Spain 12 (I think?)

Last week passed fairly normally. Well, normally for here, which is to say very busy. Tuesday it turned out that Franz Ferdinand was in Valencia to play at a free MTV concert. I met Ken at ISA and we walked to the CAC (Ciudad de Arts y Ciencias) a couple of hours before the show would start so as to get a good place. The stage was amazingly set up, and I felt again like I was in high school, since that was the last time I'd been to such a huge concert. I found out later they had more than 30,000 people at the CAC that night to see the concert.
There were three opening bands, the first of which was from Valencia. They were really good, as were the following two. It was the first time I can remember seeing a concert that didn't have at least one band that sucked, or that I didn't like. The two official opening bands were called... Mono Dio (sp?) and Starsailer, the second of which was my favorite. Look them up. Anyway Franz came on around 11 and played until at least 12:30, with a five-ish minute break. They played a lot from their new album, but I knew at least six or seven of the songs they played from their one album (the one with Take Me Out). Ken held me up at one point, but it wasn't really necessary since I could see the stage standing. We were in the first quarter of the crowd, and unlike at concerts back home, I could easily see the stage since there weren't very many 6-foot tall guys blocking my view. Yay for Spaniards and their short-ness, I fit in well here.
Leigh and I walked home after the concert, since we live kind of close by. I got back home a little past 1, only to get up for another day of class Wednesday at 8am. Wednesday I don't really remember, but Thursday ushered in another eventful evening. As usual, the weekend started Thursday afternoon. After class I went to the Valencia soccer team's store so I would have something to wear to the game that night. I spent some time walking around my neighborhood that afternoon, since I really haven't explored it that much, and discovered the closest movie rental store and Mercadona (Spain's version of Giant). I found yet another locutorio where the guy at the desk let me get on wifi on my computer for a while. After an early dinner I went to ISA to join Ken and the rest of the ISA group coming to the game and we walked together to the stadium across the street. It's nice having the university right next door.
I unfortunately remember little of the game, except that Leigh called Del Horno as her favorite during warmups. There was an old Valencian guy who sat next to me for the game (we had amazing seats by the way) and shouted continuously in Valenciano. I didn't really understand, but I liked him anyway. I think I liked Fernandez best, he seemed by far the most useful player (midfield I think?) although there was another guy whose name I can't remember (the forward) that was also really good. We played Dynamo Kiev, who were a little better of a team than us, or so it seemed. They scored first, and it was a while before we got the point back. We scored once where it didn't count, for some reason I didn't catch. Anyway we did score though, but only after Kiev had scored again (or maybe before?). The order is a little lost now. Anyway at one point Kiev was up one and we scored again in the last few minutes to tie the game 2-2. We unfortunately let a few good scoring options get by, and prevented Kiev from getting too close to our goal. We did not manage to score before the end of the game though, which went a few minutes into overtime. This left all real fans disappointed, since apparently your points count for more if you're the away team, which meant a "win" for Kiev and a loss for us. Whatever, I was satisfied. I walked home with Leigh all the way from the stadium since we were well too exhausted to go out.
Friday morning I got up in time to shower, make my bed, braid my hair, and eat a leisurely breakfast before heading to the train station to pick up Anna. She arrived at 11:21 and I was there just a little early to welcome her to the beautiful city of Valencia. It felt like we'd seen each other just the week before, but it's been three weeks since I was in Barcelona. Time certainly has started flying... As slow as it was going the first month I was here, that's as fast as it's picked up and I guarantee it's only going to keep going faster...
Anyway Anna and I made it back to my house and Anna met my host family and put her stuff away before we headed out for a walk. We had a good couple of hours before lunch so we walked along Peris y Valero to the Rio and the CAC, which is pretty impressive to see from outside if not from inside. We talked about people back home, and housing for next year, and how fast time's been going, and what we miss, and what we're going to do when we get back, and where we're going to travel this summer, and how fun that will be, and how we can't believe Mike's graduating and how he better stick around for a while, etc... It was hot out and we both kind of regretted wearing jackets, and I even thought the jeans were a bit much. After running into Andrew, Allison, and Quinn at the Rio, we headed back home for lunch.
We walked a different route back, one of the many I take from the University sometimes, and had a delicious lunch. We chatted some with my host family, who seemed to like Anna (they did indeed invite her back to stay anytime she wants). After lunch we headed out to the city center and we met Ken by the Plaza de la Reina. On the way there I showed Anna the Plaza de Ajuntamiento, the Cathedral, the Roman ruins below the city, and some other things. We told her all about the cathedral and its various architectural styles, and then we took the official tour inside as well. It was as gorgeous as ever, and this time we went to see the supposed Holy Grail. Housed as it is behind several glass panes and kept well away from where anyone could possibly get close, it didn't seem that impressive, and I'm not sure 'm convinced it's the actual Holy Grail. It's pretty though, and certainly dates from the 1st century.
Afterwards we walked North to the Torres de Serrano on our way to the Exposicion de Ninots, which is a temporary exhibition for Fallas. I should probably say some things about Fallas first. During this festival, which technically begins the 1st of March and runs to the 19th, and is really celebrated much longer, large wooden and plaster or paper-mache structures are built on almost every street in the city. They take the form of anything from the sincere to the ridiculous, cute or funny or crude or political or satirical or ironic or humorous or adorable or just plain silly. There are nearly 400 of these built and put up around the city (they're only out from the 15-19th of March though) and at midnight on the 19th, they are all burned. They are elaborate and gorgeous and some are up to 30 meters high, rivaling the buildings they stand between. I don't know how they prevent the fires from spreading but I guess over the years they've gotten good at it. Anyway, Ninots are small representations of the Fallas that are going to be put up around the city, and at the exposition you can get a small taste of what the Fallas that year will look like. They are a little bigger than life size in the case of the big Fallas, and the children's are about half the size of a dresser. The coolest part of the exhibition is that you get to vote for your favorite Ninot, one big and one small, and the ones that win are either not burned at all or are burned last, I don't quite remember. The decision is a tough one since you literally have hundreds to choose from, but it was a ton of fun to see all the Fallas, and I can't wait to see the big ones in the street. There is almost a guarantee of seeing one of Obama and one of Zapatero, the president of Spain.
After visiting the exposition, Anna, Ken, Madeline, Natalie and I made our way back down to the old town and the Torres de Quart, which we climbed. They are basically identically to the Torres de Serrano, except facing West, and have sustained battle damage, I'm not sure what from, Ken said Napolean. The view from the top was awesome, and Anna and I both hopped the little gate to climb up by the flag. We could see a building smoking not too far away and a crew of firefighters on the ground, and we would later see the fire on TV. We walked vaguely past it to visit La Lonja, one of the oldest and most beautiful things to see in Valencia. It is actually where there used to be a market of sorts where you could exchange money and things, and has a gorgeous courtyard and boasts turrets and a sweet room with a gorgeous roof.
Ken, Anna, and I separated from the other two and after our visit went to the city center for some Horchata, which, if you remember, is the traditional drink of Valencia. Anna liked it, and I was happy. We later took the bus home, which was too crowded and probably not worth it since we were only a half hour walk away, but oh well. We made it home in time to relax a little before dinner. We watched my show, Apuesta por un Amor, with my host parents, and I struggled to explain it all to Anna. There are a lot of characters. She can attest to this.
We went across the street to the locutorio sometime later with the vague hope of Skyping anyone at UMBC together, but no one was online. We checked movie times (Slumdog Millionaire is playing in the original version at a theater here!) but the movie wasn't on until 11pm, and we didn't want to be out until 2 in the morning. Instead we met Ken (yet again) at the Plaza de Ajuntamiento and went to our favorite bar and shared a pitcher of Agua de Valencia. Again, Anna approved, and we had a good time chatting and singing along to the music they played. I think we took a taxi home, but I'm not positive we didn't just walk, but anyway we were back around 1:30 am, and got a good night's sleep before waking up Saturday around 9:45 or so.
Unfortunately Saturday was one of the few crappy days in Valencia, rainy and chilly, so we immediately scratched our tentative plans of going on a day trip. Instead we headed into the city after showers and breakfast to visit the Mercado Central. I'd never been before, and it was amazing. It's the biggest of its kind in all of Spain, and perhaps Europe, entirely covered, and you can find just about any food item your heart desires, and many that you didn't even know existed. After a while we heard music, which sounded suspiciously like a band. And guess what? It was! Right there in the market a marching band wearing traditional Fallas scarves were following several Falleras in full regalia who were going around the market raising money. The Falleras are girls (there are apparently also guys, but we didn't see them), one for each street, that are elected each year and wear super fancy (read: 3000$ each) dresses and usher in the Fallas celebration. We managed to get a few pictures as they weaved through the crowd in the market, and then decided to leave. We had a while before Ken would meet us so we decided to walk around and see what we could find.
We first passed one of Valencia's many churches which had actually just hosted a wedding. Inside we could see the newlyweds surrounded by friends and family, the noise echoing from the vaulted ceilings and magnificent archways. Outside a black car, which looked something like a Rolls Royce, was parked, flowers tied to the door handles and the bumper. We bought souvenirs at one of the shops close to the Plaza de Ajuntamiento, then made our way by the old Palace, which is now the city's Ceramic museum. We asked, and it turned out that after 4pm the museum entry was free, so we decided to return later, and instead went church hopping.
Church hopping might not sound like the most fun of passtimes, but churches in Valencia (and indeed most European cities) are not like elsewhere. It is in fact, as we would later find out, an easier task than bar hopping. Go figure. Anyway, we visited most of the same churches Toni had taken me and Quinn and Alison to see several weeks earlier, the oldest in Valencia, the white one, and the blue and white one. For some reason, Saturday must be the day of baptisms here, since every church we went in were hosting many baptisms, and we saw not a few babies in white dresses. We mostly snuck in the back of the churches (they are open to the public) and sat down looking around at the amazing paintings, pillars, intricate decorations, and elaborate or simple alters. They were all pretty cool, and though I had seen them before, was not at all disappointed to go back. We also stopped by the original University of Valencia, founded around 1499. I think that beats UMBC's 41 (42?) years by quite some...
Having brought our bocadillos with us, Anna and I found a cafe where we could sit outside under the eave (it was still raining), and have a cafe con leche and eat. The coffee was good, the sandwiches filling, the oranges juicy and delicious, and the bathroom had a hand dryer that blowed intensely hot air, which we greatly appreciated. We could see the Cathedral right before us as we waited for Ken to join us and we shared some of the dried fruit Anna had bought at the market. Ken met us soon after and we went to get postcards at the shop opposite the cafe. We decided to show Anna the Plaza Redonda, which is really nothing that special to look at since it's all under construction, but does have historical significance. We shared gelato and relaxed out of the rain for a while under the overhangs in the Plaza. Since the rain did not seem to be letting up, we decided our best course would be to go shopping. On the the Nuevo Centro!
The Nuevo Centro is one of the large shopping malls in Valencia, and I'd never been. We looked for boots for Anna and shoes for Ken and I just looked. Anna and I tried on dresses in Zara, and then we went to the Corte Ingles to find Agua de Valencia for Anna and disposable razors for me. Madeline joined us after a little while and we looked around some more. We didn't see nearly the whole mall, which was much larger inside than it looked from outdoors, and around 4:30 decided to go back to the Palace to see the now free Museo Ceramica.
The Palace is a pretty impressive and amazing building even from the outside. It's entirely baroque in style, very elaborately decorated in marble. Inside there is a small courtyard and more amazing architecture. The bottom floor wasn't too exciting, showing lots of examples of pots and other ceramic things from Northern Africa and Europe. There was also a really cool coach that looked like it could have been Cinderella's, only with more gold. The upper floors were much cooler, furnished as they had been hundred of years ago, with amazing paintings on the ceilings, dazzling hanging chandeliers, four-post beds, white ceramic tubs, striped lounge chairs, and tiled floors. We decided we should move in.
After the visit it was close to 7 pm, so we decided to head back home and relax before and after dinner, such that we could properly celebrate Ken's 21st birthday (technically, it hadn't happened yet, and actually wouldn't happen this year, but oh well). Anna and I dined and tried to nap until around 11pm when we headed back to the center to meet Ken and Natalie. Dotty joined us soon after, and we went yet again to our favorite bar, this time sitting inside. It was no longer raining but it was still chilly. After our first drinks (vodka and fanta, which is a surprisingly good combination) Natalie insisted on Tequila shots for all. They were much better than expected, which isn't that great. We hung out for a while, and before leaving our nice bartender brought us yet another round, this one on the house. This was shaping up to be a promising night.
Unfortunately sometime after this things went slightly downhill. We found a bar that gave the first round free, so we went there, and then headed up back past the Cathedral to the Barrio Carmen to get kebaps and try to find somewhere else to go. Unfortunately the Barrio Carmen is too crowded in general and full of high school students, so after much debate we decided to go back where we'd come from. Unfortunately by this time it was well past 1am, and the smaller bars were starting to close. We walked all the way back down to find ours closing. With no other option open we went back to the Barrio Carmen, where once again we were disappointed to find more places closing. The warm was starting to wear off and my feet were starting to hurt, so around 3:30 Anna and I decided it was time to head home. At least Ken had a good time, and seemed a little relieved we hadn't gotten him properly smashed on his birthday. Anna and I took a taxi home and were asleep as soon as we climbed into bed several minutes later.
Sunday morning proved a brighter day that Saturday, and more promising in terms of the weather. We got up around 10:30, had breakfast and showered, then headed out once again. We went to the Plaza de Torros for some browsing at the shops there before meeting Toni, his friend, Ken, and Quinn at the train station across the street. It was 12:45 and time to get ready for La Mascleta. Starting March 1st and going until the last day of Fallas, March 19th, La Mascleta happens in the Plaza de Ajuntamiento everyday at 2pm. If you want to find a place to witness this extraordinary event, you must arrive somewhere around 1pm, so we did. The six of us found a spot near the post office opposite the plaza from the Ajuntamiento building and chatted until we started to hear pre-Mascleta explosions around 1:45. La Mascleta itself is very hard to describe. It only lasts about five to ten minutes, but it feels much longer. The center square is shut off and on the ground and hanging above are tons of things that look like giant candy, which are actually something like fireworks. While La Mascleta does include low fireworks, the experience is really more to hear than see. Starting right at 2pm, the explosions start. Pieces of fireworks rain down and smoke fills the plaza. At first it is simply loud, then the ground starts shaking, your body vibrates, the cars jump, the high whistling and explosions bring to mind bombs and you could easily believe you were in a war zone if it weren't for the crowd all around you cheering and clapping. The noise escalates and crescendos past the point you think you can take it. Toni grabbed my arms as I tried to cover my ears, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. You feel it as much as you hear it. Several minutes later it's over and the crowd is pushing forward and music is played, the traditional song of Fallas, all in Valenciano, always first. On the balcony overlooking the square all the Falleras stand and cheer and wave and everyone below thanks them for the show. Anna and I are just about speechless from the experience. It was one of the most intense things I've ever seen/heard and I couldn't wait to share it with Max, Isaac, Jon, and JT when they visit.
Anyway afterwards we all found a place to eat, and Toni told us dirty jokes in Spanish which were pretty entertaining. Anna will have to remind me what they were though since I've forgotten. Anna and I caught the bus to the train station she was leaving from soon, but before hand we had another cafe con leche at a nearby cafe. It was fun to just chill for a bit. Anna left soon later, and I walked back up Blasco Ibanez to the bus stop. I spent the evening studying some, then trying to find a place to call home, but everywhere was closing by the time I went out. Oh well. Overall it was a super successful weekend! Thanks Anna for being so awesome!

More updates later when I get back from London this weekend. I'm seeing my family, my brother, and Andrew Sillers!!