Valencia

Hola!

This past weekend there was a mandatory study journey with our IES program. We went to the cities of Tarragona and Valencia. Both of the cities are south of Barcelona, but they are still a part of Catalonia. We boarded the bus early Friday morning and set out for Tarragona. I think a part of the trip was designed to get people away from the normal crowd they hang out with because our buses and roommates were assigned to us, we didn't have a choice. Luckily my friend from Wofford, Kate was on my bus and I got to know two other girls (Jessie and Haley) from our program as well. It was around a two hour bus ride to Tarragona and when we got there it was pouring down rain. They warned us to bring rain gear, but whenever I come prepared it never rains. Of course with my luck, I decided to not bring rain gear thinking it wouldn't rain-I was very wrong. Haley graciously lent me her umbrella, but that did not prevent my Ugg boots from becoming soaked and now they possess a tie-dye quality that I am hoping will fade over time. Tarragona was a city heavily influenced by the Roman Empire. We toured the ruins which was really neat to see, but it would have been more enjoyable if the weather was nice (which is why I barely have any pictures). One of my professors told me that Barcelona used to be the same way, but the fact that Barcelona became more metropolitan overtime led to there being less remains of the historic walls that were common of the Roman Empire. We left Tarragona, after being scolded for getting on the bus a little late, and headed to Valencia.

One of the only pictures I have from Tarragona-Colosseum where Gladiators used to fight lions

Valencia is the 3rd largest city in Spain-behind Madrid and Barcelona. It was similar to Barcelona, but it was evident that the pace of life was a little bit slower. There is also more historical buildings and remnants of the influence of the ancient Roman Empire. We went on a walking tour of Valencia later on Friday afternoon. Then we had free time until dinner. We stayed at a really nice hotel and the dinner on Friday and Saturday was so good. On Saturday we had traditional paella which originated in Valencia. It is a rice dish cooked in a huge frying pan usually with vegetables and seafood. It has become one of my favorite things to eat in Spain. Saturday morning we got up for more touring in the historic part of Valencia. We went to the Cathedral of Valencia which holds the mythical Holy Grail. It was a really elaborate and beautiful church, I hate that pictures don't really do it justice.

The main alter at the Cathedral of Valencia

Kate and I in one of the main squares of historic Valencia (Cathedral in the background)

After a touring the historic side of Valencia we had a break before we saw the modern part of the city. We went to the City of Arts and Sciences, which isn't actually a separate city its just an area with modern architecture and museums. Our first stop was the aquarium. It was really fun to explore the different exhibits and look at the marine life, but much to our dismay we missed to dolphin show by a few minutes! We were supposed to stay around the City of Arts and Sciences for three hours, so we decided we had enough of the aquarium and tried to go and look at the other museums. We couldn't really figure out how to get in the other museums or decide if they were even open. So we basically just wandered around and sat a cafe until it was time to go to the bus. It was a nice contrast to spend the day touring both historic and modern parts of Valencia.

Jessie, Haley, Kate and Me in front of the City of Arts and Sciences

Pretty view of City of Arts and Sciences at sunset

After a long two days of touring everyone was pretty exhausted on Saturday night and we decided to just lay low for the evening. We had an even earlier wake up call on Sunday morning because there were two more stops we had to make on the way back to Barcelona. The first stop we made was at Torres Vineyards. This was a really interesting experience and I'm not quite sure how it fit into the theme of our trip. We got there and they gave us a glass of wine while we waited on the tour. A tram pulled up and we got in expecting to tour the outside of the vineyards, but there really wasn't much to look at. The tram then pulled into a warehouse and a voice from a speaker came on commentating the history of the Torres Family and vineyards while we watched a hologram movie on different screens and the tram made circles around the warehouse. It felt like a very cheesy, bad Disney World ride. Although it did provide some comic relief because we just laughed about it the whole time. After that we drove to a restaurant called a Calcetoda. Where we participated in a Catalan tradition of eating Calcotes. They are like long spring onions that are grilled until they are black. It is a very messy activity so they gave us bibs to make sure we didn't spill all over  our clothes. You peel the burnt layer of the onion off and dip it into this sauce and put the whole thing in your mouth. It is really difficult to describe, one of those "you had to be there". I thought it was pretty good. It took forever though- 3 hours to finish our meal!!One thing I have learned is that Spaniards definitely take their time when completing any task. If you are at a meal do not expect them to bring you your check and rush you out of the restaurant like most American places do. Once you finally catch the waiter's attention can you ask for the check, which is a whole other drawn out process.

The calcots (onions) before they are peeled

It was an eventful and interesting trip. I'm glad I got to know other people in my program, but I was exhausted afterward. This week in Barcelona its supposed to be very cold and they are even projecting a possible snow on Thursday. Apparently Barcelona is a lot like South Carolina when it snows; everything shuts down. I'm crossing my fingers this doesn't happen because I am ready to get rid of my winter coats for the season! Margaret and I have some Wofford friends coming to Barcelona from Alicante this weekend! I am excited to show friends around the city and see some sites I have yet to make it to! It should be a good weekend despite the chilly temperatures!

Hasta Luego for now!

Langley