Cullera: the Town of Fun

A big fiesta in a small town. Cullera is a “season” town 45km away from Valencia. It takes 45 minutes to get there by car or you can take a bus or a train.

We were actually trying to get to Xativa Castle, but my brother took a wrong turn (it happens to him sometimes) so we found ourselves in Cullera. It was actually in our plans as well, but just on a different day. The mountain of Cullera, known as Munt de l’Or or Muntanya de l’Or is the last mountain in the Iberian range before the Mediterranean Sea. It has an altitude of 233 meters. Even if you don’t want to go to the castle, which was built in the 13th century over the old Moorish fortress (we didn’t) it is still very nice to take a walk atop of the mountain it is based on. Just follow the path behind the castle and it will take you to the ancient ruins.

My niece loved it. She has never been to a place that high before, and we played a Lego game called “Shave a Sheep”, which I bought for her. Make sure you have some water with you are walking up and jumping from stone to stone because it can be exhausting. Having some fruits for the picnic is also a good idea, as it is such a marvelous panoramic spot for a picnic.

After having enough of the vistas, we drove to the other side of the town only to find out that the whole town was preparing for the carnival. We wouldn’t miss it for anything of course!

The whole population of the town was in costumes. Anything from Black Swan to World War II fighter pilots. Only elderly people and little children didn’t take part, they were just admiring from the pavements. There were footballers making incredible tricks with the ball, flamenco dancers, numerous Spongebob characters, mysterious members of the Absinth Society and many more. Each group had their own way of carrying beverage. Some traditionally held glasses of wine in their hands but some had the full supermarket trolley conspired into the procession. Portable fridges also undertook makeovers to fit into the procession’s theme. The spirit was great, and we were the only tourists there! It was also nice to know that everyone enjoyed themselves a lot.

written by neja on 2011-11-13 #places #people #dance #music #festival #fun #carnival #fiesta #parade #family #spain #costumes #location #escape-from-the-city #cullera