Note: This is a special video edition in our series of posts about The Real Colegio del Patriarca — a building we intending to explore in depth. If interested, read our earlier posst about it:
Colegio del Patriarca – Introduction & History
Colegio del Patriarca – Facade & Atrium

The original name of the Colegio del Patriarca is the “Corpus Christi”, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the week after the popular Catholic holiday was a busy one for the seminary.

Part of the festivities was an extremely long ringing of the church bells. We got a bit of it on video, before our splitting headache drove us back indoors, seeking the numbing comfort of liquor.

The Bells of the Patriaca – Valencia from Valencia Blog on Vimeo.

Real Colegio y Museo del Patriarca
Visiting Hours: Daily, from 11:00 to 13:30h
Museum: €1.50
Location on our Valencia Map

Related:
Colegio del Patriarca – Introduction & History

Now that I’ve seen couple of mascletàs, I can tell which are good and which aren’t… even though the best ones are apparently still to come. But today’s was kind of boring, especially after the awesome mascletà yesterday.

Did you notice the Ninot in the foreground? It’s getting bigger every day, and I’m really excited to see how tall it’ll get.

Does anyone have access to one of the balconies in Plaza de l’Ayuntamiento and, if so, could you squeeze 2 more people in for one of the upcoming mascletàs? It would be nice to video tape one from an elevated angle.

buñuelo m small doughnut, fritter

Oh buñuelo, you greasy ball of dough, so sweet, so wrong, so disgustingly delicious!

You disgusting, delicious little whore, selling yourself on every street corner in Valencia during Fallas, whistling after me as I walk by, “Hey stud, you look hungry”.

“Come and get you some sweet stuff”.

Your taste alone, delicious though it is, wouldn’t be enough to ensnare me. I’m strong. But that scent, that glorious odor of sugar and dough, wafting from every stand… it’s too much. I’m yours. And besides, you’re cheap. Cheap and filthy, just how I like it.

Yeah, that’s good. Next time, I promise that I’ll sample that cute little friend of yours, the churro:

At 7:45pm, on the last Sunday of February, Las Fallas festival is officially inaugurated. We went last night and stood in the rain with thousands of cheering, singing and shouting spectators.

Above us, acrobots hung from giant balloons, and the Serranos Towers (location) were lit up with images and smoke. La Fallera Mayor (festival queen) gave a little speech about something which we weren’t able to translate, and the crowd went even more nuts than before.

Here’s a description of La Cridà from the official Fallas From Valencia website.

La Cridà marks the official opening of the Fallas Festival.

Crowds of onlookers and all the Fallas Committees gather beneath the Serranos Towers, one of historical Valencia’s best-known monuments, usually on the last Sunday in February.

After a spectacular inaugural display of light, sound, music and fireworks, the “Fallera Mayor” of Valencia (elected festival queen), surrounded by her Court of Honour and the city authorities, invites everyone to enjoy the imminent fiesta, proclaiming its excellence and virtues.

Las Fallas are coming up, and with it a full season of events at the Plaza de Toros (location). Here are a few words of vocabulary, which will help you chat up bloodthirsty amigos. We’ll start easy:

1. Matador – the principal bullfighter
This is the main dude — the one who ultimately kills the bull with a sword, or estoque. Matadors are brash, confident and (usually) extremely macho — traits which apparently help bed Madonna.

2. Novillero – The Matador’s Apprentice
During Las Fallas, there will be three days of novilladas, during which novilleros will fight novillos (young bulls). Got that?

3. Picador – Horseman who jabs the bull with lance
These little jerks are just mean. They taunt and bruise up the bull before the matador comes and finishes the job. The coolest thing about the picadors is their horses — blindfolded so that they don’t panic when they see the charging bull.

4. Recortero – Bull Jumper
For those (simpering, lily-livered) aficionados who’d rather not see blood spilled, there are 3 days of bull jumping during Las Fallas. Recorteros dress in street clothes and perform death-defying acrobatic stunts with the bull. The animal isn’t hurt during the performance and is returned to the pin afterwards (to peacefully await eventual slaughter and consumption).

It’s thrilling, no doubt, and quite Jackass-y. To be honest, if I were in a bullring, I’d rather have a sword and a band of spear-wielding picadors behind me. And as a spectator, if a matador gets gored, you’re left with the calming sense that cosmic justice was probably served. If one of these bull-jumpers gets it, it’s like… “Dude, oh man, how stupid”.

Link: Schedule of Events during Las Fallas (pdf)