The lovely, inviting Parque de Marxalenes, just waiting for a visit from you. 

So the inside cars are for residents, the next row for visitors, and the third row it moving traffic! 

Me (Margot) holding our rosemary plant, which loves the sunlight even more than I do. 

Linus doing one of his favorite things: a good imitation of a cat 

Mark drawing on our balcony 

Nuestra Casa y Barrio

Apartments in Spain are designed so some sunlight enters, but not too much. Most have a little balcony overlooking the street, usually with a clothes line of some kind - this is exactly what we have. On sunny afternoons I like to read or write on the balcony and have my afternoon merienda (snack).

When you look down at the street below, notice anything strange? Valencianos routinely double park! The way they manage this is the inside cars are generally parked there for longer periods of time, by the residents. The outside cars are generally visitors, and they don't set their parking brake; in this way, someone wanting to move their inside car simply pushes a couple outside cars gently out of their way. Of course, this doesn't always work. In that case, they lay on the horn. The "visitor" may take notice and come out to move their car.

Our neighborhood is called "Barrio Ideal" on the map, which means "ideal neighborhood". Most Spaniards who live here have never heard of that name, so I guess it is only for those of us who are tourists and temporary residents. We are just a short walk away from the Rio, the park that runs through Valencia like Central Park, only following the course of the old river like a long snake. All the little shops we need are nearby, and by crossing the Puente de los Serranos (Bridge of the people from the Sierras) we can enter the old center of town, Barrio Carmen.

My favorite place around here, besides our comportable home, is El Parque de Marxalenes. I fell in love with this lovely, tranquil oasis the moment I saw her. I usually go there on my own once a day to "dar una vuelta" - take a short walk. More on this park later.

For now, we are preparing to take an early evening stroll to see how the local Fallas are shaping up.

Hasta pronto! Pearl

Beauty waiting to be errected to her full 2 story height for the Fallas parade (note the styrafoam construction - does that look flamable to you?) 

A Bombero/fireman on hand in case the fireworks at the Mascleta get out of hand 

Fidel and Generalisimo George discuss who has the bigger cigar 

Fallas, Pagan Festival of Fire!

Hola Amigas y Amigos,

It's Fallas week! You have to hear Fallas to understand what it's all about, and the next best thing is seeing it. What it sounds like is explosions everywhere, beginning with caps stomped on by toddlers barely steady on their feet, through firecrackers tossed by eight and nine year olds, all the way up to the mighty explosives used by the Government (El Ayuntamiento) at the daily Mascela. And what is a Mascleta, you may ask?

Every afternoon at 2 p.m., beginning on March 1st, the Plaza del Ayuntamiento fills with spectators for this exciting celebration of, well, the power to explode fireworks so loud, so explosive, observers are reminded to keep their mouths open to insure they don't damage their ear drums. It sounds a little strange, but having witnessed the Mascleta twice now, it's fun! Especially if you stand upwind, so the smoke will blow away from you.

The first time we attended the Masceta was on March 1st, opening day. The Princesses filled the balcony of the government building which used to be the Town Hall; their job seems chiefly to embody the traditional costumed beauty of the Valencian region. They give parade waves to the adoring masses before the explosions begin, and then watch approvingly as the air above the plaza fills with fire and smoke.

The program consists of 3 essential stages, and although it is sponsored by a different neighborhood association and directed by a number of pyrotechnic experts, each Mascleta includes the:
Inicio A volley of glittering fireworks to light the daytime sky
Retenciones Groups of explosives that build the excitement and rock your body
Terremoto The grand, concussive finale you can feel all the way to your core - in fact, we can hear it from our apartment, a mile away!

On my second viewing of the Mascleta, I stood with our friend Sol amidst a much larger crowd and waiting half an hour (we arrived an hour early the first time and stood at the very front, just behind the baracades). To amuse the crowd, music began at 1:50 and extra large balloons were dropped from atop a building just above our heads; these were passed around like surfers in a mosh pit. At two o'clock, the crowd began to chant for the fireworks to begin! Suddenly red flares shot into the air from the fenced off area, and the booming, brilliant, smokey extravaganza began again! For somebody who hates loud noises and crowds, I have to say it was a blast, really.

Even as we left the Plaza, slogging along with the thousands of Valencian citizens who had shared the experience, I was glad to have spent an hour witnessing it once again. As we swarmed those hapless drivers trying to pass through the center of town at this most terrible hour, I remembered what I read about the running of the bulls in Pamplona: one reason few people get hurt participating in such a dangerous sport is that bulls are programmed to follow their buddy bulls, so they barely notice the silly humans in their way and simply go around them, unless the bulls fall down. In this same way, we spectators avoided the cars, and the cars avoided us.

We'll keep you posted this week as Fallas heats up, culminating in the fantastic pagan ritual of burning the gigantic effigies! Linus will give a full report. For photos and more information, check out the following web site:

http://www.cyberspain.com/life/fallas.htm

Hasta pronto, Margot Mark y Linus