After visiting Andalusia in southwest Spain, I went to the city of Valencia on Spain’s East Coast. I did some sketching, but the big excitement was that my visit coincided with Las Fallas’s week. This is an annual spring spectacle featuring intricately carved sculptures, fireworks displays, and traditional music and dance.
Each Valencian neighborhood has an organization that spends the whole year designing, fundraising for, and creating these giant sculptures. The main event is the burning of the sculptures at the conclusion, symbolizing the burning of old traditions, and the whole week is a major tourist attraction.
Apparently, some of the Fallas decorations can cost millions of euros. In the past they were papier-mâché, but nowadays they are usually made out of foam. This didn’t sound pleasant to be around during the burning, but fortunately, I missed that part of it…
But the culture and party surrounding the event was amazing. You can read lots more about it and see many more pictures on the Wikipedia page for it.
Above is an image of some old style papier-mâché decorations at the Museo Fallero de València. Each year two of the sculptural effigies are saved from the fires.
A fascinating destination is the Casa Carles Recio, a house façade in the En Corts neighborhood, covered with handpainted ceramic murals and sculptures, some risqué and erotic.
I had a really nice week in Valencia and some old friends of mine from Chicago showed me a great time and welcomed me into their home. I knew Lee from high school and her husband Phil is a really great rock music photographer. You can see his work on his Instagram or website.
To get around while I was there, I signed up for the Valencia City bike program, which gets you a pass to use the various bicycles that are parked at kiosks throughout the city. I used this constantly to get around the city and back and forth to the University district where I was staying. A bicycle is just the right speed to explore a new city. Valencia also has a long beachfront, and south of the city (a little too far for the city bikes) are some wild beaches with nature areas. All in all, I had a nice visit to Spain’s third-largest city.
Originally published on https://stephangiannini.com/
Painted Journals 
Your watercolors are stunning! Didn’t know you did watercolors.You have a very interesting life. Are you creating a coffee table book? Andrea
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I’ve just started doing watercolors in the last couple years. Mostly in sketchbooks when I travel or don’t feel like carrying all the oil painting equipment. I really enjoy them and then also happy with my output.
I’m working on creating a book about my Camino de Santiago drawings. It’ll probably be smaller than a coffee table book. Great idea, though. Maybe the next one!
LikeLike