In March, J and I went to Valencia, Spain... land of the oranges. We went for a festival called "Las Fallas". Some background: A "Falla" is a wooden structure, anywhere from 2m -47m (6ft - 150ft) tall. The legend says the festival started when the city's carpenters had some leftover wood from the previous year that they needed to get rid of to clear out space. Rather than throw everything out, they decided to build something. Now each community works to build their own structure, fundraising and building the structures.
While we were impressed by the quality, we were a little bummed by the themes. The smaller fallas are "critiques", but mostly they seemed to be depressing depictions of the crisis and the state of the economy. The bigger ones were more optimistic and impressive to visit, so we tried to get to those more. Over the years, it has grown to such a level that there are people that design/build fallas year round, and have already started on next year's structures.
Some more background: Valencianos love fireworks. I mean, they really LOVE them! "Petardos" are more like firecrackers, ranging from snappers, to black cats, to cherry bombs and even bigger. There was not even a 10 minute period where there was not some sort o explosion. With this in mind, the community naturally decided that the best way to celebrate the hard work and effort of the carpenters would be to blow everything up, and burn them to embers...
J and I hopped a bus and away we went. We expected the fallas to look a little like an average 4th of July parade float, or maybe the fiesta major de Gracia. In short, we expected them to look a little homemade. In this regard, we were completely blown away.
While we were impressed by the quality, we were a little bummed by the themes. The smaller fallas are "critiques", but mostly they seemed to be depressing depictions of the crisis and the state of the economy. The bigger ones were more optimistic and impressive to visit, so we tried to get to those more. Over the years, it has grown to such a level that there are people that design/build fallas year round, and have already started on next year's structures.
I have fond memories of the 4th of July with friends and family, lighting roman candles, black cats, fountains, etc, but all of those memories start after the sun goes down. For Valencians, anytime, anywhere seems to be the motto. The most shocking thing for J & I was seeing the lack of parental control and safety. Groups of kids playing soccer with the small spinners, and less then 3 ft away from black cats and other explosives. At 1 pm every day, there was a "mascleta", professional companies essentially try to burst as many eardrums as possible. We were warned that it was loud, but even so, we were driven further and further away by just how loud it was! Even from ~1 mile away, it was difficult to carry on a conversation. Every night beginning around 8, larger fireworks shows began for a few hours until 1 am, when the BIG show begins. I must say, it was probably the best fireworks show I have ever seen, lasting ~40 minutes, with non-stop explosions of color & sound, it really is quite something.
Valencia also lays claim to being the home of paella. We had an excellent paella on our way back from Murcia this winter, so we were excited to try another. The beach area is full of restaurants that specialize in paella, and based on the recommendation of a friend, ordered "Arroz a la Banda". It's amazing how quickly the chefs can whip up a huge pan of paella!!
Of course, after going here, J wants a paella pan of her own, I think we will need a bigger kitchen :) We also had fideos, or noodles, prepared somewhat similarly. The food was good, but we found that 1 paella was more than enough for both of us, and what we really wanted at the end of the trip was some vegetables, no more rice or oil. I dont want to put it down though, it really was quite well done.
Some other notes about Valencia. If you ever visit, make sure to take a stroll or jog along the "river". It is a dried up river bed that has been turned into a park. It is quite nice to find green in the middle of the city. The 2nd recommendation is the "Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias" 
It's a series of museums placed in some pretty neat modern architecture. I'd also recommend the aquarium, J and I really enjoyed the incredible ocean life there.
It was a fun trip and a nice way to get away for a long weekend. However, the constant explosions (including someone intentionally throwing a cherry bomb in front of J and me, part of which hit me in the face), and the hoards and hoards of people were a bummer. "Las Fallas" was interesting, but if we go back, I think it will be at a more leisurely time of year.
