Un fin de semana valenciano

The third largest Spanish city and the birthplace of the famous Spanish Paella, Valencia opened it's arms and welcomed the Honors Spanish Language and Culture Global Navigators with warm weather and a lot of sun for our weekend trip! 

We left for Valencia on Friday afternoon after presenting our impressive projects about social and political issues that affect Spanish culture and life today. Some of our students tackled subjects such as climate change, the various political parties of Spain, the culture and art of bull-fighting, immigration and many more. After those presentations, we boarded the bus and sang karaoke, listened to music and rested on our trip to the southeastern coast. 

Upon arrival at the hostel, our students quickly dropped off our bags, grabbed the keys and our bathing suits and sprinted to the beach! The mediterranean sea was as warm as ever and this was the first time for many students ever being in the ocean. After a quick dip, we walked through the small town of Farnals and dined at a local pizzería. With full stomachs and salt in their hair, our students marched right to bed to prepare for the next two days of Valencian adventure. 

Day two brought loads of fun! We began our day with a guided walking tour of the city center where we learned that Spanish is not the only language spoken in Valencia but also Valenciano, another language with Latin origins. The students continued their day with free time on the beach, followed by an incredible boat ride through the albuferas, or coastal lagoons, where we saw rice fields, local animals and even had the pleasure of having a fish JUMP into the boat - talk about fresh dinner! After our boat ride we had lunch at an incredible restaurant where we tried various types of paella, tapas such as patatas bravas and calamares and ended with fresh fruit or an almond cake. But our day didn't stop there - the students took advantage of the evening free time to see the city sights such as the markets and the local beaches. 

Our last day in Valencia included a tour of the Museo Fallero, or the Museum de las fallas, a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, whose goal is to create an extravagant wooden sculpture, usually with the intent of social criticism and then in March the sculptures are burned throughout the city to celebrate. Our day then led us to the Museum of Arts and Sciences, to the mall to have lunch and then back to the bus to ride smoothly to our home, Madrid! 

It's safe to say that Valencia treated us well this past weekend, the sun, the culture and the beach enchanted our Global Navigators but as you can see in the photos, it wore them out as well.