2011 Apr 25: Travel Photography | Valencia, Spain | Las Fallas

This is post #2 of 5 from last month’s trip to Spain. I promise that with the next post, we will return to our regularly scheduled wedding-related blogging!

But you know, I’d really love to photograph a wedding in Spain! So if you’re planning on getting married in Spain and would like to have an energetic, fun-loving, well traveled photographer from NYC come shoot your wedding, you should absolutely contact me! :)

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When I look back on my trip to Spain last month, I am most fond of the time I spent in Valencia (3/17-21). I wouldn’t say it was the best city I visited in Spain, but it was where I most enjoyed myself. Which is pretty funny, considering how on-the-fence I was about Valencia and almost didn’t even go there at all. In fact, I wouldn’t have even considered it had Las Fallas not been happening while I was there. But what can I say, I’m a sucker for a good festival. And I firmly believe that festivals and other special events are a great way of experiencing another culture.

So that is how I found myself in the midst of one enormous party in a foreign land for 4 straight days. I think this blurb from Wikipedia describes it quite nicely:

The Falles are a Valencian traditional celebration in praise of Saint Joseph in Valencia, Spain. The term Falles refers to both the celebration and the monuments created during the celebration. The days and nights in Valencia are one running party during the five days of Falles. There are processions galore — historical processions, religious processions, and hysterical processions. The restaurants spill out to the streets. Explosions can be heard all day long and sporadically through the night. Foreigners may be surprised to see everyone from small children to elderly gentlemen throwing fireworks and bangers in the streets, which are littered with pyrotechnical debris.

I met and encountered so many interesting people in Valencia, which I think is what made it such an amazing experience for me. You could pretty much set out into town and end up with a new set of friends for the night.

Other things worth noting:

• Fireworks – every night. And oh man, were they done right. (see video below)
• La Crema (or burning of the Fallas) – on the last night, we saw one of the biggest/most impressive Fallas set on fire. But of course it wasn’t just a matter of throwing a lit match onto it; there were accompanying fireworks and firecrackers and other associated noise as it went up in flames. (see video below)
• La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias – a cultural complex located just outside of town with some incredible modern architecture, housing museums, an aquarium, and a theater. A-MA-ZING.

Want to hear more about my time in Valencia? You should check out my:

• travel blog (as of today, I’ve written about the first half of my time there)
• full set of photos on Flickr

You should also watch some video footage I took while in Valencia:

• Flower Processional
• Fireworks
• La Crema