My program USAC went on our final group trip on Saturday to an area along the Costa Blanca a few towns called Jávea, Denia and Altea. They all were beautiful with rocky coasts and gorgeous views of the Mediterranean, when we got to Jávea we walked along the coast and then went on a small hiking trip to the top of a small mountain where the overlook was beautiful. After that we went to Denia and we ate lunch at a restaurant called El Port where we were served a mountain of food, salad, bread, grilled vegetables, spanish tortilla, paella and ice cream. After eating that mountain of food we went and spent an hour on the beach play volleyball and Frisbee and some girls were just laying around on the beach. Then after that we went to Altea and walked up to a beautiful church where we had more views of the Sea and actually walked past a bride and groom taking pictures on their wedding day. After that we just returned to Alicante where I enjoyed a delicious meal and spent some time with my host family. Then i headed out to the barrio to watch the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer game, a huge event in Spain.
Also this week started Semana Santa and on Sunday we saw a few of the processions and they were amazing. Although some of the costumes were similar to what we would call KKK costumes they really were amazing and the floats that the people carried had amazing images of Jesus and the passion and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I'm really excited to see some of the other processions and the main processions on Wednesday and Thursday. Also this weekend is the beginning of my Spring Break Trip. On Saturday I'm flying to Venice, Italy and I will be there for 4 days, after that I'm flying to Paris, France for 5 days and I am ending my trip in Edinburgh, Scotland for 6 days and then I'm going to fly back to Alicante. Where i'm going to be visited by my Aunts! Hope you guys are all doing great back in the US of A.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Second day in Barça!
On Sunday we started the day by sleeping in because we had a late night with the game on Saturday. We decided we were going to start the day by walked down la Rambla and heading towards the port because there was a cable car there that we were going to take to see an overhead view of the city. Once we got to the stop for the cable car we waited in line for about 20 minutes and it ended up breaking...we were bummed but luckily for us we were right next to the massive beach so we had to suck it up and spend time there :). We stayed at the beach for a few hours and by the end of it we saw this giant yacht pull in with a big regatta around it and we found out that its a boat from the Barcelona World Race which is : a non-stop, round-the-world race for yacht crews of two, sailed on Open 60 IMOCA monohull boats. Following the Clipper Route, it starts and finishes in Barcelona. It was pretty cool to see and something that I probably won't ever see again. After spending the day at the beach and walking around the port we decided to have a delicious and slightly nicer dinner than we had any other night because it was the last one in Barcelona. We ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe Barcelona to have some good American food and it really did hit the spot. After the yummy dinner we went back to the hostel for the last time and passed out because we needed to be up by 4:15ish to finish packing and get to the airport on time to get back to Alicante. It was a very nice relaxing weekend at home and I loved the city and I definitly plan on going back in the future :)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Barça Barça Baaaaaaarça Day 1
This weekend I decided to take a break from Alicante and visit one of the more popular cities in Spain, Barcelona. We left on Friday the 8th at 8:55 pm from Alicante flying Vueling which is an airline based out of Great Britain which was really nice and the flight was only 50 minutes which surprised me because it's about 5 hours by train or car to get from Alicante to Barcelona. Once we landed we met up with our friends and went to our hostel, which is my first ever experience in a hostel, and to put it nicely it's a little strange. Don't get me wrong the location is amazing and it wasn't that expensive but its just weird having a crappy little bed and I don't really know what it is its just different from anything i had experienced. Well since we didn't get to the hostel until about 1130-12 we just went to bed to prepare for the very busy Saturday that we had ahead of us. The whole reason that we planned this trip was because FC Barcelona had a home game that Saturday versus Almeria and we were going to attend!
Saturday started out like any other day we got up and got ready and then we had to go with our friend Nicole to return a bike that she had rented the night before to see Barcelona before our flight got in. We walked along the street La Rambla Catalunya and i ended up finding a shop where I got a cheap replica Barcelona jersey with Messi's name and number on it. After that we decided we were going to find the place to pick up our tickets for the game tonight to make sure that the place was legit and we weren't getting ripped off. Well when we used the first information to find the place on google it didn't actually exist and we started getting nervous. We ended up calling the place and getting directions on how to reach their location and picked up the tickets which was very harmless and we all could breathe a sigh of relief as we opened up the envelope and saw that there were real tickets with real seat numbers inside.
After that we took the metro (which is really nicely set up) to see Parque Güell or in Catalan "Parç Güell". We must have gotten off at the wrong stop because we walked for a good 40-50 minutes to find this park but it was definitely worth it once we reached the main part. The park is made up of benches that were designed by Gaudi the famous architect who it seems designed all of Barcelona. Included in the park other than the benches are beautiful arched structures that support the benches and two houses designed by Gaudi as well. The whole park is done in a mosaic style with all the color and detail being provided by the chipped pieces of glass that have been put back together it is truly stunning. After the Parque Güell we decided that since we still had a few hours before we wanted to leave for the Barcelona game we were going to go visit the other well known landmark in Barcelona that has a major impact from Gaudi...La Sagrada Familia.
La Sagrada Familia is a massive unfinished Catholic Cathedral that is one of the largest tourist attractions in Barcelona. Construction of the church originally began in 1882 with Gaudi getting involved in 1883, he was then the main architect and designer until his death in 1926, it was only a fourth done at that point in time. The progress was then slowed due to the civil war and lack of funding, in 2010 it reached the mid-way point in construction, with some more difficult parts still to tackle. They estimate that the project will be complete in 2026, because it would mark 100 years since the death of Gaudi who devoted a lot of time to the project. We went and were amazed by our first view, we decided that we were going to pay to enter the cathedral because who knew if we were going to come back and see it. It was money well spent, the cathedral was jaw-dropping, my friend Kate and I couldn't even think of words to describe how impressed we were with the architecture and the amazing stained glass and spiral staircases. When we left we realized that on one side the facade of the building was the nativity scene complete with all the animals and people that would be in the nativity. Then when we were leaving we realized that the opposite facade of the building was the story of the passion of the Christ, so the two sides of the church were the beginning and the end of the life of Jesus Christ which makes sense because it is said that Gaudi began the work on the church as a gift to Jesus. At around 4 we made our way back to the hostel to sit tight for a few hours before heading off to Camp Nou for the FC Barcelona game.
At 6 we headed out for the metro taking it to a stop that was about two blocks from the stadium. We ended up just following the crowd but because we didn't buy the tickets together we all sat in different parts of the stadium, I ended up running into other girls in the USAC program from Alicante and sat with them cause our seats were up really high from the field but you wouldn't be able to tell by some of the amazing pictures that I managed to take. It seats 99,354, making it the largest in Europe and the fourteenth in the world in terms of capacity.The stadium was overwhelming at first with it's massive size and on the side across from where i was sitting the seats spelled out in Barça colors FC BARCELONA and the other side where i was sitting said MES QUE UN CLUB ( more than a club). The game was set to kickoff at 8 and at about 700 the teams came out onto the field and we saw our first glimpse of what can be considered a soccer dream team, from Brazil: Danny Alves (World Cup Player), from Spain: Piqúe (WCP), Xavi (WCP), David Villa (WCP), Iniesta (WCP who won the cup for Spain), and finally from Argentina: Leo Messi (WCP). It was unbelievable, as they walked on the field the whole stadium started chanting and screaming, they were seeing the most important thing that would probably occur today because if Barça won they would be 8 points ahead of Real Madrid who they play next week, which is crucial. At 8 we took our seats and the game started, in the first 45 minutes Barça had all the options we all knew they were going to strike first but nothing happened, half-time and it was still 0-0. The second half starts and David Villa strikes the ball and we all thought it was a sure goal until it bounced off the post and started a fast break for Almería, which lead to a goal and Barça being down 1-0. However 4 minutes later Villa was taken down in the box which resulted in a PK for Barça and Messi drilled it tying the game. Only a few minutes later off a corner kick Barça scored their second goal taking the lead. As the game began to draw to an end it looked as if Almería was beginning to gain some momentum until the defenders for Barça cleared the ball past the midline and sent Messi on a one-on-one with the goalie who stood no chance Messi blew the ball by the goalie and Barça had won. I also have now kept my streak in Spain, since I got here in January I have been to 3 fútbol (soccer) games, every home team has won, Real Madrid, Hercules and now Barça, and each team has given up one goal to their opponents. Strange coincidence! I'm now exhausted and I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy fun day but i'm excited to tell you guys more about Barcelona and i'll post a whole update of just pictures when I get home and the internet is better!
Till next post just remember
Barça, Barça Baaaaaarça!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday started out like any other day we got up and got ready and then we had to go with our friend Nicole to return a bike that she had rented the night before to see Barcelona before our flight got in. We walked along the street La Rambla Catalunya and i ended up finding a shop where I got a cheap replica Barcelona jersey with Messi's name and number on it. After that we decided we were going to find the place to pick up our tickets for the game tonight to make sure that the place was legit and we weren't getting ripped off. Well when we used the first information to find the place on google it didn't actually exist and we started getting nervous. We ended up calling the place and getting directions on how to reach their location and picked up the tickets which was very harmless and we all could breathe a sigh of relief as we opened up the envelope and saw that there were real tickets with real seat numbers inside.
After that we took the metro (which is really nicely set up) to see Parque Güell or in Catalan "Parç Güell". We must have gotten off at the wrong stop because we walked for a good 40-50 minutes to find this park but it was definitely worth it once we reached the main part. The park is made up of benches that were designed by Gaudi the famous architect who it seems designed all of Barcelona. Included in the park other than the benches are beautiful arched structures that support the benches and two houses designed by Gaudi as well. The whole park is done in a mosaic style with all the color and detail being provided by the chipped pieces of glass that have been put back together it is truly stunning. After the Parque Güell we decided that since we still had a few hours before we wanted to leave for the Barcelona game we were going to go visit the other well known landmark in Barcelona that has a major impact from Gaudi...La Sagrada Familia.
La Sagrada Familia is a massive unfinished Catholic Cathedral that is one of the largest tourist attractions in Barcelona. Construction of the church originally began in 1882 with Gaudi getting involved in 1883, he was then the main architect and designer until his death in 1926, it was only a fourth done at that point in time. The progress was then slowed due to the civil war and lack of funding, in 2010 it reached the mid-way point in construction, with some more difficult parts still to tackle. They estimate that the project will be complete in 2026, because it would mark 100 years since the death of Gaudi who devoted a lot of time to the project. We went and were amazed by our first view, we decided that we were going to pay to enter the cathedral because who knew if we were going to come back and see it. It was money well spent, the cathedral was jaw-dropping, my friend Kate and I couldn't even think of words to describe how impressed we were with the architecture and the amazing stained glass and spiral staircases. When we left we realized that on one side the facade of the building was the nativity scene complete with all the animals and people that would be in the nativity. Then when we were leaving we realized that the opposite facade of the building was the story of the passion of the Christ, so the two sides of the church were the beginning and the end of the life of Jesus Christ which makes sense because it is said that Gaudi began the work on the church as a gift to Jesus. At around 4 we made our way back to the hostel to sit tight for a few hours before heading off to Camp Nou for the FC Barcelona game.
At 6 we headed out for the metro taking it to a stop that was about two blocks from the stadium. We ended up just following the crowd but because we didn't buy the tickets together we all sat in different parts of the stadium, I ended up running into other girls in the USAC program from Alicante and sat with them cause our seats were up really high from the field but you wouldn't be able to tell by some of the amazing pictures that I managed to take. It seats 99,354, making it the largest in Europe and the fourteenth in the world in terms of capacity.The stadium was overwhelming at first with it's massive size and on the side across from where i was sitting the seats spelled out in Barça colors FC BARCELONA and the other side where i was sitting said MES QUE UN CLUB ( more than a club). The game was set to kickoff at 8 and at about 700 the teams came out onto the field and we saw our first glimpse of what can be considered a soccer dream team, from Brazil: Danny Alves (World Cup Player), from Spain: Piqúe (WCP), Xavi (WCP), David Villa (WCP), Iniesta (WCP who won the cup for Spain), and finally from Argentina: Leo Messi (WCP). It was unbelievable, as they walked on the field the whole stadium started chanting and screaming, they were seeing the most important thing that would probably occur today because if Barça won they would be 8 points ahead of Real Madrid who they play next week, which is crucial. At 8 we took our seats and the game started, in the first 45 minutes Barça had all the options we all knew they were going to strike first but nothing happened, half-time and it was still 0-0. The second half starts and David Villa strikes the ball and we all thought it was a sure goal until it bounced off the post and started a fast break for Almería, which lead to a goal and Barça being down 1-0. However 4 minutes later Villa was taken down in the box which resulted in a PK for Barça and Messi drilled it tying the game. Only a few minutes later off a corner kick Barça scored their second goal taking the lead. As the game began to draw to an end it looked as if Almería was beginning to gain some momentum until the defenders for Barça cleared the ball past the midline and sent Messi on a one-on-one with the goalie who stood no chance Messi blew the ball by the goalie and Barça had won. I also have now kept my streak in Spain, since I got here in January I have been to 3 fútbol (soccer) games, every home team has won, Real Madrid, Hercules and now Barça, and each team has given up one goal to their opponents. Strange coincidence! I'm now exhausted and I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy fun day but i'm excited to tell you guys more about Barcelona and i'll post a whole update of just pictures when I get home and the internet is better!
Till next post just remember
Barça, Barça Baaaaaarça!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
A very busy week showing the Fraziers the Valencian Community of Spain
This morning the Frazier's left Spain after I got to show them around for a week. As i said earlier we spent their first full day here just seeing Alicante the town that I'm living in and they really enjoyed the sights that you can find here. On Monday i had school all day and so Erin and mom had to suck it up and tan while dad went on a walk around and saw some of Alicante during the week. Then after school we got some food and ice cream they walked me home and they went back to their hotel. On Tuesday we visited a town up the coast from Alicante about an hour and a half, the town is called Villajoyosa and is the home to the Valor chocolate factory and a small chocolate factory that we ended up visiting. Then after that we went down to the beach in this town which was beautiful and home to very brightly colored buildings all along their boardwalk type area. We ate lunch at this cute little restaurant and had some really good "tacos" which were more like burritos but were still delicious. That night we continued our nightly tradition of playing a family game of Euchre before getting dinner and calling it a night. Wednesday was another day where I had class all day and mom and dad went for a walk while Erin kinda had a veg day she was on vacation afterall. On Thursday we took a family trip to the island of Tabarca which is a marine reserve about 18 miles off the coast of Alicante. We had to take a boat out of the harbor and the water at this island was beautiful. Erin didn't really like the birds but i think the views made up for the crazy animals there. All of us got really sunburned and looked a bit like tomatoes after that trip except for mom who liked pointing out that she was the only one who put on sunscreen so we all deserved what we got. On Friday we took the RENFE train to Valencia the capital of the community that i live in. It was a different view of Spain than they got in Alicante because the city is a lot bigger and a lot more preserved with a longer history than that of Alicante. We ended up finding these Valencian tour buses which took us all over the city and we learned about the history of the city and the importance of the Mediterranean to them. It was extremely educational (which is lame) but it was fun too. After these tours we walked around a bit and found the bullfighting museum which had a lot of old matador costumes and a few stuffed bulls explaining the whole sport and tradition behind it in Valencia. After that included in the museum was a trip into the bull ring which is otherwise closed at this time of year. It was crazy to think that in this building people had been killed by bulls, after the main ring we went and saw the corrals which actually had a few bulls in them and it was strange thinking that they were capable of killing people. To end our trip in Valencia and my family's time in Spain we had a huge dinner with paella and seafood which was delicious. Then we took the two hour train and said goodbye. Although the week went fast it was amazing to see my family and i'm sure they enjoyed the visit as much as i enjoyed seeing them. Here are pictures from the past week and my visit with my family!
On the Tram to Villajoyosa
Villajoyosa with Erin
Family on the beach...much warmer than Chicago
Beautifully Colored Buildings along the beach in Villajoyosa
Mom and Erin on the Boat to Tabarca
Jellyfish in the water in Tabarca
Erin and I by a giant Sundial
The Island of Tabarca
Dad and his Sangria
The Frazier Girls
Tabarca, Spain
Valencia Plaça de Ayuntamiento
Cool Building in Valencia
Family in Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias
The largest Aquarium in Europe found in Valencia Spain
Monday, March 28, 2011
¡Familia en España!
As most people know my family got here on Saturday and they are currently enjoying the beautiful weather. We are supposed to have a solid week right around 70 but with the sun here it feels like it's in the 80's. Yesterday we walked all around the city and had a lovely lunch with my host family. Today i'm at school till 230 but they are enjoying themselves at the beach and around the water. Here are some pictures from yesterday i'll try and post daily what i'm doing with the family :)
sisters :)
Erin's First Red Wine
The Frazier Girls :)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sore Feet, but a Once in a Lifetime opportunity!
Yesterday I took a trip with my University from Alicante to Valencia which is about 2 hours north of the city. We went up for the final day of the festival of "Las Fallas". This is a huge two week city wide celebration in honor of Saint Joseph. This is the most important festival for the people of Valencia and they spend the entire year preparing for next years Fallas. Some background on the festival and what happened during the days before la crema which was the part that I attended.
The fourteen days of "las Fallas" will always begin with la despertà ("the wake-up call"). Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go. Another part of the celebration is the Mascletà, a display of the booming effects of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages, takes place in each neighbourhood at 2 pm every day of the festival; the main event is the municipal Mascleta in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honor of providing the final Mascleta of the fiestas (on March 19) which I attended. At 2pm the clock chimes and the Fallera Mayor (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the balcony of City Hall. Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la "mascletà"! ("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascletà!"), and the Mascletà begins. Then on March 17 and 18 every person who creates a Falla has to bring an offering of flowers to the Cathedral and they are then turned into a giant statue of the Virgin Mary.
The final day of Fallas March 19th is called La Crema and that is the day that I attended. We left Alicante at 830am and got to Valencia around 11 because we were on a bus and we had to stop outside the city so we all could eat breakfast. Once we got into the city we were just told to be back at 3 am and other than that have fun so we had a lot of freedom to just kind of wander the city and see what we could find. After walking for a block we came across our first Falla which was only about 2 stories high making it a relatively small one. Next to the big fallas there is a small one, or falla infintil. While the large fallas are usually politically charged towards someone or something (for example this year there was one like Obama that was called "Blanca Nieve" (Snow White)), the infintil fallas are just cute and usually created with the help of the children in the neighborhood that raised the money for that falla. The detail is crazy on every one. After that we walked down the street and found our first truly giant falla. This one had to have been between 4 and 5 stories tall and it was beautiful, I don't know how they get them to stand that tall and the way that some of the components are set up on the actual falla is unbelieveable. All in all there are hundreds of these throughout the city. We walked around finding more and more until 115 when we headed to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento for la Mascleta which i described above. It was amazingly loud, i couldn't even believe it. Like I said above at 2pm they began to shoot of fireworks in broad daylight, like the gran finale of a fourth of July fireworks show right from the start. By the end the explosions were so powerful you could feel things shaking around us and all we could do was stand with our mouths wide open to keep our ear drums from bursting.
After la Mascleta we went to find the giant Virgin Mary made out of flowers. On the way there we walked past the first place Falla for the year which cost 90,000 Euros to build just to be lit on fire at the end of the night. On the way to the Virgin which is kept at the Cathedral near the Plaza de Reina. On the walk from the Plaza we were passed by a parade of children dressed up in tradicional Valencian dresses which we later found out can cost thousands of Euros to have made. They are beautiful and it was a part of the culture that doesn't really get seen except for during these gigantic festivals. Another crazy thing that happened on the way to the cathedral is we got sidetracked down a street and I thought i recognized someone and kinda did a double take as they did the same thing, it ended up being someone i had gone to elementary, middle and high school with that i hadn't talked to since graduation, Mike Carey. He is studying in Barcelona this semester but what were the odds of running into someone from your hometown that you hadn't seen in years in Spain. We got to the Virgin Mary and decided we wanted to get away from the crowds and walked towards the aquarium and the city of the arts and sciences.
On the way to the city of the arts we came across an awesome park and the college kids we are decided we wanted to play on the slides, they were amazing. After playing at the park for about 30 minutes we continued walking to the city of the arts and sciences. When we got there it was so pretty, all white and futuristic looking. The architecture is amazing and the building looks like a fish with pools surrounding the main building. After we took a bunch of pictures and sat in the sun for a while we went to find somewhere to eat for dinner and ended up picking a sit down place and were there for a while. After eating it was about 730 and we decided to walk back towards the Virgin to meet up with some friends, also there was a falla and a falla infantil there and they began to light the falla infintils off at around 10 and we didn't want to miss that. On the walk we got a bit distracted and decided to buy some churros and bunuelos which are just treats that are very very yummy. Once we got to the plaza and met our friends it was close to 940 so we went and got a seat near the falla so that we could see the real spectacle of the night.
At 10pm we had front row seats to the first fire and it was a crazy the heat from the small falla was enough to make you want to take your jacket off. it took about 10 seconds for the falla to set on fire. They started with a chain reaction shooting off fireworks and really loud poppers it was a spectacle in itself, once it went up in flames the whole crowd began to cheer and we decided to wait until the large falla was supposed to get lit on fire around 12. However at 1215 a man came by with a sign that said this falla wasn't going to get lit until around 2 because of safety reasons they had pushed the time back. We all trekked to McDonalds to sit inside because it was getting cold and we after an hour at McDonalds we went back outside and they began to set up the explosions that would light the big one on fire. At about 215 they ignited it and it was one of the most amazing things i had seen all day. They launched about 80 fireworks and in the middle of the fireworks show the falla just went up in flames. They needed the fire department there to control the burn because it was close to buildings and people. It was an amazing experience. After that we just headed back to our starting location and got on the bus at around 330, i was alseep by 335 and we got back to alicante around 6. That was my day yesterday sorry it took so long for an update, and sorry this one was so long. Saturday my family gets here and i'm so excited to show them my home here in Spain. Here are a TON of pictures from fallas to try and show you guys a taste of what i experienced!
The first Falla that we saw
The first massive falla that we saw
A falla infintil and a big falla
Size Comparison between me and the falla
Paul the Octopus on the Fallas
The Obama Falla (online)
The fireworks that set the Falla on fire
This is what a falla looks like when it gets lit on fire
The fourteen days of "las Fallas" will always begin with la despertà ("the wake-up call"). Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go. Another part of the celebration is the Mascletà, a display of the booming effects of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages, takes place in each neighbourhood at 2 pm every day of the festival; the main event is the municipal Mascleta in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento where the pyrotechnicians compete for the honor of providing the final Mascleta of the fiestas (on March 19) which I attended. At 2pm the clock chimes and the Fallera Mayor (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the balcony of City Hall. Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la "mascletà"! ("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascletà!"), and the Mascletà begins. Then on March 17 and 18 every person who creates a Falla has to bring an offering of flowers to the Cathedral and they are then turned into a giant statue of the Virgin Mary.
The final day of Fallas March 19th is called La Crema and that is the day that I attended. We left Alicante at 830am and got to Valencia around 11 because we were on a bus and we had to stop outside the city so we all could eat breakfast. Once we got into the city we were just told to be back at 3 am and other than that have fun so we had a lot of freedom to just kind of wander the city and see what we could find. After walking for a block we came across our first Falla which was only about 2 stories high making it a relatively small one. Next to the big fallas there is a small one, or falla infintil. While the large fallas are usually politically charged towards someone or something (for example this year there was one like Obama that was called "Blanca Nieve" (Snow White)), the infintil fallas are just cute and usually created with the help of the children in the neighborhood that raised the money for that falla. The detail is crazy on every one. After that we walked down the street and found our first truly giant falla. This one had to have been between 4 and 5 stories tall and it was beautiful, I don't know how they get them to stand that tall and the way that some of the components are set up on the actual falla is unbelieveable. All in all there are hundreds of these throughout the city. We walked around finding more and more until 115 when we headed to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento for la Mascleta which i described above. It was amazingly loud, i couldn't even believe it. Like I said above at 2pm they began to shoot of fireworks in broad daylight, like the gran finale of a fourth of July fireworks show right from the start. By the end the explosions were so powerful you could feel things shaking around us and all we could do was stand with our mouths wide open to keep our ear drums from bursting.
After la Mascleta we went to find the giant Virgin Mary made out of flowers. On the way there we walked past the first place Falla for the year which cost 90,000 Euros to build just to be lit on fire at the end of the night. On the way to the Virgin which is kept at the Cathedral near the Plaza de Reina. On the walk from the Plaza we were passed by a parade of children dressed up in tradicional Valencian dresses which we later found out can cost thousands of Euros to have made. They are beautiful and it was a part of the culture that doesn't really get seen except for during these gigantic festivals. Another crazy thing that happened on the way to the cathedral is we got sidetracked down a street and I thought i recognized someone and kinda did a double take as they did the same thing, it ended up being someone i had gone to elementary, middle and high school with that i hadn't talked to since graduation, Mike Carey. He is studying in Barcelona this semester but what were the odds of running into someone from your hometown that you hadn't seen in years in Spain. We got to the Virgin Mary and decided we wanted to get away from the crowds and walked towards the aquarium and the city of the arts and sciences.
On the way to the city of the arts we came across an awesome park and the college kids we are decided we wanted to play on the slides, they were amazing. After playing at the park for about 30 minutes we continued walking to the city of the arts and sciences. When we got there it was so pretty, all white and futuristic looking. The architecture is amazing and the building looks like a fish with pools surrounding the main building. After we took a bunch of pictures and sat in the sun for a while we went to find somewhere to eat for dinner and ended up picking a sit down place and were there for a while. After eating it was about 730 and we decided to walk back towards the Virgin to meet up with some friends, also there was a falla and a falla infantil there and they began to light the falla infintils off at around 10 and we didn't want to miss that. On the walk we got a bit distracted and decided to buy some churros and bunuelos which are just treats that are very very yummy. Once we got to the plaza and met our friends it was close to 940 so we went and got a seat near the falla so that we could see the real spectacle of the night.
At 10pm we had front row seats to the first fire and it was a crazy the heat from the small falla was enough to make you want to take your jacket off. it took about 10 seconds for the falla to set on fire. They started with a chain reaction shooting off fireworks and really loud poppers it was a spectacle in itself, once it went up in flames the whole crowd began to cheer and we decided to wait until the large falla was supposed to get lit on fire around 12. However at 1215 a man came by with a sign that said this falla wasn't going to get lit until around 2 because of safety reasons they had pushed the time back. We all trekked to McDonalds to sit inside because it was getting cold and we after an hour at McDonalds we went back outside and they began to set up the explosions that would light the big one on fire. At about 215 they ignited it and it was one of the most amazing things i had seen all day. They launched about 80 fireworks and in the middle of the fireworks show the falla just went up in flames. They needed the fire department there to control the burn because it was close to buildings and people. It was an amazing experience. After that we just headed back to our starting location and got on the bus at around 330, i was alseep by 335 and we got back to alicante around 6. That was my day yesterday sorry it took so long for an update, and sorry this one was so long. Saturday my family gets here and i'm so excited to show them my home here in Spain. Here are a TON of pictures from fallas to try and show you guys a taste of what i experienced!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Spaniards sure know how to throw a party!
So this weekend was one of the coolest weekends i've had in Spain yet. Thursday the Third was the first night of Carnival, which is a celebration before lent similar to Mardi Gras in the United States. However in Spain Carnival lasts for ten days and in Alicante there is one night that is always crazier than the others. In Alicante that is the first Saturday so for us it was the 5th. Which is the day when the city's main thoroughfares, La Rambla and El Barrio, fill with stunning costume parades, music and dancing. I didn't see any of the big parades because we didn't know what time they were at but by the time we all went out to the barrio on Saturday the entire Rambla which is the big street that runs from the beach up near the Mercado Central was packed with people. The thing is here it's not just people in the street almost every single person is in costume and they aren't just basic simple costumes there were a lot of costumes that took time to make. The costume that I saw that would probably be the coolest or most intricate was this guy dressed as like a boat but not like a small sailboat no he was dressed as a big boat like you would see in Pirates of the Carribean. The thing that I personally found strange was that it was completely acceptable to be dressed up wearing black face and/ or to be dressed like middle eastern terrorists.
Carnival isn't just a party though it has a strong significance to the people of Spain because of the large number of Catholics in the country. it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words "farewell to the flesh," a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent. Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats, called the 'carrus navalis'. Due to the pagan roots Franco banned Carnival for 40 years and that is why each year the celebrations get bigger and bigger.
The group Thursday Night with Masks photo by Anna Lauren
Me and my friend Hannah Thursday another by Anna Lauren
Me in my sweet mask for Thursday (Anna Lauren)
Spanish Costumes (desfrases) foto by Anna Lauren
Another Desfrase, (anna lauren)
Groups dressed toghether (AL)
The really cool boat costume
Saturdays Outfit: 20's Gangster :)
American girls celebrating Carnival
So even though the big celebration is over next week and the weekend are still considered Carnival, so we will see how next weekend is I also don't know if I will ever see a party like this one in the United States, so it was a once in a lifetime amazing opportunity. Here are a ton of pictures with the captions of what they are!
Before and After (Jillian)
Carnival isn't just a party though it has a strong significance to the people of Spain because of the large number of Catholics in the country. it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words "farewell to the flesh," a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent. Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats, called the 'carrus navalis'. Due to the pagan roots Franco banned Carnival for 40 years and that is why each year the celebrations get bigger and bigger.
So even though the big celebration is over next week and the weekend are still considered Carnival, so we will see how next weekend is I also don't know if I will ever see a party like this one in the United States, so it was a once in a lifetime amazing opportunity. Here are a ton of pictures with the captions of what they are!
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