. This started up about 11:00 pm and ran till 1:30 am and featured all kind of groups. marching band and dancers dressed up in traditional costumes.

It’s 1:30 am now and there’s still an abundant number of fireworks punctuating the night and there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon.

Too tired to process pics. Hopefully will have some online tomorrow to show you. Now it’s off to bed.