O Valencia!

This past weekend Rachel, Sonya and I went to Valencia and it was amazing. The city is on the Mediterranean coast and strikes a nice balance between being a beach town, a historic city, and a cutting edge cultural center. I really enjoyed it there and I think that if I lived in Spain permanently I would vacation there at least once a year. We visited at a good time because Valencia is gearing up for Las Fallas. Fallas is a celebration of Saint Joseph, which sounds a bit unexciting but it's not because it involves lots of fire and lots of noise. The different neighborhoods build these elaborate sculptures called ninots and then on March 19 they burn them! So we didn't actually get to see any burning, but we saw lots of other things.

Some highlights from the trip included:

La Mascletá: At two in the afternoon everyone gathered in the main plaza and there was a fireworks show! Now it may seem a bit foolish to set off fireworks when it's not dark out, but in this case the Valencians don't care about the pretty colors and whatever. No, the Valencians care about the noise. I seriously thought my eardrums might burst during the mascletá because it was so loud. Imagine packing over 100 fireworks in an area less than the size of a football field, surrounded by buildings and then setting them all off in less than 15 minutes...that's what the noise of the mascletá was like. It was so exhilarating though--everyone was there and the crowd just gave off this palpable energy that climaxed when the last rocket had sounded and we all broke through the barriers. It was amazing. (Later on we witnessed other fun things in the main plaza that you can see in the photos.)

The Beach: Valencia is right on the Mediterranean and even though the sea was cold, it was beautiful. Along the shore Valencia feels just like a little beach town and that is a vibe that I have not felt in a long time. I liked it.

The Aquarium: Honestly, all I can say about this is that it was everything I had hoped it would be. You have to check out the pictures! The architecture alone was beautiful! I got to see all sorts of fish, sharks, sting rays, beluga whales, walruses, penguins, sea lions, etc. etc. (no turtles though...sad). The best part was the dolphin show. I've always loved dolphins and they always amaze me with their intelligence. Going to the aquarium was by far the best part of the trip. (The aquarium was part of the Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias, which included the Museo de las Ciencias as well and that was pretty awesome too.)

We did so much in the two and a half days we were there, but those are the best parts. The only bad part of the trip was the Valencia Metro. In Madrid the metro is very easy to use, very efficient, and very quick (in other words, it is very un-Spanish hahaha). In Valencia the metro made no sense. Trains from two different lines would run on the same set of tracks, a line would just randomly split in two without changing numbers or colors, and if you missed the train you wanted it was like a 10 minute wait for the next one (in the middle of the day in Madrid the wait is never more than 4 minutes). So this is a warning--if you go to Valencia make sure you pay attention to what the particular train says about its destination; don't trust what you think the signs in the station are telling you.

Photos!
Day 1
Days 2 and 3
Oceanográfico

Valencia fun that has nothing to do with the trip I went on (well, that's not entirely true because I sang this song to myself almost all weekend):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbsHwuyfnnw