Valencia y la cultura

Valencia was founded as a Roman colony in 183 BCE, its on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and is a big port city. It is the third largest city in Spain behind Madrid and Barcelona. Now it has became the center in Spain for the arts and sciences. Also it officially is a very religious city however recently the ties with the catholic church have weakened. Their is a river, "el rio", that run through the city, however this is very deceiving because the river never has water in it (b/c it doesn't rain here often), it is actually just a 10 km strech of gardens, playgrounds, trails, and many other attractions such as the center for the arts and sciences is at one end of the rio so the Mediterrranean has to be at the other end.

The rio is quite the hot spot for anyone in Valencia. There are beautiful gardens and statues. People are always biking and running up and down it. Soccer fields and playgrounds are scattered throughout the rio as well, it is always a busy place. As I mentioned earlier on one end is the center for the arts and sciences. This is a huge area that is absolutely stunning. The buildings are all very modern. The center houses an art museum, IMAX theater, science museum, some garden building, and the largest aquarium in Europe, I am pumped to see that. I suggest you look at pictures of the center and rio from the internet because my iPhone and photography skills do not do it any justice.

 The food here is very good, only my second dinner has been bad and its because my Madre was leaving and just made hotdogs and very greasy fries that sat out for 3 house before we at them, other than that is has been a great experience. I have yet to have paella but have already had my share of bocadillos. They eat very late here so my stomach has not been happy with me. Breakfast is next nothing, maybe a couple crackers and some coffee. Then around 2-3 we have lunch, normally a bocadillo and between 9-10 we eat dinner. I can't say I am the biggest fan of 7-8 hours between eating. We did learn that many people eat five meals a day here, a small meal every 3-4 hours, however we are only given three meals a day and don't always have time/ money for two extra meals, so we just have to adjust to it.

The public transportation here is excellent. There is a metro, bus system, and the famous valenbicis. Which are bikes you can take for thirty minutes ride to you destination and drop off the bike at the closest station. The valenbici stations are everywhere so it is very convenient and popular.

In Valencia there are two official languages.  Castellano (a Spanish dialect) and Valenciano. They are a little similar but not close enough where if you know one you can understand the other. This can be very frustrating because all of the maps we have are in Spanish and all of the street signs are in Valenciano, this makes it extremely difficult to figure out where you are on a map and is kind of ridiculous. I attribute this to be 80% of the reason we get lost so often, the other 20%, my awesome sense of direction. So far we have gotten lost every new place we have gone and had to ask a local, hopefully that will stop soon.

Valenbici

FC Valencia jersey, we are going to a fútbol game Sunday!

El Rio

Art Museum

Science Museum

Art and Science Center