Hola Valencia

Sadly, the 2008 celebrations for Corpus Christi, one of Valencia’s most traditional and popular festivals, were ruined by bad weather.

Most of the events take place on Sunday, and we went at noon to see the Cabalgata del Convite, during which children would have their throats slit by King Herrod’s henchmen. That’s my kind of party! How disappointing to learn that it would just be a reenactment of that historical event (I must have misread the brochure in my excitement). Instead, the little monkeys would be lightly tapped on the head with a baton to symbolize the slaughter. Yawn.

At any rate, that parade was canceled due to the rain which has been a constant presence here for two weeks. The buckets of water with which residents drench Herod’s child-murdering henchmen were left untipped.

We did get a nice view of The Rocas: large wooden sculptures, some centuries old, built in honor of historic occurrences in the city. Beautiful.

And our parade-itch did get scratched. The rains parted in the early evening, allowing the official procession to take place. It was one of the most colorful and entertaining ones we’ve seen yet.

Corpus Christi was almost over before it began! Hopefully, the weather next year will allow us to better experience this popular festival.