Valencia
Hey Everyone,
Last weekend I went to a city called Valencia about three hours south of here by train. We actually went for only one day and spent about as much time traveling as we did in the city, but train rides with friends are always fun, so it didn’t seem as long as it actually was. My program is really good about arranging things for us to do, day trips and museums and stuff like that. And my trip to Valencia was all pre-planned and therefore stress free.
When we arrived we were taken for a tour of the city. It is really pretty with nice squares and fountains and clean streets. We went to a huge covered market and saw where they sold live eels, which were very gross. But we also saw the vice president of Spain, she just happened to be in the city campaigning that day and came to the market where we were. Then we went to see the building where the silk trade used to be held in. It was very cool because the columns inside of it twisted as they went up. There isn’t any silk in Valencia anymore because a while ago the silkworms all died � but now the people who used to make silk grow oranges that are supposed to be amazing. We also saw a really interesting cathedral. It was built over a very long time and then added to over the years so its architecture is a mixture of different styles that we have been studying in art. It was kind of fun to be able to pick out the different styles and recognize them without our guide telling me. There was also an amazing fresco on the ceiling above the alter. It was a dark blue with little yellow stars all over it, there were also some really bright colored angels, and the colors were so intense. The funny thing about it is that it had been covered by a false ceiling there for over 100 years. It was only a few years ago that they decided to take the ceiling down (apparently they were aware of the fresco, but assumed that it had deteriorated over the years) but to their great surprise it was of great quality and so we got to see it. There was also this huge gold thing that was like a castle built to honor the church or something (?) but it was very cool. It was like a mini castle (when I say mini I mean the thing was 10 feet tall) and it was actually made of silver with a gold outside, but it was very intricate and had lots of cool details and precious stones on it. Apparently this is the third one that has been in the same spot. The first one was melted down during the Napoleanic war to fund it, and the second one was lost somewhere in the civil war in the 30’s. So this is the third one that they have made, and hopefully it manages to stay whole.
After the tour of the city we went to the aquarium which was fun. It had two beluga whales that were cute, and some walruses that put on quite a show fighting with each other. But the coolest part about the aquarium was the buildings it was housed in. It was all white and very modern, with curves and glass everywhere. There was also a science museum and an imax theatre that were in the same area and built in the same type of style. The weather was also great that day. It was so sunny and warm, I felt like I had been transported a few months into the future. Barcelona has been a little overcast recently, so it was nice to get some sun.
There is a very cool festival that the people of Valencia have every March. They build gigantic paper mache statues, of celebrities and politicians or whoever they want. Every night there are fireworks shows, and there are firecrackers that go off at 2 pm every day. It is pretty much one big week long party in the city. On the last day there are huge bonfires as the city lights all of the giant paper statues on fire. We unfortunately weren’t there during the right time, but it sounded really fun.
Kelsey