Leaving the boat in Valencia, just a two hour flight away is proving to be a great choice! Tomorrow lunchtime we head back out again to spend the next couple of months aboard The Good Ship Patience exploring sunny Spain.

Since last writing we have managed to squeeze another holiday onboard to escape the miserable British weather and enjoy the crazy festival of fire "Las Fallas" that takes place in March. The flights were so cheap as we only take free small under seat luggage these days, it seemed a no brainier.

I flew out on the 5th March and had a few days to set the boat up before Ricky joined me on the 11th.(The advantage of being the retired one x) I had a wonderful time riding around on my bike, finding new cafes for breakfast, new shops for groceries, and many exciting new places to sit and read my book in the sunshine or just people watch. The tranquility only being disturbed with thunderous explosions of fireworks every lunchtime .
These were a far cry from the British bangers we are used to on November 5th, these were like bombs. Standing near them is like standing next to a huge speaker in a nightclub, where the whole place throbs as you feel the deafening noise vibrating through your whole body. The Spanish are fanatical about these lunchtime pyrotechnic displays and they are attended by the world and his wife. People crowd the streets, cheer, clap and throw fire crackers at the pavements. The main square is rammed with bodies, young and old. It has to be seen to be believed.

These displays are the warm up act for the actual main event of the fire festival "La Nit de La Crema' which translates as The night of the Burning . The night when each local district in Valencia burns the huge statues they have spent a year designing and making. Some are over eight stories high and scarily positioned very close to buildings . The committee members light the structures with firecrackers and the heat and black smoke that emanates as the fire takes hold is something else. Crazy !! It is amazing that no one gets hurt as the individual 'ninots' (sculptures) are carved from polystyrene and wood . The fire service are on hand though ( Thank God ) and even hang huge clothes in front of peoples apartment windows , which they keep hosed down with water.

There are some gentler events too. All the districts of Valencia have representatives that parade through the city from their neighbourhood in tradition costume, to the Plaza de la Virgen. They bring red and white flower offerings which are added to a large tall frame by brave volunteers to form the beautiful floral robes of the statue of the patron saint of Valencia. She is called the "Virgen de los Desamparados" translated as The Lady of the Forsaken but despite her unfortunate name she has no problem drawing crowds in their thousands .

We were invited to share paella and watch the burning of the sculpture made by our
Boat neighbours Fallas group. This was a great honour as Fallas is taken very seriously. and each year prizes are awarded for the best sculptures. An individual ninot is also judged the best and 'saved' from the burning and put in a museum. The ninots can be traditional, caricatures of famous people and often have a political or environmental statement to make.(irony there somewhere - me thinks!)

March is really an amazing month to visit . The streets are alive with music , drummers, food, artists, theatre and so much more. It attracts people from all over the world - some of whom we saw letting off even louder scarier home made explosives in the river bed gardens - yikes !

As I said a crazy festival, yet again, could it be topped for craziness by the one in August - La Tomatina ? Here thousands of participants gather in the narrow street armed with over ripe tomatoes and just hurl them at each other !!

Valencia really is the city that keeps giving!