Valencia, Spain - February, 2014

We took a train from Granada via Madrid to reach the diverse city of Valencia. Unbeknownst to us (again!) we arrived at the begging of the Fallas festival. We later learned that this festival is celebrated in the weeks leading up to the Saint Joseph holiday. Not 30 minutes after checking into our hotel - where we were given a room with a balcony over looking the square - fireworks started going off so we ran onto our balcony caught them. We had noticed lots of people in the square but we just thought it was just because it was a weekend. Also, the next evening the city held a 4 hour long children's parade ending again in a fireworks display. We took lots of photos of the children in their costumes. Valencia is a city with something for everyone. In addition to excellent weather (it ranged from 65-75 while we were here), there are historic antiquities combined with modern museums; there are wide avenues and large squares combined with narrow winding, pedestrian only alley ways; there's Parisian & Spanish architecture combined with very modern buildings; there's the 3rd largest city in Spain combined with a beach community; and there are many, many, MANY restaurants & shopping opportunities. Valencia very quickly became one of our favorite Spanish cities!