Spain: Virgen de los Desamparados of Valencia, Spain

Every second Sunday of May, Valencia comes alive with the feast of the Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados. Our stay coincided with the big celebration, most of which are centered in the Plaza de la Virgen. It would have been a really great event with religous festivities and bullfights scheduled. But it was raining. And it never rains during the fiesta! Is this global warming at work? It was good though that some major events still pushed through. Festivities usually begin the night before the fiesta or the visperas.

The bullfight or corrida I was supposed to watch in the afternoon was canceled even if it was not raining since the ground was too soft and therefore not safe for the matadors. In fact, the matadors were all dressed for the event.

So I then proceeded to the Cathedral to check out the festivities. And I got to attend a Mass celebrated by His Eminence Agustín Cardinal García-Gasco y Vicente, Archbishop of Valencia.

It was good the weather cooperated up until the evening events were completed. The program at the Plaza de la Virgen started with a concert by the Banda Municipal de Valencia. As soon as the bells of the Miguelete signaled 11 p.m. the band played various classical songs from Spain. What struck me was the strong patriotism of the crowd when the band played the patriotic songs. As soon as they heard the first notes, the crowd erupted in applause, some were even teary-eyed. You could see people silently singing together with the orchestra. I wonder when Filipinos will react the same way upon hearing Pilipinas Kong Mahal or Bayan Ko being played. Let's admit it, many young Filipinos today even consider singing patriotic songs corney in fact! I hope that changes.

For the last song, the conductor faced the crowd and everyone started singing with fervor the Himno de Valencia. As the last part of the song was sung, you could feel the power of the crowd: "¡Glòria a la Pàtria! ¡Vixca Valencia! ¡Vixca! ¡¡Vixca!! ¡¡¡Vixca!!!" Indeed, it was a spectacle we should learn from. The concert ended at exactly midnight as the bells of the Miguelete tolled anew.

The Dansà followed with dozens of locals in intricate regional costumes. Just like the Philippines where many cities used to dance the rigodon de honor the night before a fiesta, the Dansà is performed for the same reason, in honor of the feast of the Virgen de los Desamparados. It was great we got a good position to watch the performance. And I captured some videos using my Sony Ericsson K850i camera phone.


The next day, I was supposed to attend the morning events at the Plaza de la Virgen. But it was still raining. So I was content with watching the festivities on TV. After the morning Mass, the Virgen de los Desamparados is transferred from the Basilica to the Cathedral in a fervent procession called the Translado. It was heart-warming to see the faithful raised on the shoulders of other people in impromptu bursts of poetic praises to the virgin. The image is brought out in a Quiapo-like procession, showered by a deluge of petals from the buildings as it passes by. But what is peculiar about the Translado is that it's women and children trying to touch the image. It scared me seeing parents pushing their babies and young children, screaming and crying, in order for them to touch the image during the morning procession.

Early in the evening, a grand procession is held. The streets of Valencia were decorated for the grand event with symbolic banners hanging from balconies and flower ornaments to match. It would also have been a great opportunity to witness the intricate fiesta costumes of Valencia. But the procession was canceled at the last minute since the archbishop was afraid it would rain. But ironically, it didn't rain! It's a pity since all the falladoras were all dressed-up in lavish gowns for the procession.


Update: The procession pushed through the week after. But sadly, we were already in Barcelona by then. The video above is from YouTube.

Spain: Requena's bodegas, vinos and cava

Requena gave us a glimpse into the wine culture of Spain. It is a municipality in the Valencian comarca of Utiel-Requena which is said to have a viticulture tradition that is more than two thousand years old.

We visited the bodega or wine cellar of Torre Oria. Founded by the Oria de Rueda family in 1897, it's one of the most popular wine cellars in the Valencian Region and receives a lot of visitors. Tours are by appointment.

Our visit started at the palace-house of the wine cellar designed by Jose Donderis in the early 1900s. The cava (champagne) and wine-making process was explained to us before we proceeded to the production room, cava tunnels, and barrel warehouse. But the highlight of the tour was the cava-tasting which sent all of us buying bottles to take back with us to the Philippines.

After the tour, we proceeded to downtown Requena for lunch. Our host family had mentioned to us that the specialty of the place was chorizo and embutido so we made sure to order some. I was expecting the embutido to be the stuffed sausage we have here in the Philippines. But in Spain, it's actually a mixed dish of potatoes, longganiza, chorizo, adobado and costillas.

Spain: Paella in Valencia!

Where else to have paella other than in Valencia where it's from! That's right, paella is a Valencian rice dish which is quite popular here in the Philippines. They say the traditional Valencian paella is not made with pollo (chicken) but with conejo (rabbit). Yes, you read right, rabbit!

We were looking for a great value restaurant to savor paella in Valencia since it's quite pricey given that rice here is expensive. And we finally found our restaurant called NECO Buffet de Cocina Mediterranea. Not only did they have two kinds of paella served in humongous paelleras in their buffet. They had a host of other Mediterranean dishes and desserts as well, all for the price of 10€, not bad given that in most restaurants, paella could go as much as 15 to 20€. And that's just one serving! So the buffet was a great deal.

Spain: Have you tasted Filipinos?

It was amusing to find out that in Spain, there is a commercial brand of biscuits called Filipinos! The standard Filipinos biscuit is ring-shaped and coated in either white, milk or dark chocolate. It is said that the biscuits were inspired by the rosquillos of Iloilo and Negros hence the name Filipinos. Its manufacturer added a twist by coating it with different kinds of chocolate.

They also sell Filipinos Agujeros or the holes of the biscuits coated in dark or white chocolate, as well as Filipinos Bigsticks. I found it equally amusing that Filipinos are sold alongside popular cookie brands such as Oreo and ChipsAhoy! But it was not amusing that a former administration made a big fuss out of it by filing a diplomatic protest saying that the use of "Filipinos" for a commercial brand was insulting. The Foreign Affairs secretary reluctantly filed the protest saying that he saw nothing wrong with the use of "Filipinos" as a brand name and pointed out that Austrians don't complain that small sausages are referred to as Vienna sausages! I'm actually happy they chose the name Filipinos since the biscuits are really good! What do you think?

Spain: Cuenca, Spain and its casas colgadas

We ventured into the land of Don Quixote, the region of Castilla-La Mancha! We were off to the city of Cuenca, Spain a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in between two gorges, this fortress city is perfectly integrated into the marvelous natural landscape around it. Thus, the character of Cuenca is dictated by this breathtaking harmony between architecture and nature. The trip from Valencia was close to three hours.

Be prepared for a lot of walking up and down the narrow roads of this fortress town. Cuenca is actually divided into two areas, the low quarter which is the modern area that sprung up in the 19th Century. And the medieval city located on top of the rugged promontory between the Huécar and Júcar Rivers.

We started our walking tour at the Huécar River Gorge which offers dramatic views of the Convento de San Pablo and the Casas Colgadas, the hanging houses which Cuenca has become known for. There are accounts which say the houses have Muslim roots. Others say that they date back to the medieval period. We got to cross the San Pablo Bridge built high on top of the gorge, linking the convento to the rest of Cuenca.

In the center of town is the Plaza Mayor, the town square which is actually a triangle bounded by the Catedral, Convento de Las Petras, and the Ayuntamiento. The current ayuntamiento dates back to the 18th Century and was designed by Jaime Bort in 1733. What is unique about the design is that it isolates the plaza and yet makes it accessible with the incorporation of three arches at the base.

The Catedral de Santa Maria de Gracia is an exquisite example of early Cuencan Gothic architecture. Construction began at the end of the 12th Century and was completed in 1271. Just like the cathedral in Valencia though, there was a fee to enter (3€ per person).

We walked down Calle Alfonso VIII, enjoying its colorful row of buildings, on the way to the restaurants in the lower part of Cuenca. For lunch, I tried the grilled lamb chops; they say the lamb chops in Cuenca are the best. I spent 6€ for it but I wasn't satisfied with the serving size and it had a lot of fat! Maybe it wasn't the right restaurant for it.

After lunch, we made one last trek up the old city, this time to the Júcar River side where we were treated to a stunning view of the low quarter of Cuenca.