Wednesday Walk: festive atmosphere in downtown

duvinca (72)in Wednesday Walk • last month (edited)

Hello friends!

Sometimes we start a walk unexpectedly, we improvise a new route because perhaps we have to go somewhere or do other things out of the routine, and thus curious and interesting walks arise, which appear by surprise.

So once again I want to join the @tattoodjay initiative in the #WednesdayWalk community and to share a new urban walk that I have enjoyed, this past week, when I suddenly found myself in the downtown of the city of Valencia in Spain, already in a few days in which the festival is felt. Because Las Fallas begins, which is the local festival par excellence, and from March 1st there are events until the 19th, although the important days begin from the 15th. But there is already a different atmosphere and some preparations underway.

During these pre-festive days, there are already mascletàs, here, in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (the City Hall Square). It is a kind of powerful firecracker concert that lasts about 10 or 15 minutes at full power. Every day from day 1 to 19 at 2pm in the afternoon, but there are a lot of people, people come from all over the city, from surrounding areas and during the most important days from other cities in the country and many tourists from abroad as well.

So there are people in love with gunpowder who go two hours early, because I passed by there around 12pm and they sit with chairs and take food to wait two hours for the fireworks show to start, and enjoy it in the front row.

But there was more, they were already setting up the Falla of the square, in each neighborhood there is a falla, which is a cardboard monument with allegorical, cynical or social criticism images that are later burned on the night of March 19 in the Cremà moment of the festival.
It is clear that this year, this falla has a big yellow duck and also a dove, the assembly was underway because on the day 15 all the ones in the city should begin to be exhibited.

Due to the setups and start of the festival, there is more security and also more people walking around the city on any given day. And we found ninots (the dolls that are placed on the monuments of the Fallas) also in a curious way in a building.

We look again at the square, with its large fountain and nice statues and we move away, then it will be full of people waiting for a lot of intense noise. And we continue through a popular street of the city (San Vicente street), through one that will connect us with another important square in Valencia. And you can see local people and already some tourists coming in the opposite direction, towards the festive atmosphere that will soon begin. But there are other smaller nearby streets where you can breathe calmly, and yes, you can feel a lot of sun.

Suddenly we came across a large imposing church façade, but we continued our walk until we reached the Plaza de la Reina (Queen's Square), where many palm trees, some of them new additions, happily welcome us on a beautiful day.

To the left, another beautiful monument, the Torre de Santa Catalina (the Tower of St. Catalina), and in front we reach the Cathedral, with its tower as well named the Micalet or Miguelete, and we get closer and discover that there are more people here, and we just have to continue, we will continue the walk, going around the left side street of the cathedral, to reach the third mythical square of the city of Valencia that one more year is experiencing its Fallas festival!.