Apologies
for not posting the story of my travels during Semana Santa (Easter week)
before, but I’ve been so busy with other travels that I haven’t had time to sit
down at the computer properly during the past weeks and type my experience into a
readable format… Yes, I know, hard life and first world problems.
So, the
whole Easter week is a holiday in Spain so what could have been a better way to
spend it than travelling? Valencia - the home of paella - sounded like a nice city and there was a
good Groupon-offer for the Escuela Albufera language school which is nearby the
city of Valencia so I decided to pack my bag and take a flight towards new
experiences and sunny weather. It was definitely worth plucking up the courage
to travel alone because it turned out to be a great week and not least because
of the new friends I made! I even survived from the Irish pub where I happened to go just during the Manchester City - Liverpool game to recharge my phone when being a bit lost and, of course, out of battery.
The school
area is a nice cabin village with lots of space to lay down on the grass and
chill while sunbathing. Also the beach is nearby and buses go to Valencia every
hour. During the week we had relaxed Spanish classes every day for two and half
hours except Friday due to Easter. In addition, a salsa class, city tour and
paella evening were included in the price. In other words, there was always a
lot to do and maybe I improved also my Spanish skills a bit. However, if you
are an intermediate or advanced level user of the language, I’d advise you not
to expect mind-blowing learning experiences and aha moments when attending
Escuela Albufera. Anyway, it was definitely value for money and the experience
itself was great!
As I said, I
was travelling alone - as most of the others at the school, too - but got to know the first people already at the bus stop
waiting to get to the school area. What is more, in the cabin of seven people
and within the small group in class it was easy to get to know the others and
plan evening activities together. The people in the school were everything between
16-year-olds and retired having different professions and backgrounds. Also the
level of Spanish varied a lot but everyone from the beginner to the fluent
speaker of Spanish learned something new – if not about the language, about the
other people and Spanish culture at least.
There are
tons of things to do in Valencia but the landmark of the city is without a doubt
the City of Arts and Sciences –park which consists of different sections like
Oceanographic and Planetarium. The entrances are not too cheap but the area and
architecture of the buildings – which by the way reminds me of Sydney’s Opera
house even though I’ve never been there – are so beautiful that it is worth
paying already for that. Clearly, there are also lots of shopping and, most
importantly, eating possibilities around the city. To make it perfect, there is
a lovely and enormous beach close to the city center as well as a really nice
garden area where you can take a laid-back walk observing local people having
fun and spending time with their families. The atmosphere of the city is more alike to
the atmosphere in smaller places but still everything you can imagine is
available. The people are so lovely that we even got paella made from scratch only for us because most of the restaurants in the village nearby happened to be closed on Mondays and paella apparently isn't meant to be eaten for dinner. The only down side of the city – and this is also a word of warning for
all the girls going to Valencia – was that when in a club, the guys get worse
than mosquitoes so remember your repellent!
Valencia is definitely worth visiting and so far it's my favorite of all the places in Spain I've visited! If you're planning a trip to Spain, consider Valencia at least as good option as the traditional choices, Madrid and Barcelona.
P.S I
finally got yesterday the confirmation of my internship in Madrid and my exchange
placement in Chile which means that you’ll be able to follow my stories from
abroad at least till the end of this year! J
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