It's AMERICA'S CUP TIME!!!!

This week in Valencia is the 33rd America's Cup.
Now if it's called "America's Cup"--why is it in Valencia, Spain??
Well I am going to tell you.

The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup sailing regatta match. It is the oldest active trophy in international sport, predating the Modern Olympics by 45 years. Originally named the Royal Yacht Squadron Cup, it became known as the "America's Cup" after the first yacht to win the trophy, the schooner America. (wikipedia told me this)

Back in 2003, the Société Nautique de Genève (Swiss team) beat the defending champs, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. This meant that the next America's Cup will be held in the defender's homeland. Switzerland is a landlocked country--so they set out trying to pick a city. And they picked Valencia. The 32nd America's Cup was held in Valencia in 2007--and yet again the Swiss won--electing to hold it in Valencia again.

Now this year's America's Cup has some controversy surrounding it--I would look up 33rd America's Cup for more info. In the end it is a regatta between 2 teams--the defenders (Swiss) and the challenger. The challenging club is the Golden Gate Yacht Club--and the specific challenger (boat) is the BMW Oracle Racing, US-17.

During this week there will be 3 regattas. The winner wins all. The first regatta is tomorrow at 10, but today there was a bit of an opening ceremony plus mascleta and other fun events. There was a fundraiser for Haiti selling paella (typical Valencian dish)--but it wasn't just normal paella--it was PAELLA GIGANTE (giant paella). The pans were hugs--at least 15 feet across and filled--with hundreds of people waiting in line to get paella. Today Marli, Nikki, and I went to the opening and saw the mascelta, ate a picnic, and looked around. Later we went to a medieval market, which was kinda cool-but my favorite part of the day was being at the port for the opening.

Now the video below is from part of the mascleta. A mascleta is something that is uniquely Valencian--you won't find it in other parts of the world. It is a coordinated firework/firecracker display in the middle of the day. It's loud and crazy--and really really neat. Everyone loves the mascleta...from 2 year olds to grandmothers! Enjoy the video--the sound is a little weak on the recording...amplify times 5 to get what it really sounded like!