Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos en Alcoy

This weekend I traveled with Jussi to see another big fiesta of the Comunidad Valenciana. We enjoyed Alcoy and the parades around the town and participated in a typical dinner of the Guzmans (a christian warrior group). Later Javier gave us a nice place to sleep right there in the center. We met dozens of Javi's friends and had a lot of fun!



According to the story the miraculous San Jorge came out of nowhere in the middle of a famous battle in the year 1276 and led the christians to defend their town against moors (or muslims) who reigned Spain and Portugal at the moment. This fiesta is about celebrating the glorious victory of christians over moors.

On the first day of the fiestas groups presenting either christians or moors circle the streets with music bands. The second day is more about honoring San Jorge and on the third they make up a big battle in the castle built on the central square. There are men, women and even children wearing theatratical armors of leather and metal. They are carrying swords, sapels and spears. Though people are mostly dressed up as warriors there are farmers, gunsmiths and dancers as well. Every group is followed by a big band of horns and drums that play the same medieval martial music which I had heard before in alcoyan houseparties.

This is known to be the oldest fiesta in Spain and internationally qualifies in the same cast with Sanfermines of Pamplona and Las Fallas of Valencia. It is celebrated also in other nearby cities with slightly different habits. The first evidence of a similar party dates all the way back to the 15th century. Now the celebration takes place in Alcoy every year on 22th to 24th of April.

See the Wikipedia entry about Moors and Christians

The fighters follow their leader who shows his weapon handling skills





Xavi with friends from his fila


See here the level of detail in the armors


Tabea, Xavi's father, Sophie and Jussi


There was paper on the streets like snow


These are fotos from Plaza de España



Our nightstand, what an interesting place!


Nacho and another friend




Plaza de España just minutes before a mascletà


On the way back home

Puppies and babies in Finland

I took a small vacation and flew back home to Finland. When I arrived to the airport it was dark and cold, definitely not anything like in Spain. But my girlfriend was waiting for me and I felt really good being back again. The weather was already getting warmer there and we got many sunny days.





One friend had a two months old baby girl and the other kid had grown up and was running around and shouting weird words. Seemed like anywhere we went there were small babies to see.



Not much had changed in Helsinki. Some bars had new names so those were now the places everybody was going to. The construction site in Kamppi (building another shopping center and a major bus station) had got taller and the giantic hole on the ground was gone. They will be opening the underground bus terminal this autumn.

The renovated cathedral that you always see in Helsinki brochures


We are on Mannerheimintie, the main street in Helsinki.
Not that much people here in the night time? Almost looks like it was christmas.


We visited Susanna's friends, Jan and Petra, in Porvoo. They had this adorable chihuahua puppy. It was running around hyperactive and tried to bite everything. I bet I would like to buy one too if they weren't that expensive. I'm not very familiar with this old Finnish city so we went driving around to the old quarter. It is full of small wooden houses that sell clothes, jewelry and other souvenirs. The old white church is the place where many Finnish celebrities get married.

Nit del Foc video

Click here to see a videoclip of the last minutes of the biggest fireworks on last friday. It is now saved in Quicktime .mov format. Click the right mouse button and choose "Save as..." to download it on your computer. I hope you like it!

Las Fallas - Saturday

The city center was full of people during the final day. There were macletas and bullfights. It was the last chance for the tourists to see the best fallas around town. The last night of Fallas was a much more peaceful one than the others. Ten o'clock they started burning the fallas infantiles (small playful statues for the kids). At midnight all the other fallas were burned down accompanied by ten minutes of fireworks.

I saw the burning (la cremà) of one of the bigger fallas near my neighbourhood. The scene was surrounded by firemen who gave the impression that they had worked there many times before. Trees and walls near the flames were kept cool with water. Still some curtains got burned and fell down on the other side of the street. As the papermass in the statue began to catch fire the temperature got really high. It suprised even the firemen and they had to move the fences ten meters back. I think everybody there got what they were waiting for. Looking at the wooden frames burning red and collapsing we realized that the fallas was suddenly over. People then continued to bars and discos just like on any other saturday night.








Also, the funny rooster-falla on my street had been burned to ashes :(

Las Fallas - Thursday & Friday

The last two days I have been around the city centre with Jussi and Sophie and some other friends. This party just keeps getting bigger. Right now I am kind of excited what will happen tonight. The fallas will be burned starting at ten o'clock. Nobody will sleep tonight.

Every day the macletà at two o'clock draws more and more people to the central square.




The Plaza de la Reina has a marvellous monument made of roses. I hope to add some more info here.




At night the riverside was full of people, by hundreds of thousands. Music, lights, outdoor bars and of course, fallas...







This is the falla that won the premium prize. We did not think it was as funny and detailed as some others but it sure was big.



Now you see falleras (women and girls dressed in a traditional suit) during both night and day. They even have their small children with them dressed up. Around seven the Cabalgatas (parades) start all over the centre and people rush to the streets.







We have seen the fireworks they put every night on the river. Last night was the biggest fireworks display, Nit del Foc (Noche de Fuego, night of fire). They used 2000 kilograms of powder on a show that went on for 30 minutes. According to the news this morning there were like 500.000 people there watching the fireworks. I had never seen so many people at once. Our places could not have been any better, so we were very lucky.

Las Fallas - Wednesday

Poeta Artola 25


More fallas and decoration around Valencia






Cabalgata Folklórica




Castillo de Fuegos Artificiales



Partying on the streets


Jussi and Sophie