Valencia 10/7

Sunday 10/7

Sunday… My first day to sleep in of the weekend, but it’s impossible to sleep in here. It’s always noisy, hot, humid, and sunny. But other than that, it’s great. We never sleep under our comforters, but rather we always plop ourselves on top of our comforters and hope for the best. But why sleep when you’re in España?

I got up early and walked around the Plaza de la Reina, as I waited for my friends to meet me in front of the Cathedral, so we could explore El Centro part of Valencia. We went to the Museum L’Almoina – Centro Arqueológico. I had no idea of what it was at first, but the entry fee was free for the weekends!

The Cathedral in the Plaza de la Reina.

A cute street in the Plaza de la Reina.

The museum was very interesting, as you could first hand see the ruins of the Roman Empire, Islamic Empire, and more, as the control of this very city changed hands and religions many times. The ruins show artifacts from the creation of the city of Valencia to now.

Museum L'Almoina - Centro Arqueológico

We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but the following website shows some pictures of the ruins underground and gives more information if you are interested.

http://www.holavalencia.net/2009/05/28/museum-of-lalmoina-centuries-of-ruins/

This fairly new museum is a true testament that history is everywhere and that it presents itself during different time periods.

After touring the museum, I had my first ice cream cone in Valencia/Spain. The ice cream over here is incredible and almost impossible to describe. And there are WAY more flavors to choose from – definitely a plus. We tried to visit Museo Taurino en the Plaza de Toros to tour the Bullfighting Arena and the Museum there, but it was unfortunately closed, so we are planning to return another day.

ICE CREAM.

Plaza de Toros (Bullfighting Arena)

We met up with one of the Spanish guys that we had met during our “Intercambio,” and he showed us El Centro for a little bit. We didn’t realize that a lot of places are closed on Sundays, so we mostly just walked around and explored, which we were completely fine with. He did show us the “Narrowest House in Valencia,” and it might even be the “Narrowest House in the World.” After being in El Centro all day, we went home to eat dinner with our Host Families and get some more much needed sleep after such an eventful weekend.

The NARROWEST House in Valencia (Probably in the World). It's the skinny red house with 6 floors!

Albufera y Gandia 9/7

Saturday 9/7

Saturday… After a second overnight bus ride of no sleep, we arrived in Valencia around 4:45 Saturday morning. After taking a taxi back to my apartment, I took a quick hour nap before waking up to get ready for our ISA trip to Albufera and Gandia, as we met at 9 that morning.

Our first stop was Albufera – a small section on the outskirts of Valencia that is very popular for its nature reserve and for its Paella. It is known for its fishing as well. We split our group into half and took a boat ride around the Albufera Lake to see the wildlife and vegetation, as this small town was the birthplace of Valencia and Spain’s favorite dish “Paella.”

Getting ready to get in our boat.

On the tiny boat!

Albufera Lake.

WILDLIFE.

Our Boat.

After getting back on the Coach Bus, we continued on South to our final destination Gandia. Gandia is South of Valencia, and it’s known for its beautiful beaches. We didn’t explore the city, but instead, we relaxed on the beach, as we had reservations for windsurfing, kayaking, sailing, and surfing lessons. With 40 minutes to do each water sport, we split up into 4 groups and rotated, so that we all had the opportunity to try everything. I realized that I don’t have the best balance, so I didn’t have the best success with some of the water sports, but it was still fun to try! After two really busy days, we all were completely exhausted – especially, after being in the sun all day. But we made the bus ride back to Valencia to eat dinner with our Host Families.

The beach at Gandia!

Ready for the beach!

Water Sports.

The mountains and the beach. What more could you ask for?

Every Saturday night in July in Valencia, there are fireworks on the beach. We didn’t get the opportunity to see them the week before, so we decided to go see the fireworks that night. They start at midnight, and they were incredible. Spanish families bring dinner and have picnics on the beach, and some elderly men had tables and chairs set up to play dominos. It was a very family-oriented activity, and it was fun for all of us to experience it.

The beach at night.

After a LONG and EXHAUSTING two days.

Fireworks!!!

Pamplona 8/7

Friday 8/7

Friday… After an exhausting Thursday afternoon, I arrived at the Bus Station and boarded my bus to Pamplona – along with about 35 other ISA students.  The coach bus left at 10:50 that night, and we arrived in Pamplona around 5:45 the next morning – after a long 7-hour bus ride…

“Wikipedia says that the encierro of Pamplona has been depicted many times in literature, television or advertising. The cinema pioneer Louis Lumière filmed the run in 1931.[14] but became known world wide partly due to the descriptions of Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises and Death in the Afternoon.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_of_the_Bulls

Ernest Hemingway's name can be seen on many signs and street names throughout Pamplona for this very reason.

Pamplona shocked us all – for many reasons… The traditional Running of the Bulls attire is all white with red accents – such as the traditional handkerchief tied around the neck. To blend in, we all wore our white outfits on the bus – white tank tops with white shorts or white dresses. When we got off the bus at 5:45 that morning, we were stunned to feel the cold air. It was 50 degrees that morning in Pamplona, but it definitely felt colder.

When we got off the bus, we come to find many Spaniards and tourists sleeping on the floor of the Pamplona Bus Station – cuddling for warmth. Because hostels and hotels fill up so fast for this event, many people don’t have places to sleep. But we didn’t think that this would be our first sight of the Festival of San Fermín (i.e. Running of the Bulls). Next, we encountered trash all over the city. And even at 5:45 in the morning, the streets were packed with people still up from the night before. The actual start day of the Running of the Bulls was the day before we arrived, so the craziness of Pamplona was somewhat expected.

People sleeping on the floor of the Pamplona Bus Station.

I – being the cold-natured person that I am – had to buy some sort of sweatshirt to endure the weather. After putting our final outfits together – because EVERYONE wears the red handkerchief – we looked for a place to stand to watch the Running of the Bulls at 8 am. But we were lucky to find out that many people fill the Plaza de Toros – the final destination spot for the runners and the bulls. We quickly grabbed a seat and waited patiently for the craziest 3 minutes of our lives!

The Running of the Bulls Track.

Absolutely FREEZING in Pamplona at 6 in the morning.

FULL HOUSE.

In the Plaza de Toros (Bull Arena).

6 bulls and about 200 runners run the distance of the track to end up at the Plaza de Toros. 2 of my best girlfriends ran! I thought that they were crazy, and they were the only 2 people out of our entire group of about 35 girls and guys that ran. We were all thankful that they were okay in the end! But this run isn’t really about expertise. The deaths and tragedies that occur due to this run are usually freak accidents. But that would still never make me even consider running.

My two CRAZY friends that RAN WITH THE BULLS.

After the runners and bulls arrived in the arena, the bulls are sectioned off behind a gate, and a couple of young bulls are let out one at a time to take on the runners. It was an interesting site, as these crazy Spaniards would taunt the bulls.

When the runners first arrived in the Arena.

And then, the Bulls followed!

Almost all of the runners in the center of the Arena.

The "taunting" of the Bulls...

The end of our CRAZY morning.

After the Running of the Bulls was over in the morning, we explored Pamplona by celebrating the Festival of San Fermín. There were parades, historic forts, and many beautiful parks. After napping in one of the parks, we attended the many parties that occurred there to celebrate this particular holiday. No one normally wears clothes that they wish to keep, as wine and Sangria are usually poured on friends during the Running of the Bulls and the celebrations afterwards.

A parade in one of the city streets to celebrate the Festival of San Fermín.

Exploring the city of Pamplona.

On the bridge!

The view from the bridge! Absolutely beautiful.

The final stretch that the runners and bulls take before entering the Plaza de Toros (Arena).

The streets were packed ALL day with people celebrating the Festival of San Fermín.

After a busy day, we made our way back to the Bus Station in Pamplona to leave at 11 pm for Valencia. While leaving the city, the fireworks started, and we had the most beautiful end to such an incredible day.

After a long and EXHAUSTING day.

Valencia 7/7

Thursday 7/7

So this past weekend should probably be recorded as one of the busiest weekends of my life. I have never felt so full, so completely exhausted, but yet so accomplished in one weekend. And for this, I am dividing my post into each day of the weekend.

Thursday… I basically had no class, which was a wonderful feeling! My Spanish Literature class was cancelled, because many students in our class were attending the Spanish Culture field trip. And I had no idea of what to expect… All that I knew was that we were going to a special place to eat Paella – the traditional food dish of Valencia. My Host Mom hadn’t yet cooked Paella for me, so this was definitely going to be a new “food experience.”

We met at the school around 1:45 pm to take the Metro to a town on the outskirts of Valencia called Meliana. We follow our professor down some random beaten path to a hidden restaurant. Not only would we eat Paella, but we would also taste 9 other famous Spanish dishes with unlimited water, Coke, Sangria, and Beer. The word “unlimited” is key, because in Spain, NOTHING is unlimited. We were in complete shock. We thought that we would just try some Paella. The restaurant’s owner was a good friend of our professor, as he actually lives in Meliana. By far, this was the best field trip that I had been on in my entire life. Way better then meeting Jimmy Carter at the Jimmy Carter Museum in Atlanta. We all sat at a table together… My class of like 35 students all sat together and ate our 10-course meal. We were so full afterwards!

At the Metro Station with our Culture Class.

The beaten path that we took to get to the restaurant. Basically, in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.

Pictures of the delicious 10-course meal that we had...

I had mussels and actually liked them!

Before we started eating, we were able to get a tour of the kitchen and how the Paella was made. And to end our meal we all toasted with champagne.

The wonderful man that cooked our Paella!

“Wikipedia says that Paella (Valencian: [paˈeʎa], Spanish: [paˈeʎa]) is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.[1] Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. Valencians, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella

The reason that this Paella was so much better than the Paella that you would eat in the actual city-part of Valencia is that this restaurant (run by this one man) grows all of the ingredients and kills all of meat for the Paella himself. And we thought that the field trip was definitely over after eating the Paella, but that was not the case…

The traditional Paella of Valencia.

Me with the famous chef, Toni Montoliu.

The man that ran the restaurant, Toni Montoliu, gave us a tour of his property afterwards. We passed by all of the animals that he had on his land and all of the crops/vegetables/fruits that he was growing. We were given special hats for the tour due to the intense sun. We toured an old church in the area and even took a horse-carriage ride throughout his many acres of land as well. This field trip was truly about experiencing first hand Valencia’s culture, and for that, it was a favorite amongst us all.

Getting ready to walk around El Campo.

Farm Animals...

Horse-Carriage Ride.

The Restaurant that we ate the Paella at. These signs were literally everywhere in the town of Meliana.

Walking around el Campo.

An old church in the area.

After a LONG day in Meliana, I returned to my house to eat dinner and quickly get ready to leave for Pamplona. I had an overnight bus ride to Pamplona to see the Running of the Bulls the next day. About 35 people from our ISA group decided to go, so we were all waiting anxiously for our bus to leave at 10:50 that night!

Waiting for our bus to leave for Pamplona!