Valencia- Fallas Parades

 As part of the Las Fallas festival, there are parades all over the city. Children and adults dress in traditional Valencian clothes. There are bands that play traditional music. Some of the parades are in one neighborhood and are fairly short. Others have thousands of people marching and can go on for seven hours! 

My favorite parade so far is La Ofrenda. They have built a giant wooden statue of the Virgin Mary (an important religious figure) in the middle of a town square. People in traditional costumes march in a parade carrying flowers, which are given as a gift to Mary. The flowers are put into the statue to decorate it. It’s really beautiful, and it smells so good! Here are some pictures and videos of the parades. 

 This is the statue before the flowers.

Valencia- Las Fallas

 On Tuesday, we traveled from Barcelona to a different city named Valencia. Valencia is where my son has been studying this semester. It is known for its beautiful and delicious oranges. 

This week, the city of Valencia is celebrating a festival called Las Fallas. Each neighborhood or village creates a giant statue called a Fallas. These statues are as big as buildings and have a lot of detail. We have spent a lot of time walking around the city looking at all the different Fallas. Here are a few of my favorites. Which ones do you like best?

Barcelona- Park Guell

 I mentioned before that a famous man named Gaudi designed many of the buildings in Barcelona. Another thing he designed was a park. The park is on a hill, so you can look all across the city! My favorite part was a big fountain in the shape of a lizard! I also enjoyed all the beautiful flowers.