23 March 2025

What a full week!

My friends Eric and Dan were here this week from Boise to experience the craziness that is Fallas in Valencia.

Monday, I went to Spanish classes, while they slept in and then did some exploring of the city. The plan was to meet for the Maskleta after my classes. But as it turned out, we were on opposite sides of the City Hall Plaza and trying to connect in that crazy crowd would have been futile. So I came home. They were able to see the Maskleta from near the Central Market. Then they came home for a rest.

We left around 5:30 to see the Ofrenda…the presentation of the flowers to the Virgin. This part of Fallas lasts all of the 17th and 18th of March. For two whole days until after midnight, representativas from every Falla (community association) march in traditional dress to bring flowers to a three-story tall statue of the Virgin, “Our Lady of the Forsaken.” The flowers are then used to create an elegant dress and base for this large wooden structure.

As with everything related to Fallas, the crowds were overwhelmingly. So after some time, we made our way towards home, stopping for tapas and shared plates for dinner.

After a short rest, we left at 10:45 to see the fireworks that started at 12:00 midnight. These were at the City of Arts and Sciences, near my house. Even getting there more than an hour early, the crowds were crazy.

But we were able to get a great vantage point near the opera house.

On Tuesday, it was a rainy, cold day. The festivities continued with the presentation of the flowers to the Virgin in the rain and fireworks at midnight. But we took advantage of the rain as an excuse to have a slightly quieter day.

After class on Tuesday, I met the guys and we walked to City of Arts and Sciences. I knew we could go inside at several of the buildings when the rain got to be too much.

Wednesday was the culmination of the 19-day festival and a holiday with schools and most businesses closed.

We slept late and I made a big breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast and fresh squeezed orange juice.

We left especially early to get to the final Mascleta of the year. We arrived almost two hours early and within minutes, the plaza was so packed that had we not already gotten there, we would not have been able to get anywhere close to where we were.

Afterwards, we made our way towards the Plaza of the Virgin to see the final completed work.

But first we stopped at the Plaza de la Reigna for a snack of horchata and fartons. Horchata is a unique beverage made of tiger nuts. It’s not too sweet and it’s very refreshing. Fartons are a sweet bread specifically designed for dunking, to absorb the liquid and not fall apart.

From there, we went home and rested before the craziness of La Crema, the final night of Fallas.

The Fire Parade kicks off the night. Because we were moving a bit slow at that point, we only caught the end of it.

We stopped for a drink at the Mercado Colon. This former neighborhood market has been transformed into a collection of great restaurants, coffee shops and bars.

When we left, the first crema was about to start. Cremas are the burning off all…ALL of those beautiful artistic works that were created in the streets all over Valencia…hundreds of them.

Each begins with a neighborhood fireworks show (of course!), usually the local band plays, then they burn the children’s Falla.

This beautiful work…

…went from this, to this:

This was a small one.

From here, went to see one of the larger ones burn in front of the train station.

After lots more fireworks, right over us,

…this incredible piece of art…

…went from this, to this:

This was happening in more that 300 neighborhoods around Valencia. Every few blocks had their own fireworks, their own burning of the small, children’s falla and then the burning of the larger one.

We saw the one in front of City Hall (from a distance), and several others as we walked home, including the smoldering embers of several.

Dan and Eric left Thursday morning and flew to Bilbao in northern Spain.

I went to class. The debris from all the fires was cleaned up and traffic was flowing.

In the middle of class, my phone rang. It was my landlord. She never calls me. There was a delivery person at my door to bring a new oven and range that she had agreed to replace in January. So I ran home. He brought the new appliances in. And I went back to class. They will install it all tomorrow/ Monday.

Visa update:

After three weeks of being sick and two weeks of company, I was starting to the remember that I still hadn’t received my final updated student visa/ residency card. Early Tuesday morning, I emailed my attorney, checking in to confirm that I hadn’t missed anything.

Thursday afternoon, after I got home from school at 1:30, I got a reply that my appointment with the police station was that day at 5:15 and I needed to print several documents and pay a fee at my bank before then and take the receipt. All banks close at 2:00 in Spain.

So I went to my attorney’s office, asked them to print the documents and they said I could pay the fee at any ATM and take the receipt.

I went right to my bank and tried. Once, twice, six times…it wouldn’t work.

I called my friend Vicente who was just getting home from a trip (many Valencianos leave during Fallas because of the crowds, noise and insanity of it all). I met him at his house. We went to a bank nearby and even with the help of a local, it wouldn’t work. After the umpteenth attempt, the ATM swallowed my debit card!

We called my attorney. They said they’d pay the fee on line and print the receipt. By now, we had to leave. So we went to the police station waiting for the receipt to arrive in my inbox. It never did. And the very kind officer told me he was sorry, but he couldn’t do anything without that receipt.

We went back to the attorney office. They tried to pay the fee on line and it wouldn’t work. So they agreed that they would get me a new appointment with the police department. And I agreed to go to my bank on Friday, pay the fee and get a replacement debit card.

At the bank on Friday, they explained that I could only pay that fee in person at the bank. And that my new debit card will be ready for me to pick up on next Friday.

So that saga continues.

This weekend was more quiet.

Today, Vicente, Cooper and I went to their family orchard and we picked the last few oranges of the year.

The trees are already blossoming for next year’s oranges.

A fresh picked orange from the tree is a delight!

And it tastes better than any orange you’d buy in a store.

Tomorrow, they are scheduled to install my new oven and stove.

I’ll be back to choir after the Fallas holidays.

And I wish you a great Spring full of life and joy.