We spent a few nights in an apartment we rented in the lively Barrio del Carmen district and then spent our last night in a cute hostel we found on one of our evening strolls.
Thank goodness for the Germans staying a few doors down from us at this hostel because they told us that June 23, was the infamous Festival de San Juan, a festival to celebrate the coming of summer, and also a crazy night time beach party!
We made fast friends with a charming couple from Montreal in our dorm room and we all headed down to Malvarrosa - the city's most popular beach around 12:30 am.
The place was nuts. The streets surrounding it and the beach itself was thick with 140,000 people. The kind of thick where you need to hold hands with everyone in your party so you don't lose each other (think kindergarten field-trip).
There was a huge stage with dancers(speedo-clad men and women or possibly drag queens? in elaborate costumes). They were blasting some kind of techno/house music and the back drop of the stage was a giant set of inflatable lips with two fishnetted legs protruding out of it. Kind of like those giant gorillas they have on the top of used car lots back home but way kinkier.
Eventually we made our way down to a part of the beach that was slightly (I use that turn loosely) less crowded and we were able to actually get to the water.
The massive beach was filled with bonfires. People go swimming and then huddle around the bonfires drinking and then drinking some more.
We settled in and went for a quick swim. After, while shivering, we started to edge our way closer and closer to a nearby bonfire. One of the bonfire "owners" kept jumping over the tall flames. I read later that if you jump over the flames it is supposed to make your wish come true.
We made our way back to the hostel around 5am-ish. Happy, damp and dusted with sand.
Unfortunately we didn't take our camera to the beach that night but here are a few highlights of some of the amazing street art we've seen so far on our trip and few others from our time in Valencia.
The Hemispheric at the Arts and Science Centre. Much to our dismay, all that blue water around this building is not a swimming pool.
Below is Shane is doing his Spiderman imitation at the superheroes exhibit at the Valencia Science Centre.
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