Loads of London

The days following Fallas felt strange. You are so relieved that you can once again walk freely through the streets with no fireworks exploding at your side, but it is a bittersweet feeling because you somehow miss the craziness that had surrounded you for a week. Well, really three weeks. Everything is back to normal, but it's been so long since normal existed that normal now seems strange. So, it's a little sad but not sad to the point that you want it to happen again anytime soon...or maybe ever again.

Needless to say, I slept and slept for the next few days. Went to work, came home, and slept. Oh yes, and spent most nights blogging before my next adventure, which began the Thursday after Fallas ended on Saturday (barely enough time to pull my life back together.)

Thursday morning I left for London to stay with Sarah Jones! (good friend from camp/Mississippi). I was a little anxious since this would be my first solo gig. Not only did I have to pack and get all my travel info in order for London, I also had to get ready for Barcelona and Amsterdam. My next week looked like this:

Thur - Mon : London
Mon - Thur : Barcelona
Thur - Sat : Amsterdam

And since I wasn't 100% sure if my Spanish cell phone would work in London, I had to get exact directions to meet Sarah at her work place. But the good news is, they speak English in London! You have no idea what a relief it is. Every time I've landed in another country I've had a slightly panicked thought of, "Wow, they don't speak English here and I don't speak (French/Italian.)" ...Even though it shouldn't be that terrifying because SOMEONE (in fact several someones) spoke English in those countries. But still, I knew for a fact that anyone I turned to for help or directions in London..I knew I would be able to understand them COMPLETELY...well...mostly.

On the morning I left, Valencia was lookin' nasty. I flew Ryanair, which is the main airline we all use because it is incredibly cheap. The only thing is they charge you for every little extra thing they can. So no complementary drink. Wanna check a bag? Fee. If you're carry-on doesn't fit into their little bag measuring device...Fee. As Catalina said at the beginning of the semester, they'd charge you to go to the bathroom if they could. Now I believe it. But you can sit wherever you like on the plane, and they load from the front and the back, so that's nice.

The Ryanair flights I've taken out of Valencia have been really loud. As in the people have been loud. When flying to Rome, I thought maybe the volume was due to a large number Italians flying back to their mother country...but no. After this flight to London I realized the blame is mostly with the Spanish. Granted, this flight also had a large group of high school Spanish kids.

Either way, I have never been on a plane where the flight attendants had to shhh us in order to go through their beginning of the flight shpeel. First, the guy starts talking on the microphone about seat belts. Then, the lady flight attendant comes through the aisle asking everyone to pay attention. That doesn't work. The guy has to pause his announcements and ask us all to be quiet over the microphone. "If you don't pay attention to the emergency procedures, the plane cannot take off." Dang.

These were the girls sitting next to me. They were very excited. So they were constantly leaning over me to take pictures outside the window.



Mountains



Getting ready to land in London. Every time the plane made a move that caught your stomach, everyone on the plane went "Wwwoooooaah" or "ahhhhhhhhh."


And of course they all cheered when we landed. Ryanair also plays the "daa daa daaa da da da da da da da dah da dah" (like the tune they play at the beginning of horse races... or whatever tune it is that you say CHARGE after) ...they play that every time they land.
Basically, Ryanair is a circus.

London was the first time I had to go through customs. You don't have to go through customs if you're traveling in the European Union. But the UK is different. So I don't have a France or Italy stamp in my passport...but I do got England now!

After landing, I had to take a 45 minute train into London. Felt really bad for this one chick who had gotten on the wrong train. Her English wasn't very good. I wanted to tell her that I'd been there before. But instead I just smiled sympathetically.

London Liverpool St. Station




My first tube ticket. At this point, I am very proud of myself for getting from plane to train to a tube ticket.


Headed down to the tube


Me saying "tube" in the tube.


Really, I shouldn't be all that proud. The London tube (which I don't understand why they had to call it the tube...everywhere else is just fine using the term 'metro') is very easy to navigate. It's almost impossible to get on the wrong line. There's a nice voice that tells you everything you need to know. Not only does it tell you what stop is next, but also what other lines you can catch at that stop. Quite helpful.

Got off the tube and had to walk to Sarah's work, Sotheby's. I realized as I was walking that I wasn't real sure how to pronounce this name, so I hoped I didn't have to ask anyone. I had also realized that I didn't have my cell phone. Ooops. Must've left it in my room. Luckily, I had very good directions and I found Sotheby's with no problem.

Yay I made it! Sarah took an hour for lunch!


The first meal I have in London is a "Mexican style baguette."
Yes, I know... I should be ordering fish and chips or something. But I had already decided that while trying some English food was important, I mainly just wanted NOT-Spanish food. So I ordered food that my stomach wanted.
Whatever, I love guacamole.

Then, Sarah sent me off on my own to the National Gallery. It was so much fun walking around alone. You can stop and take a picture of whatever you feel like and you don't have to wait on anyone or make anyone wait on you. I think I could get used to this...at least in English speaking countries.

Pictures on the way to National Gallery

London Taxis






At one point I went to a bathroom and this woman was standing there. I stood behind her, but then she turned and said, "Oh, no, I'm not queuing."
Um, excuse me, you're not doing what in the bathroom?


Superman? Are you in there?




A fight between Fish and Chips vs. Pizza Hut. Who would win?
Man I haven't seen a Pizza Hut in ages. If only I hadn't just eaten.


Flag... I think I kinda love this flag.


Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

Went in the National Gallery. No photos allowed. I decided not to test the English and their camera rules. Saw Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael....you know, the usual.


Monet? Is that you?


Yes, I definitely love this flag.


Then it was time to meet Sarah getting off work. Pictures headed back to Sotheby's.
Tarted up



Confused street performer


Double deckers!



I got back to Sotheby's earlier than expected since I walked. So I meandered around the street, which was full of fancy people clothing stores. Enter Emily.
Walked past this one store near Sotheby's (The E.Z. store in photo below) and saw a table of drinks and snacks inside. Perfect.

I walk in to this fashionable men clothing store and was offered a champagne just as I had hoped. As I sipped my drink, I pretended to look at all the fancy clothes and accessories. Had to look slowly as this store wasn't too big. Put my empty drink down, prepared to leave, when the nice man offered more. Well, I don't mind if I do. More pretending.
And some sneaky photos.

It's not normal to take pictures of yourself in mirrors of clothing stores. Not exactly a tourist stop.

As I was leaving, the man who opened the door asked if I enjoyed my drink. Probably trying to insinuate that he was on to my scam. I smiled and said of course!
Met Sarah and told her about my day.
Told her that I had walked from National Gallery.
Sarah: "That is so good of you."
Me: "Wow, that is so British of you."

Then I discovered that Sarah says lots of "British things." She doesn't talk with an accent or anything...that would be silly. But she says these things:

Loads ... There are loads of people here
Meant ... We were meant to go to the party last weekend but we couldn't
Hectic ...Same way we use it, they just say it more.

Sotheby's (which I originally thought was a clothing store) is an art place. They have auctions and stuff and Sarah works in the impressionist department (well she worked there... now she got a new job).


Reception at Sotheby's...dang Sarah is fancy.



So as we were talking about the art I saw and have seen in Europe, and she informed me that the REAL Mona Lisa in the Louvre is actually locked away in a safe or something. They rotate 7 different ones into the display. That just adds to the overall disappointment of Mona.

Took my first double decker bus ride. We stopped at the store for dinner stuff then met her boyfriend Alex at a pub.

Alex and Sarah... not my picture. I didn't get a picture of Alex before he left for the weekend. So I took this from facebook. Cuties.


Pictures along the way.
Snog = Kiss and the name of this yogurt shop.

The Prince Albert pub


Me: "Sarah, isn't Prince Albert the name of...?"
Sarah: "No, Emily. Prince Albert is the name of a Prince."
Me: "But wait... isn't it the ... you know?"
Sarah: "No. Prince."
But she knows ;)


Bathrooms...excuse me, The Loos


Cider in a pub.



Walked to their flat and Alex made the most amazing curry dinner.


So food summary thus far in London: Mexicanish Sandwich and Indian dinner.


Sarah and Alex's flat
Kitchen (with washing machine there to the right of the stove)


Living room (dryer to the left)



hallway


Cannot tell you how happy I was to not be in a hostel. Thank you, thank you, thank you Sarah and Alex. Belly full of curry, I fell asleep on their couch to the sound of British accents on the tele. Good day.

We Didn't Start the Falla

La Cremá ...The Day of the Burnings

I went BACK to bed Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. after sending Mom and Joe off to the airport via taxi. I came back to my building to find it had turned into a frat house over the week. It was in shambles, people were still up and drunk (which was true of people everywhere in Valencia), and our kitchen apartment was a complete mess. I helped a drunken and passed out roommate to bed who had fallen asleep sitting up in a kitchen chair, and then I collapsed into a 5 hour sleep. Lillie had left a note on my door saying "Hey girl. Lunch @ 11 and mascletá despues de."

"Oh lord," I thought, "Can I really shuffle my way through another crowd and wait and wait and wait for yet another firework show?? I gotta! I just gotta! Last day. It's time to man up. I can do this." So I set my alarm and off we went... after enjoying a delicious girl scout snack courtesy of Joe.


On the way we got a shot of the Virgin, all flowered up.


She will stay up for a week after Fallas is over.



In a single file line we wormed our way through the crowd


And actually made it into the plaza for the final mascletá.



Then it was more waiting for about 40 minutes. We played "Everyone in the circle name an animal that starts with each letter of the alphabet," and the show started right when we finished the Z's...(which besides zebra and zebra fish, we were at a loss for anymore Z animals)


I get that you may not have any interest in watching more firework videos. I filmed the whole mascletá this time. It was my last one. These had been happening every day for 3 weeks. This was my farewell to the most bizarre day-time thing I've ever experienced. So it's fine...skip the first one. But you should watch a little of the second one near the end to see how much smoke fills the air around us.




After the best mascletá of all, we shuffled our way through more crowds to try and find some food, passing some unseen fallas along the way. Every place in Valencia was packed. Not only were there no seats in any restaurants, there were hardly any seats on the sidewalks. Starving and exhausted...we surrendered to McDonald's (my first since arriving in Spain). Desperate times call for desperate measures. We got our meals pretty fast considering how packed it was, found a nasty spot on the ground outside the bullring, and stuffed our faces full of soggy fries and ice-less cokes.


We finally made it back home...which wasn't so sweet due to the never ending African drum circle outside our windows. Seriously, they never stopped. I did not move from my bed for the rest of the afternoon. Around 8 or 9 I started to get hungry. Had no food. The markets were all closed. And EVERY restaurant (even the nasty pizza place next to us) had ridiculously long lines. Plus, there was no way I could make it through another crowd if I didn't have to. My friend Melissa, also hungry and foodless, messaged me. Together we came up with some eggs, cheese, and stale bread to make a dinner. Then it was time for the first round of falla burning.
The schedule was supposed to go like this:
10:00 - The infantile Fallas burn (the little ones)
Midnight- Big Fallas burn
12:30 - Big Fallas that won awards burn
1:00 a.m. - The Falla in the town plaza burns

Yeah right, welcome to Spanish life. The schedule pretty much went out the window after the 10:00 burning.

We were able to watch our little falla burn from our balcony.
Melissa and Freddie already in place.


Here's a look at the circle of people starting to form around the little falla...oh and the African drum circle right below.


Video before the little falla burned



Video of the little falla burning. Right before any falla burns (big or little) they set off fireworks (ummm duh, of course) and then some firecrackers go off in a string headed towards the falla to start the fire.
Be aware, there's a big giant F word near the beginning of this video...my fellow FSU student wasn't prepared for the big firecracker beginning. So please excuse her.. and me for posting it, but it's the only little falla burning I'll ever have on video.





Kelly and me between falla burnings.
Here, I am actually MORE tired than I look in the picture.


Firework wound from the night before. Ash in the eye. No bueno.


At 11:00 we made our way down the street to a big falla that we assumed would burn at midnight. The plan was to watch it burn then try to quickly make our way to the 1:00 town plaza burning...although we realized it was wishful thinking that A) we'd make it in time and B) even if we did, the crowd would be too big to even see the thing burn. But we figured we had to try.

Here's the falla we watched. This shot is from the back...basically a big skeleton dude sitting on a demon-looking castle.


Close up


A shot during the day from someone else's camera.



We waited and waited... the bomb squad arrived (aka firefighters).


Photo opp with the semi-hot bomberos.


We waited and waited... and waited some more... playing more pass-the-time games. (At this point I had played them all)
Around 12:15, we could hear and see other fallas shooting their fireworks...signaling the beginning of their flaming demise. But our bomberos were not making any moves towards starting our falla fire. We concluded that this skeleton falla must have won an award, so it must be a 12:30 falla. A little boy near us said it had won 4th place in something. So we waited and waited some more.


And then about an hour later, we were at the point where we didn't even care about seeing a freakin falla burn. My body ached, claustrophobia was settling in as I hit my limit of standing and waiting in large crowds...then...all of a sudden the lights went out. And the fireworks began.


In case you couldn't tell, some of those fireworks were going off at about eye level. And we were the closest you could be to the pyrotechnics...one of the many things that shouldn't be allowed with fireworks and/or fire.

Then began the most bizarre/slightly scary but thrilling thing I've ever experienced. The falla started to burn. The fire started like a regular little fire...then grew and grew.. then the styrofoam ash (still glowing with fire) started floating into the sky...THEN, it started falling back down on top of us. That's the point in the video below when it gets a little crazy. We all had to cover our heads and run back a few steps. We start to feel little tingles on our necks and arms, and we think tiny fire sparks are falling all over us. Then, someone yells "It's water it's water!!" and we realize the bomberos have been lightly spraying water over us. We all calm down a bit and are able to stand a little closer and watch it burn after the ashes quit falling so heavily. But it is still soooo hot.

Also, I believe the same girl spouts off another cuss word at the end of this video. I wanted to punch her...but really, have you ever almost caught on fire from a burning styrofoam castle? You would cuss too.





Firey ash in the sky


After we thought the coast was clear (or as some Jackson folk say...the ghost was clear), I started taking pictures again when I felt a tinge on my arm. I looked down and a pretty large ash spark was burning through my fleece. "Ah I'm on fire I'm on fire!" Melanie started patting my arm and yelling "Stop drop and roll! Stop drop and roll!"... course this wasn't necessary in the end, but it's nice to know those routines come to mind in a mini crisis.

My falla battle scars. I will never throw this jacket away.


AHHHHHHH what is happening!!


After the styrofoam, the wooden frame is left to burn.



The HEAT ... soooo intense.


But never too hot for a girls picture


Melanie and Chris ... hooded for protection from falling ash fire.



Much needed bomberos... the trees would catch on fire and they would quickly douse them in water... at one point the side of a building started smoking.


The falla slowly started to dwindle down to nothing





The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes.

Here's a look at the crowd that was an appropriate distance from the burning structure.


Gracias guys




Ash droplets all over us


Aaaand we're done. We realized before the burning, when the clock struck one, that we did not have a prayer of seeing the town falla burn. Even if it hadn't burned yet, none of us had the energy to even attempt that crowd. If we weren't before, we were now officially through with fallas.

Walking back to our building... streets are trashed (although nothing compared to Friday night).


As we walked back, the little buñuelos stands started packing up. Fallas was over for all of Valencia.


Stopped by where our falla used to stand to take some pictures.
Old man in the chair and little naked kids watching porn were all gone.






Different view


Kelly and Brittany mourn over the embers



African drum circle finally quiet. Go home now.


And the next day... it is ALL gone. Almost as crazy and incredible as the Fallas week itself was the Sunday after when everything had been cleaned up and cleared away. It is a little spooky... like nothing ever happened.


African drum circle- gone



Before (at 2:00 a.m.)


After


Before



After


All that was left was a wee ashy skid mark on the ground where our falla burned.
The streets also had a sticky film over them until Monday morning when the washers came through. Other than those two things, you would never know the craziest festival in the world had just taken place.


Tents and people before



And after...
Cars back on the street.


.... Valencia is as it was.