After a few wonderful days in
Barcelona (highly recommended),
we took a three-and-a-half hour train
ride along the Mediterranean coast to
Valencia. Las Fallas was already under-
way and we were immediately swept up
by the festivities. The streets were flood-
ed with people—an energetic, fun mix
of Valencians and tourists. Some of the
main roads were already closed to traffic.
We had booked a hotel room located at
la Plaça de la Reina, right in the heart of
this beautiful historical city and close to
the Cathedral Iglesia Catedral-Basílica
Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra
Señora de Valencia (consecrated in 1238
by the first bishop of Valencia). The way
to experience Las Fallas was on foot, and
Valencia was not only easy to navigate
but we always felt safe.
We found the Valencians to be
friendly, welcoming, and quite proud of
their city and its traditions, including
the food. We enjoyed enough paellas
and tapas to last us for a long while.
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Everything was delicious and prices
were reasonable.
Let’s get back to the sculptures.
There were more than 800 on display
throughout the city and surrounding
neighborhoods. This festival’s eye-
candy appeal was off the charts, but
there was another element that made
the sculptures captivating to look at.
Each followed a specific theme, and
the themes were typically expressed
in fanciful figures, sometimes as
caricatures, but always using humor
and satire to make a statement or poke
fun at modern society and current
issues in one way or another. Each
crew, each neighborhood, tried to be
more outrageous than the rest.
We walked many miles each day
navigating Valencia’s streets using an
iPhone map app. In all, we saw over
100 beautiful works of art. Some were
as much as five stories tall. Each piece
was stunning in its own right. People in
each neighborhood were proud of their
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
august/september 2019
gmhtoday.com