We’d climbed the 207 steps of the Micalet before, but this time have recorded a video of the panoramic views from above.

Music by Camaron De La Isla
Title: Leyenda Del Tiempo
Songs available here: Cameron De La Isla

We caught the fireworks down at the port on Saturday night. As is always the case with fireworks in Valencia, they were incredible!

There will be one last Feria de Julio 2010 firework at Las Arenas on the 24th starting at midnight.

- Bike Tours Valencia

What a glorious finale to an incredible month of soccer. Last night, all of Spain collapsed in an ecstatic fit when Andrés Iniesta slammed home his winning goal in extra time. Spain is the best country in the world. I mean that. The best country in the world.

It’s as though the tournament had been scripted! The Spaniards weren’t just the World Cup’s best team, but the classiest. Fair play and a beautiful passing game have come to define La Roja. They’re also the best-looking team in the world. Hands down. And in the Netherlands, they had an almost comically villainous opponent — the dirty-playing, karate-kicking, flopping, petulant Dutch.

They were the good guys. Spain deserved to win. And then, they did! THEY WON! When the tension couldn’t possibly have gotten any more unbearable, Andrés Iniesta freed his country from a legacy of defeat. Spain is the best country in the world.

Check out our awesome video of the celebration at Café Burlón in Valencia, and afterwards at Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

Congratulations Spain! You richly deserve this victory. And, although I’m not a native, I hope you don’t mind me singing along… ¡Yo soy español, español, español!

¡Yo soy español, español, español!

Incredible but true – you might not run into free lions wandering the streets, but encountering some kind of random traditional musical event in Valencia is certainly a possibility!

- Video of the Alhambra

Another quick post unrelated to Valencia… we got some great pictures and took a video during our recent trip to Madrid, and need to share!

Madrid is completely unlike Valencia; huge and cosmopolitan, where waitresses are likely to answer your bumbling Spanish in perfect, world-weary English, and the number of sights and events is overwhelming. If we ever write a blog called Hola Madrid, we’ll have to take on additional staff. I love the city; boisterous and exciting, but easily navigable and with plenty of quiet corners. We had a couple days there, recently, and saw…

The Atachoa Train Station – with a huge palm garden in the middle of the station, Atachoa greets newcomers in a splendid fashion. The garden is breathtaking, and we spent probably 15 minutes at its pond watching hundreds of turtles climb over each other in a slow-motion (but frenzied) game of King of the Hill.

The Reina Sofia – One of the best modern art museums in the world houses innumerable works by Picasso and Dalí, including Picasso’s heartbreaking meisterwerk La Guernica. Just don’t try and take a picture of it, unless you want its hawkish guards to yell at you! It’s my favorite painting ever.

Easter Procession – On Sunday night, our dinner was interrupted by a solemn street procession, with men in black hoods carrying a huge statue of the crucifixion. My parents hadn’t yet experienced the pointy-hooded and quietly creepy Catholic brotherhoods of Spain. While the crowd stood still, respectfully, the bars were out of control; the Real – Atlético Madrid derby was in full swing, and when Atlético scored, everyone pretending to be religious ran back inside. The poor guys in the procession were visibly jealous.

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