I am trying to post a lot this week just because I will be gone for a whole week starting Monday. My spring break officially started yesterday and I will be going to Portugal, Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada next week. Valencia has been pretty wild though.
On Wednesday Valencia hosted the King's Cup. Madrid-Real and Barcelona were fighting for the national championship! There were 2 different locations for fans to start partying...one was by the university and the other was about a mile or 2 down at the river. They had to separate the two sides so the number of fights would be a minimum. There were HUGE tents set up for people to start partying around 12 in the afternoon (on a Wednesday) and the party didn't stop until around 3 that night. I walked around after my classes a few hours before the game started and got to see King Carlos drive by heading to the stadium.
All the tickets had been sold out months in advance and I heard some people bought tickets for about 600 euros a pop. Ouch! My friends and I found a bar right behind the stadium and watched the game from there. There was a good mix of Madrid and Barcelona fans but everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Once Madrid scored the winning goal...all hell broke loose. People were shaking beer all over the crowds, they were beating drums, screaming, dancing, falling all over the ground....madness. I love how the Spanish are so passionate about soccer! It makes it so fun. There was an estimated 5 million people in the city to watch the game. (Valencia is home to 800,000 and during Fallas there were only about 3 million here)
Well that night when Madrid-Real went back to celebrate in Madrid, on the celebratory bus ride to the city plaza, one of the members dropped the trophy and the bus ran it over!! This was a huge news story in Spain. HUGE!. So here is the entertaining little video.
Today, I took a study break to walk around and soak up of some of Valencia. Got to see the original foundations of the city when the Romans were here in 100 B.C. Amazing! (This is what Michael Gray told me to go see). Then we wondered around the all the cathedrals and stumbled upon some hidden ones, too. It is Semana Santa in Spain which is their week long Easter celebration with processions, parades and more. I think I am going to study on the beach tomorrow and catch some Mediterranean rays. See everyone in just a few weeks!
Hasta Luego.
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