El Dia de Valenica

So I left Valencia on October 10th, but fortunately for me El Dia de Valencia was on October 9th. The day is a celebration that would equal a combination of our valentine´s day and 4th of july. It´s actually in honor of King Jaime´s expulsion of the Moors (or is it Moops?) from the city in the mid-thirteenth century. As the celebrations began hundreds of year ago, the use of fire was prohibited. In order to stick it to the man, bakers made pastries in the form of fireworks and those were based around. This eventually transformed into scarves that are wrapped in the form of rockets (think conical) and filled with sweets, the tradional gift on this day. I wish I could have partaken in this cultural treat, but as many of you know I gave up eating desserts for new years (and what many of you don´t know is that I also gave up eating scarves).

The night before ´the big day´ I was at my spanish-english conversations at a local bar and ended up meeting up with some locals and a few of their german friends. We made our way to the fireworks in the Rio (as desribed in an earlier entry) around 11:30 as they were to start around Midnight. I have to admit my bias that I had a feeling these were going to be the best fireworks I had ever seen...they didn´t disappoint. I was taken aback by a 45 minute show that literally made my teeth shake in my mouth. Adding to the effect was the booming echo that could be heard (and felt) reverberating through the city. I kid you not, someone who was both deaf and blind could have enjoyed this show. It took place in three acts, with the final act being the Grand Finale, which also had three parts. The first two were simulatenous burts of fire from both bottom and top, in white and orange colors that made it look as if it was raining fire on an erupting volcano. The last was a similar display in a variety of colors that almost induced an epileptic seizure. The show ended a little before one but my newly acquired mates and I were lacking in our search for the next thing to do. I had expected the Valencians to make this a raucous night but left around 2AM slightly disappointed.

I made my way downtown the next day for the parade and it was unlike´any I´d ever seen. The procession itself is not that long, but it stops frequently and acts are performed. Dances, fireworks (they love fire), and reinactments of Christians cahsing out the Moors all unfolded in front of my eyes. It was quite a site. That evening I made my way back to the Rio where I had seen them setting up a stage the day before. It was to the left side of one of the main fountains, placed in a pool that is equal to about the size of your standard swimming pool. All around the pool were tents setup for children to play, etc. Just before the event ended there was a procession. First came the nights, who looked very Christian and rode horses to the sound of trumpets. Next came a group a joksters that I would equate to Ken Kesey´s merry meddlers they held oversized plastic mallets and would prank people by tapping them on the head. I´m not sure of the significance of them, nor the following act, but it was incredible. Men wearing flame retardant suits started in one corner and were doing incredible things with fireworks. By incredible, I mean insanely stupid. All of them had lit fireworks in their hands and even though they had gloves and suits, no masks were worn. Some would push exploding carts and others would jump in and out of explosions. Then they proceded around the pool, fireworks in hand, and began to spray the crown with sparks. They had no boundaries or concern for safety as they would run directly at you, spraying the sparks on the ground. The crowd didn´t seem to mind and I didn´t either. I even noticed one guy who decided to use his firework as a fallacy. I´d chastise him, but there´s a distinct possibility that I would have done the same. What a way to leave Valencia huh?