3 AM on the night of March 19th, the last day of Las Fallas, and I had every intention of writing a post about what I had just seen and experienced.  I got as far as sitting down in front of the computer and sorting through some photographs, then…BOOM!  Fallas burn-out hit me.  36 hours later I can finally face this small task, just barely.
Living in the centre of town, in the heart of the celebrations, has been fun but tiring.  The band that blared away into the wee hours …

Do they burn the Virgin?
I think this is the first question that any newcomer to Las Fallas asks.  I mean, if they are about incinerate 500 or so fallas, the most expensive representing an investment of over 1 million euros, what’s to stop them here?
As it turns out, the Virgin is not reduced to ashes.  She is allowed to stand in her flowery splendour until her body is virtually rotting away - is that better, really?
The Offering of Flowers - Ofrenda de las Flores - takes place on the 17th and …

A Real Blast
Wow, the Valencians love gunpowder.  From our fifth-floor perch we can hear countless explosions throughout the day and night - and we are lucky enough to be able to see a good portion of the nightly fireworks display in the Turia park (a dry riverbed system that amazes me with its vastness).
Last night I came home to a sleeping household - despite the amazing noise coming from the square - and took this picture as I sipped on a cider on our terrace.  The display was quite impressive …

In the past week I’ve written thousands of words about both the past and the present of Las Fallas, Valencia’s signature celebration.  As ridiculous as it seems not to dedicate a lengthy and detailed post to this virtually inexhaustible subject (or inextinguishable?) event, I just can’t do it.
Here’s what I’m offering instead: the chance to read some of the articles I’ve written for other sites - Expatica and Eat In Valencia; and a series of vignettes about these incendiary celebrations as they unfold around us.
I’m not widely known for brevity …

My first breath of Spanish air, I breathed in Barajas airport in Madrid.  I was surprised to find that air carrying the smoke of countless cigarettes.  For a young, sheltered Canadian it was unheard of that people should be smoking inside a public building.  The guards with machine guns were also smoking, which was a real oddity to say the least.
Since that day in 1997 things have changed somewhat, but not as much as I would have thought.
On January 1st, 2006, new laws came into effect that restricted the smoking …

It was hard to take Katie seriously while she sported Oscar’s sunglasses, one lens raised jauntily, but, despite her comical appearance, her comment over our pre-lunch snack was undeniably astute: ‘When was the last time you ate anything outside in Canada in January?’
Warmth is something that people from temperate climates take for granted.  Fair enough, I’m sure that I take a whole host of things for granted that others find as joyous and wonderful as I do the warm, sunny days of winter here in Valencia.  I don’t think the …

Life in modern Spain is much like life in any first world nation.  Okay, obviously there are differences, but what I mean to suggest is that the major components of daily life are the same.  The conveniences and hassles of modern life are common to many countries - cars and parking; houses and mortgages…  People enjoy the vast array of consumer products available to them and try to balance spending with income as well as work with free time.  In that regard, life in Spain is very much like life …

Living in the old quarter of Valencia, we hear church bells ringing all the time.  For the most part, I have no idea why and today was no exception, though their ringing was exceptionally vigorous.
I hadn’t even know that today - Jan 22 - was a holiday until a Spanish friend mentioned it in an e-mail a couple of days ago.  That’s what happens when you work from home; you lose touch with your community.  Well, we aren’t in Valencia so that we can spend our lives online so I …