In reviewing my posts I realize that I haven't really mentioned that Fallas, officially started on March 1st (really February 26th with La Crida - video below) and it runs through March 19th. The main event is March 15th to the 19th
One of our favorite events of Fallas is every day at 2:00 pm from March 1st to the 19th in Plaza Ayuntamiento (City Hall Plaza) is Mascletá, the one below was on the same day 2.26.17 as the La Crida above.
Mascletá, is what we might call day time fireworks. But that is not really what Mascletá is. While it is a pyrotechnic event, the focus and attention is on the timing and rhythm of the pyrotechnic and especially the composition of the sound. There are a few "fireworks" that have a small amount of either florescent red or green colors and even more rare are some with multi-color smoke, but color and fireworks as we know it is not what Mascletá is about.
That said, we did not know exactly when our friends Ophelia and Peter were going to arrive....when we got home from today's Mascletá they were waiting for us at our apartment.
We were happy Ophelia and Peter choose to visit us and excited to see them again. They live in Boise, IA and it's not often we have the opportunity to spend time together.
Ophelia and Peter are fellow travelers of the World! They have travelled a lot over the years. Including spending a year in Vietnam! I was SO jealous of Peter, when he took a trip for 3 months exclusively for diving in the Spring of 2016. I had planned to join him for some diving but the timing of his trip and our arrival in Valencia did not work out.
Ophelia was not feeling 100% so Peter joined us for dinner at Vuelve Carolina. We ate here with Dory and Jim and knew that Peter and Ophelia would love it. They have tasty and interesting dishes.
We loved the mushroom forest dish below. Behind the glass is a sweet corn fritter that we also loved. We also had a Pan bao with pork jowl, fried calamari and a few other dishes, it was delicious!
Friday, March 10th
It was a gorgeous day so we started off the day by taking O and P to the beach. Since we have been going to the El Cabanyal Beach there has been a sandcastle in this location the entire time, however they just transformed it into this new design, which we all enjoyed!
Since we were going to have a busy evening, we all took a short siesta after returning from the beach.
Tonight we took Ophelia and Peter to and lighting of the Las Luces (The lights), another Fallas event, on Calle Cuba. Our friends Celine and John coordinated a group event and some of our other Valencia friends, Eddie, Heather, Dale, Yvan and others were there.
Of the 3 different illuminated street light shows Calle Cuba won first prize, this year. They had over 300,000 points of light and 400 meters (1, 200 feet) of paneling. We happen to agree with the judges decision as we felt this was the most amazing show! For us the experience was incredible. We were in awe and amazement and wonderment. Personally I had never seen anything quite like this.
After dinner we all were fortunate enough to celebrate my 60th Birthday courtesy of our friend Michele Stern. Michele gave me a gift certificate to this wonderful Restaurant Blanquerias.
Here is Ophelia with her lovely smile
And this was our Cod loin comfit with tomato and herbs
It was so nice of Michele to provide the gift. For it was wonderful to be able to share it with Ophelia and Peter, that made it even better, thank you Michele!
Saturday, March 11th
After a busy Friday, we relaxed and enjoyed the morning. About noon we walked towards Ayuntamiento as we wanted to share the Mascletá experience with Ophelia and Peter. Each day that passes I believe more and more tourists arrive and the Mascletá is getting progressively more crowded.
After lunch we went for a walk into the Turia River Park. We took them to the City of Arts and Science. We just love the place! It is the MOST important modern tourist destination in Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain
For dinner we wanted to keep it casual and close to our apartment so we went to our tapas place called Jamon del Medio.
Sunday, March 12th
Today Ophelia and Peter are taking the train to Barcelona. They will be there for a few days before flying to Costa Rica to spend the final 3 weeks of their 3 month journey....which also included Liberia (only Ophelia) and Morocco together as well as many other cities around Spain! We loved having them and look forward to the next time we see each other, hopefully in California.
This afternoon our friend Roz invited us to join her to attend a Holi Festival of Colors. It was at the Radha Krishna Hindu Temple. First they have a religious ceremony then they serve lunch, then comes the Holi celebration.....we had a wonderful time!
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