amorousodious (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amorousodious) wrote2008-03-19 06:57 pm
amorousodious) wrote2008-03-19 06:57 pm
Spain Part 53 – Fallas; La Cremá
This was the last day, Friday the 19th of March, named “La Cremá” because they were about to burn all of those beautiful works of art that had been up for people to enjoy for the last 5 days. The fiestas would be over, the fireworks would be over (well, for the most part) and the city would practically empty overnight. This, my friends, is the end of fallas.
The first thing we did today was visit the falla at Na Jordana because it was Alicia’s favorite and she wanted to see it again before it burned. We went from there into Plaza de la Virgin, which had transformed from the wooden statue into another marvelous piece of art. The statue was beautiful:
There were a lot of flowers left over after they made the dress, so they used them to decorate the sides of the church on other wooden structures, and the rest were displayed in the middle of the plaza:
I managed to get a picture of a fallera in a pretty purple dress up close at this time with a good example of the hairstyle as well:
There were so many people in the Plaza that Alicia and I could hardly walk. As we were passing, I got an adorable picture of a fallero baby in a carriage:
We made our way (slowly) toward the Plaza Ayuntamiento for the last mascletá. Alicia and I took lots of pictures, and a video, telling of our feelings about the last mascletá:
As we were walking home we saw some cool works of graffiti and stopped to take pictures when we saw two children dressed up as Fallero/a, so we took pictures of them too:
Even with all the pictures, we did eventually make it home for la comida, and a short siesta. When we woke up we each had a message from Heather y Amanda inviting us to come and eat chocolate and buñuelos with them at a café near their house that was famous for making buñuelos. We decided that it sounded like a very good idea, so we walked down and met them there. We had our chocolate and buñuelos and were about to head back home when we realized that there was a parade going by. I’m not exactly sure what this parade was supposed to represent, but there were a lot of representations of middle-eastern warriors and dancers and such, so I’m assuming that it was about the history of Spain from when the Muslims had control of the country. Alicia and I had to hurry home after watching it though because we were pretty far and we had to eat la cena and then come all the way back to that part of town to see falla sueca and then watch la Cremá.
La cremá began with all the fallas infantiles, or the really small fallas that accompanied the bigger ones. We saw quite a few fires on our way to falla Sueca. The unique thing about Falla Sueca is that they put more into the street leading up to the falla than the falla itself. The street leading up to it is covered with lights. We wanted a picture of all four of us together in front of the lights, so we decided to ask someone to take the picture for us. This unfortunately was no easy feat. We took our time and made selections wisely, asking nicely and trying not to bug anyone who was in a hurry.
Finally when we had enough pictures we shoved our way into the crowd that was already gathering for the cremá of the falla at the end of the street. We actually got really close to the front, though we weren’t quite as lucky as those people who lived on the street, who could watch it from their balconies, but as you can see we were still pretty excited:
We had a nice surprise when we randomly ran into Kiesha (another student from the center) and her brother who decided to go to the same falla as us. We waited for them to start burning, and saw the Castillos from nearby as they burned other fallas. Finally, the bomberos (firemen) arrived, and they soaked the buildings around the falla to prevent them from catching fire. Then it began. It starts as a Castillo, they drape fireworks around the falla, and the falla lights from the flames from the fireworks. The way that they make it isn’t random however, if a falla burns correctly it stays up until the last minute and then collapses in on itself. It’s quite an art. We took videos of the burning, and breathed in the smoky air that was the only unpleasant part about the experience.
Afterward, Alicia Heather and Amanda all needed to stretch because they had been cramped surrounded by people:
As Alicia and I were walking home we saw the falla of Ayuntamiento burn from a distance. There were burnt remains all over the place, and the streets, except around the burning fallas, were almost completely empty. It was a strange phenomenon after the crowds from every day before that. My last picture of fallas was a picture of some of the lights that hang over a lot of the streets in the city. These lights were special because they were in the shape of moons, and Rachel had wanted to see them lit while she was here. Unfortunately, she did not get the chance to see them, so I’m posting it here so she can see.
The first thing we did today was visit the falla at Na Jordana because it was Alicia’s favorite and she wanted to see it again before it burned. We went from there into Plaza de la Virgin, which had transformed from the wooden statue into another marvelous piece of art. The statue was beautiful:
There were a lot of flowers left over after they made the dress, so they used them to decorate the sides of the church on other wooden structures, and the rest were displayed in the middle of the plaza:
I managed to get a picture of a fallera in a pretty purple dress up close at this time with a good example of the hairstyle as well:
There were so many people in the Plaza that Alicia and I could hardly walk. As we were passing, I got an adorable picture of a fallero baby in a carriage:
We made our way (slowly) toward the Plaza Ayuntamiento for the last mascletá. Alicia and I took lots of pictures, and a video, telling of our feelings about the last mascletá:
As we were walking home we saw some cool works of graffiti and stopped to take pictures when we saw two children dressed up as Fallero/a, so we took pictures of them too:
Even with all the pictures, we did eventually make it home for la comida, and a short siesta. When we woke up we each had a message from Heather y Amanda inviting us to come and eat chocolate and buñuelos with them at a café near their house that was famous for making buñuelos. We decided that it sounded like a very good idea, so we walked down and met them there. We had our chocolate and buñuelos and were about to head back home when we realized that there was a parade going by. I’m not exactly sure what this parade was supposed to represent, but there were a lot of representations of middle-eastern warriors and dancers and such, so I’m assuming that it was about the history of Spain from when the Muslims had control of the country. Alicia and I had to hurry home after watching it though because we were pretty far and we had to eat la cena and then come all the way back to that part of town to see falla sueca and then watch la Cremá.
La cremá began with all the fallas infantiles, or the really small fallas that accompanied the bigger ones. We saw quite a few fires on our way to falla Sueca. The unique thing about Falla Sueca is that they put more into the street leading up to the falla than the falla itself. The street leading up to it is covered with lights. We wanted a picture of all four of us together in front of the lights, so we decided to ask someone to take the picture for us. This unfortunately was no easy feat. We took our time and made selections wisely, asking nicely and trying not to bug anyone who was in a hurry.
Finally when we had enough pictures we shoved our way into the crowd that was already gathering for the cremá of the falla at the end of the street. We actually got really close to the front, though we weren’t quite as lucky as those people who lived on the street, who could watch it from their balconies, but as you can see we were still pretty excited:
We had a nice surprise when we randomly ran into Kiesha (another student from the center) and her brother who decided to go to the same falla as us. We waited for them to start burning, and saw the Castillos from nearby as they burned other fallas. Finally, the bomberos (firemen) arrived, and they soaked the buildings around the falla to prevent them from catching fire. Then it began. It starts as a Castillo, they drape fireworks around the falla, and the falla lights from the flames from the fireworks. The way that they make it isn’t random however, if a falla burns correctly it stays up until the last minute and then collapses in on itself. It’s quite an art. We took videos of the burning, and breathed in the smoky air that was the only unpleasant part about the experience.
Afterward, Alicia Heather and Amanda all needed to stretch because they had been cramped surrounded by people:
As Alicia and I were walking home we saw the falla of Ayuntamiento burn from a distance. There were burnt remains all over the place, and the streets, except around the burning fallas, were almost completely empty. It was a strange phenomenon after the crowds from every day before that. My last picture of fallas was a picture of some of the lights that hang over a lot of the streets in the city. These lights were special because they were in the shape of moons, and Rachel had wanted to see them lit while she was here. Unfortunately, she did not get the chance to see them, so I’m posting it here so she can see.