Las Fallas and the Epic week that was

Hey guys!

Shit! I actually am not sure how to start this. this week has been both the best & the hardest of my life I recon But screw the bad shit, lets talk about the good stuff!

Las Fallas was something so incredible & amazing that I want to start by saying no words, video's or images are going to show you how good it really was. The city had a heartbeat & it shot right through us, it was by far the highlight of the trip so far, and if anyone can go & experience it as a part of a trip.. Do it, you will never do anything like it!

So now that I have completely built you up, I will do my best to try and explain this to you. For starters its a city wide festival. We were staying a good 15 minute tram ride from the city ( yes they have trams too!) and we still had fallas around every corner. Fireworks outside our hostel & people drinking in the street.

The days are always full on. They start @ 8am by letting off fireworks outside...well shit everywhere they were outside out hostel! There are parades & music. in general people are just out & about. @ 2pm there is the Mascleta which is essentially an audio fireworks display. It is LOUD! if you actually get into the plaza, which we did on one of the days it goes through you...its one of those things that I cannot explain. Its just so loud you think your ears are going to burst & your heart jump out of your chest. And then the 60,000 people that are in the plaza with you all cheer. Its amazing!

During the last few days there is also the Flower offering, which involved alot selected locals from what we could figure getting dressed up in their traditional dress and each carrying flowers to a massive wooden standing Mary monument. Over 2 days this wooden outline is covered with these flowers & the end result is breathtaking

All day there are also paella contests happening in the streets & bullfighting happening at the bull ring.

The nights are topped off by another massive fireworks display each & every night of the festival and parties all over the streets. There are tents & within each community they have their own party tents set up & stages in some cases.

Of course the best part of this whole thing, is the Crema. When they light this shit on Fire!
The Fallas themselves are so beautiful & intricate, it's really emotional when they set them alight. Each one has a fireworks show beforehand & then the whole thing goes up. We even watched one fall on a row of light & bring it down & everyone was just cheering!

Some of the craziest stuff though isn't in any brochure you will read about fallas. The firecrackers that get let off all day everyday are done by kids. I'm seriously talking 5 year olds & up. They throw them on the streets, in the middle of people, avoiding getting blown up is half the fun! on one of the last days when we were out we got to witness a firework war. People had fireworks, ones that go off several times & whoosh in all different directions and were throwing them at people, and in the end into crowds of people! it was one of the most amazing things to watch. I was in a portaloo ( classy story this is going to be!) and i could hear one going off right above me, I'm like shit, what if it aims right at me..I was shitting myself ( at least I was in the right place *badoomtish*) but really. Funny/Scary!

The energy that everyone has is nuts & its so contagious that you just want to be as big a part of it as you can. We ate Paella, tapas, churros & drank a few cervezas. We cheered, sang & ran from fireworks. I loved it! We loved it!

In all honesty though, I've barely touched the surface of what we did and I know the meatpacking brit boys are dying to be mentioned! So as I don't think my literary skills are enough to express the passion we have towards this thing, we will be uploading an audio blog when we get a chance.

Then you guys can evaluate if we still have our accents down too!

For the record the meatpackers were an amazing addition to the festival, and it was really good to do it with a few others to really take it all in, have a laugh and meet fantastic new friends. As they are a bit quicker than us they already have photos up with us tagged on Facebook so check em out!

We shall add to this as soon as we can be assed! We'll upload a slideshow & all that biz too!


Edit: Keeping good on promises



Much Love!
xxx