Spanish Studies Abroad Student Blogger

Spanish Studies Abroad Student Blogger
Student Blogger

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Weekend Excursions- Part 2

Last Saturday I took my first trip out of the province of Alicante. It wasn't a long trip to Valencia though, only a two hour bus ride. It felt even quicker than two hours though as everyone on our little fifteen person bus was fast asleep.

The first stop on our tour of Valencia was La Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias, (The City of Arts and Sciences). According to our tour guide this part of the city was all built within the last fifteen years. In the last years the city has seen a large increase in the amounts of tourists coming to the city largely due to this part of town. La Cuidad is made up of multiple museums including, an aquarium, science museum, observatory, opera house, and gardens. The architecture of each building is beautiful, each of them unique and very aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go inside any of the buildings as we were told that one could spend hours in each of them, and we did not have that kind of time. While we were in La Cuidad we also got to try horchata, a drink that is typical of Valencia. It was very good and I will definitely be buying it in the future!






After our quick tour of La Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias we got back on the bus and until we got to the center of the city. Our first stop was La Lonja de la Ceda, which was built in 1498. This building, which was the silk market, is the only building in Valencia protected by UNESCO. Upon entering we walked into a beautiful Muslim style courtyard with orange trees and a small fountain. Our guide explained to us that even though the market was built during Christian times this style of courtyard had become so popular that it many buildings still built these courtyards. We then proceeded into the building itself which was filled with Gothic columns and chandeliers. The inside of the market area was very cool, with a large space for trading, and also a stairway that led up to a tower, where the people who couldn't pay their debt were sent. There was also a chapel off to the side with a beautiful stained class window, and a an archway with bats engraved in it. We were informed that bats are actually very important to the city of Valencia because they are believed to bring them luck, even the city's soccer team has bats on their jerseys! We next headed to the upstairs area of the building, which was used as a customs house for a period of time. The room was rather plain but the ceiling was absolutely incredible with very intricate designs of dragons and other creatures.





Our next stop was the current central market, which was just a short walk from La Lonja. Walking in we were greeted by the smell of seafood. The market had a lot of fresh produce, plenty of seafood and meat, and other assorted goods. The ceiling of the market was decorated with oranges, which even though they are not native to Valencia have become one of its main exports in the past century.




 After the Market we walked through the center of the city, passing many restaurants and shops until we go to La Plaza de la Reina, where the cathedral is. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful inside and out. The first chapel we stopped in supposedly holds the Holy Grail, the chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper. There are four other supposed chalices throughout the world, but according to our guide this one is a likely candidate for the real one as its history goes along very well with the known path of the Holy Grail. We also went into several smaller chapels that had once been privately owned by rich families in Valencia. One of them was even owned by the family that produced the only two Spanish popes. One thing that made this cathedral different from others that I have visited was the art displayed everywhere. I really enjoyed looking at the paintings as I thought they added a unique flavor to the church. 









After our Cathedral tour we had free time to eat and explore the city. During our hour for exploring some friends and I went back to some of the cool looking buildings we had passed on our ride through town. Our first stop was the Ayuntamiento, or city hall. We continued on to the train station and Plaza de Torros, which are right next to each other. All of the buildings were very pretty and I really enjoyed walking around the city and taking in all of the new things. 





We made a brief stop at an art museum (Museo de las Bellas Artes) before leaving. My favorite part of the museum was the exhibit they had on a local artist Joaqiun Sorroya. His works were more from the Impressionist Period rather that Baroque and Renaissance Periods, which I had seen a lot of that day. The ride back to Alicante was beautiful. To get back we had to drive through the mountains and with the sun setting the views were beautiful. 

I'd have to say that my favorite part of the trip was wandering along the side streets of Valencia and getting out of the touristy parts and seeing what Valencians do. I would definitely recommend visiting Valencia and if you get the chance I would take the time to explore La Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias, as I've heard very very good things!

Monday, September 14, 2015

Weekend Excursions- Part 1

My first two weekends here in Spain I have had the pleasure of taking two different trips, both of which were incredibly enjoyable! My first weekend I went with two other friends to the island of Tabarca, which is eight miles away from Alicante. All of us had heard great things about Tabarca from our host families  from Marisa, the Assistant Director for our program. After a little research decided making the trip would be worth it. The three of us met at 10:30 on Saturday morning and walked down to the port together. The ferry company we decided to travel with was Cruseros Kontiki as they had good reviews and good prices, 19 euros including the return trip.

The ride out took about an hour and it was a little wavy, but enjoyable all the same. We got into the port and were directed by some locals promoting their restaurants to the town part of the island. It was maybe a two minute walk, as the island is fairly small. To get into the town we had to pass under a rather old looking arch that was between two walls surrounding the sity. The city itself was fairly small as well. The main street was lined with stores selling snorkeling masks and swimsuits, and there were also a lot of fishy smelling restaurants. When we made it to the far side of the island we got to see the very clear water that Tabarca is famous for. The water was greenish blue and we could see the bottom very easily even though the sea was rather wavy. On our walk we discovered a little cove area where there were people snorkeling and enjoying the water. At this point we were all rather hungry so we decided to go to the main beach to have our picnic. We ate quickly as the wind was blowing sand our direction.










After a hurried lunch we decided to walk around the non-inhabited side of the island. The sun came out for us, making the water even clearer,. There were some truly beautiful views of the sea that are definitely worth seeing. The one thing I will be keeping in mind for my next trip is to choose a less windy day. The wind on the island itself wasn't horrible, but on the ferry ride back it became clear how windy it actually was. Thankfully, I do not get seasick, but with the boat rocking from side to side like it did there were a lot of people who did. When we eventually made it to dry  decided we deserved some icecream after that trip! We walked up La Rambla, a main street in Alicante with a lot of restaurants, and stopped at Amorino for gelato! It was delicious and a very good end to our trip!

More to come soon on my trip to Valencia, Spain this last weekend!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Coastal Hiking Adventures

On this rainy Tuesday I am going to throw it back to what I was doing last Tuesday at this time. Last Tuesday was not rainy and cloudy like it is today, it was about the exact opposite in fact. With the gorgeous weather we were having a couple of friends and I decided we wanted to go to the beach, specifically Playa San Juan, a beach that is a little ways out of the city. We got on the correct tram no problem, and planned to just get off when the other people with swimsuits and towels got off. As it turns out this plan did not work out as well as we thought it would. When we got off we followed a group of teenagers down to the coast, only to find that they had not been leading us to the beach. We ended up at the top of a hill that led down to a little cove area where there we people swimming.

We decided to go check out the little area so we walked down to the coast and dipped our toes in the warm Mediterranean water. We decided we couldn't be that far from San Juan so we started hiking along the bluffs/mountains that lined that part of the coast. We hiked along the coast for more than an hour. Along the coastline there were several people tanning and swimming and the amount of people increased the further we went so we knew we were going in the correct direction. There was so much to see as we walked! From the rocky bluffs we were on to the light house we passed, and the sea, which was absolutely beautiful! 

The best view of the whole hike came as we rounded a corner and all of the sudden the beach San Juan was stretched out in front of us. The beach itself looked very nice but it was the scenery behind it that made the view incredible. Behind the beach is the city, mainly tall apartment building and then towering behind them are several large and powerful mountains. To make the whole scene even better where the white caps that were breaking on the waves as they got close to the shore line. We stayed in the same spot for over ten minutes taking in the view and of course taking many pictures, none of which truly captured the beauty of the landscape, but do give a pretty good representation.


The whole experience was a wonderful adventure, and one I will be going on again soon! Unfortunately I am having trouble uploading the rest of the pictures, but I will try to get them up soon!

Until then don't forget that adventure is out there, especially when you least expect it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't embrace it when it comes around!