Wednesday 26 de Enero
TV: British lady who claims she can speak to the dead! ¡Que tonterias! Oh dear me.
Thursday 27 de enero
talking about how in Consuelo's "epoca" boys and girls had to be home by 9:30pm every night haha, but now everyone stays out until 6 or 7am. One of the Stanford professors was saying that, more than any other country, Spain has the biggest, most profound generation gap between the people who lived and experienced Franco's era and the people who were born afterwards.
Friday 28 de Enero
Bus to Valencia with Leigh, Annie and Shira (I'm lucky the autobus stop is just a few metro stops from Sainz de Baranda, so it takes me only 11 minutes from my house). Valencia, as I have just discovered, is the third largest city in Spain (after Madrid and Barcelona); it doesn't feel so big though. It's the capital of Comunidad Valenciana, a fertile agricultural province (it produces much of Europe's early vegetables) which, due to it's coastal location, also has large shipyards and factories. The city was founded by the Greeks in 138 BC but was later transferred to Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs. It's prosperity waned after the discovery of the Americas (Spain concentrated on developing its Westerns ports and neglected eastern cities like Valencia) but a 17th century silk renaissance put it back on the map. For the past two centuries, Valencia's been involved in every single Spanish war and insurrection (in 1939, Valencia was the last refuge of the Republican forces once Catalunya fell). There are all sorts of Gothic architectural reminders of the 15th century (particularly the Cathedral and the Lonja--silk exchange venue) and Valencia was known for decorative arts (evidenced by all the ironwork and ceramics).
Arrived at 1:30, checked in at our hostel (The Purple Nest) at PLaza de Tetuan. The only map we could get had a bunch of El Cortes Ingles and McDonald's pinpoints, oh dear. Did a little walking tour through the old historic center, stopping at a Horchateria for homemade horchata (made from chufas -- tiger nuts-- not rice like in mexico) with "fartons" (unfortunate name, but they're basically like a sweet roll, kind of similar to a long finger-like brioche bread). It had been raining earlier, so everything was a little wet and sleepy. There were some impressive fortress walls around the historic center -- impressive graffiti too. Stopped for a visit at the Museo de Bellas Artes. They had a huge collection of pre-Renaissance religious paintings (lots of Virgen de la Leche with awkward/inaccurate anatomy), a Velasquez self-portrait, some Goya portraits and small paintings (a few of children playing that I recognized from the Bellas Artes San Fernando Museo in Madrid), an El Greco. I liked the 19th century impressionist landscapes from various places in Valencia -- you definitely feel as if we're closer culturally to France. In fact, many of the signs around here are in Catalan! No wonder we have more trouble navigating our way here...
Around the city center is a beautiful "greenbelt" -- it was once a river (there are lots of bridges --old and modern--hanging over) but now it's like a long stretch of parkland with little groves of trees, sculptures, fountains (the fact that it's an old riverbed probably means it's quite fertile). We walked over to La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias. There are several stunningly modern architectural structures -- mostly white, almost skeletal looking. It reminded me of the architectural equivalent of a white tuxedo. We checked out the display of enormous photos along the sleek turquiose pool. Lots of pictures of events in the various buildings (concerts, opening exhibits of the aquarium, animals, MTV music video shoots) We went to the Hemesferic -- giant IMAX theater -- to see the 6pm showing of "Monsters of the Sea." We wore these hilarious spiffy head sets (to hear the English translation of the audio) and 3D glasses -- I felt like an astronaut! The movie was about this little marine reptile that lived 30 million years ago (name: Dolly, about the size of a dolphin but with 4 legs/fins like a turtle). I loved the "scary" parts of the movie -- when some sea predator leapt out of the water to snap it's jaws at us, and I found myself flinching a few times because the 3D looked so real haha. It was also cool when they "fastforwarded" through time to give a quick view of how much the earth has changed in the last several million years. North America was divided in two by a giant sea/channel of water; Europe was fragmented into a bunch of little pieces. They tried to tug heartstrings and make us sympathize with this bizarre Dolly creature -- she had a little brother and a mother. They also pulled a "Bambi": the mother was killed off half way through the movie by some vicious shark-like animal. Dolly narrowly escaped death; the shark bit her rear fin, and that shark tooth actually remained stuck in her fin for the rest of her life (and apparently was still stuck between the bones when the paleontologists discovered her skeleton in Kansas millions of years later). Anyway, the seats were incredibly comfortable, and it was a welcome rest. After the film, everything was dark but beautifully lit up. We checked out the giant dinosaur sculpture that bobbed its head and made bizarre grunting noises. Lots of white cone structures -- not sure what their purpose was. (Laura, you should check out this architecht -- Santiago Calatrava; he's Valencian). The other big structures included the Oceanografic (aquariums), Museo de las Ciencias (very interactive, lots of huge biological models) and the Palau de Las Arts Reina Sofia (giant complex with 4 auditoriums and seating for 4400). I loved the Palau -- it's glossy, made of mosaic tiles which sparkled. I just wonder where the money for this enormous complex came from and why they decided to build this? It looks very new -- I wonder if the city is just trying to get itself on the tourist map (it's often overlooked, overshadowed by Madrid and Barcelona. Rick Steves, for example, doesn't mention the city at all.) Took the bus back towards the city center and stopped at the hostel to enjoy tea (I've missed tea!). Then went in search of "the corner store" for a simple dinner, but after several failed attempts, settled for a modern-looking tapas bar/restaurant. It was actually very classy inside, and we had an excellent meal with wine for less than 15 euros each. We had some sort of Ensalada Valenciana (lettuce, tomatos, peppers, olives, tuna, onions and cured ham), un ración of chorizo, excellent bread/tostas and local cheese. The waiter took the vino very seriously -- he washed out the glasses with the wine beforehand, presented us with the cork and had Leigh taste it. Finished off the evening with tart de manzanas and complimentary Limoncello. Returned back to the hostel after spending nearly 2.5 hours in the restaurant, playing lots of "would you rather..." with various combinations of our program compadres. Spent a little more time in the hotel lounge, which was full of people! and then went upstairs for bed. Every room in this hostel is very brightly colored (I think they made a mistake with the yellow hue chosen for the men's bathroom). Fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.
Saturday January 29 2011
Woke up at 10am after an excellent night of sleep. Rolled out by 11 and walked through town to the Mercado Central, a beautiful building covered with white yellow and blue tiles. Tried some little empanada-shaped pastries filled with chestnut filling, a sugary dough-ball filled with custard, a light apple tart and some delicious oranges. Enjoyed our food outside (beautiful weather today! Blue skies, sunshine) listening to an accordian player. Cute little boy came up to us with his grandfather, clearly intrigued by our spontaneous picnic. Afterwards, we walked back to the main plaza to the Cathedral -- a wonderful melange of architecture: Puerta de Palau is very Romanesque (rounded arches, no-nonsense reddish-golden brick), the interior and Plaza de la Virgen are classically Gothic, Plaza de la Reina entrance is Baroque and inside are a view Renaissance chapels. The Cathedral actually stands at the site of a former mosque. Work on it began in 1262 but obviously continued for centuries. This Cathedral is the home of the Holy Grail -- the chalice, they claim, from which Christ sipped at the Last Supper. According to legend, the cup was brought to Spain in the 3rd century, became a possession of the Crown of Aragon, which gave it to Valencia's cathedral in the 15th century. We decided to climb up the 207 steps of the Miguelete bell tower (it's octagonal!) for the amazing 360 degree city views. Thanks to the glorious weather, we could see out to the blue ocean, but there were are many beautiful blue domed roofs all around the city! I've never seen any other city with so many blue-tiled domes, but it was absolutely beautiful. Next we checked out more of the old city streets. I am amazed and excited by how many bicycles they have here! The city has set up one of those urban bike systems in which people can rent bikes for the hour and park them in the designated city areas -- and lots of people seemed to be using these "bicis"! We explore the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a giant square with the theater and municipal buildings, lots of palm trees too. There wasn't much action going on at the Plaza del Toros (bull fighting stadium) because bullfighting season is summer and fall, but they were already selling season passes with discounts for people under 20yrs and over 65 yrs. At 2pm we went to the restaurant recommended by our hostel (La Riuá) on Calle del Mar for paella (it's a typical lunch thing). Had 2 giant cast-iron dishes of Paella Marinero (seafood! rice with excellent prawns, mussels, squid and pulpo) and Paella Valenciana (rice with chicken, rabbit, green beans and gigante white beans). Both were good, but the seafood was particularly rico. Then back to the hostel, caught a cab to the autobus station, and now it's time for a 4-hour siesta back to Madrid haha). Adios to the city of blue tiled domes and oranges!
TV: British lady who claims she can speak to the dead! ¡Que tonterias! Oh dear me.
Thursday 27 de enero
talking about how in Consuelo's "epoca" boys and girls had to be home by 9:30pm every night haha, but now everyone stays out until 6 or 7am. One of the Stanford professors was saying that, more than any other country, Spain has the biggest, most profound generation gap between the people who lived and experienced Franco's era and the people who were born afterwards.
Friday 28 de Enero
Bus to Valencia with Leigh, Annie and Shira (I'm lucky the autobus stop is just a few metro stops from Sainz de Baranda, so it takes me only 11 minutes from my house). Valencia, as I have just discovered, is the third largest city in Spain (after Madrid and Barcelona); it doesn't feel so big though. It's the capital of Comunidad Valenciana, a fertile agricultural province (it produces much of Europe's early vegetables) which, due to it's coastal location, also has large shipyards and factories. The city was founded by the Greeks in 138 BC but was later transferred to Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs. It's prosperity waned after the discovery of the Americas (Spain concentrated on developing its Westerns ports and neglected eastern cities like Valencia) but a 17th century silk renaissance put it back on the map. For the past two centuries, Valencia's been involved in every single Spanish war and insurrection (in 1939, Valencia was the last refuge of the Republican forces once Catalunya fell). There are all sorts of Gothic architectural reminders of the 15th century (particularly the Cathedral and the Lonja--silk exchange venue) and Valencia was known for decorative arts (evidenced by all the ironwork and ceramics).
Arrived at 1:30, checked in at our hostel (The Purple Nest) at PLaza de Tetuan. The only map we could get had a bunch of El Cortes Ingles and McDonald's pinpoints, oh dear. Did a little walking tour through the old historic center, stopping at a Horchateria for homemade horchata (made from chufas -- tiger nuts-- not rice like in mexico) with "fartons" (unfortunate name, but they're basically like a sweet roll, kind of similar to a long finger-like brioche bread). It had been raining earlier, so everything was a little wet and sleepy. There were some impressive fortress walls around the historic center -- impressive graffiti too. Stopped for a visit at the Museo de Bellas Artes. They had a huge collection of pre-Renaissance religious paintings (lots of Virgen de la Leche with awkward/inaccurate anatomy), a Velasquez self-portrait, some Goya portraits and small paintings (a few of children playing that I recognized from the Bellas Artes San Fernando Museo in Madrid), an El Greco. I liked the 19th century impressionist landscapes from various places in Valencia -- you definitely feel as if we're closer culturally to France. In fact, many of the signs around here are in Catalan! No wonder we have more trouble navigating our way here...
Around the city center is a beautiful "greenbelt" -- it was once a river (there are lots of bridges --old and modern--hanging over) but now it's like a long stretch of parkland with little groves of trees, sculptures, fountains (the fact that it's an old riverbed probably means it's quite fertile). We walked over to La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias. There are several stunningly modern architectural structures -- mostly white, almost skeletal looking. It reminded me of the architectural equivalent of a white tuxedo. We checked out the display of enormous photos along the sleek turquiose pool. Lots of pictures of events in the various buildings (concerts, opening exhibits of the aquarium, animals, MTV music video shoots) We went to the Hemesferic -- giant IMAX theater -- to see the 6pm showing of "Monsters of the Sea." We wore these hilarious spiffy head sets (to hear the English translation of the audio) and 3D glasses -- I felt like an astronaut! The movie was about this little marine reptile that lived 30 million years ago (name: Dolly, about the size of a dolphin but with 4 legs/fins like a turtle). I loved the "scary" parts of the movie -- when some sea predator leapt out of the water to snap it's jaws at us, and I found myself flinching a few times because the 3D looked so real haha. It was also cool when they "fastforwarded" through time to give a quick view of how much the earth has changed in the last several million years. North America was divided in two by a giant sea/channel of water; Europe was fragmented into a bunch of little pieces. They tried to tug heartstrings and make us sympathize with this bizarre Dolly creature -- she had a little brother and a mother. They also pulled a "Bambi": the mother was killed off half way through the movie by some vicious shark-like animal. Dolly narrowly escaped death; the shark bit her rear fin, and that shark tooth actually remained stuck in her fin for the rest of her life (and apparently was still stuck between the bones when the paleontologists discovered her skeleton in Kansas millions of years later). Anyway, the seats were incredibly comfortable, and it was a welcome rest. After the film, everything was dark but beautifully lit up. We checked out the giant dinosaur sculpture that bobbed its head and made bizarre grunting noises. Lots of white cone structures -- not sure what their purpose was. (Laura, you should check out this architecht -- Santiago Calatrava; he's Valencian). The other big structures included the Oceanografic (aquariums), Museo de las Ciencias (very interactive, lots of huge biological models) and the Palau de Las Arts Reina Sofia (giant complex with 4 auditoriums and seating for 4400). I loved the Palau -- it's glossy, made of mosaic tiles which sparkled. I just wonder where the money for this enormous complex came from and why they decided to build this? It looks very new -- I wonder if the city is just trying to get itself on the tourist map (it's often overlooked, overshadowed by Madrid and Barcelona. Rick Steves, for example, doesn't mention the city at all.) Took the bus back towards the city center and stopped at the hostel to enjoy tea (I've missed tea!). Then went in search of "the corner store" for a simple dinner, but after several failed attempts, settled for a modern-looking tapas bar/restaurant. It was actually very classy inside, and we had an excellent meal with wine for less than 15 euros each. We had some sort of Ensalada Valenciana (lettuce, tomatos, peppers, olives, tuna, onions and cured ham), un ración of chorizo, excellent bread/tostas and local cheese. The waiter took the vino very seriously -- he washed out the glasses with the wine beforehand, presented us with the cork and had Leigh taste it. Finished off the evening with tart de manzanas and complimentary Limoncello. Returned back to the hostel after spending nearly 2.5 hours in the restaurant, playing lots of "would you rather..." with various combinations of our program compadres. Spent a little more time in the hotel lounge, which was full of people! and then went upstairs for bed. Every room in this hostel is very brightly colored (I think they made a mistake with the yellow hue chosen for the men's bathroom). Fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.
Saturday January 29 2011
Woke up at 10am after an excellent night of sleep. Rolled out by 11 and walked through town to the Mercado Central, a beautiful building covered with white yellow and blue tiles. Tried some little empanada-shaped pastries filled with chestnut filling, a sugary dough-ball filled with custard, a light apple tart and some delicious oranges. Enjoyed our food outside (beautiful weather today! Blue skies, sunshine) listening to an accordian player. Cute little boy came up to us with his grandfather, clearly intrigued by our spontaneous picnic. Afterwards, we walked back to the main plaza to the Cathedral -- a wonderful melange of architecture: Puerta de Palau is very Romanesque (rounded arches, no-nonsense reddish-golden brick), the interior and Plaza de la Virgen are classically Gothic, Plaza de la Reina entrance is Baroque and inside are a view Renaissance chapels. The Cathedral actually stands at the site of a former mosque. Work on it began in 1262 but obviously continued for centuries. This Cathedral is the home of the Holy Grail -- the chalice, they claim, from which Christ sipped at the Last Supper. According to legend, the cup was brought to Spain in the 3rd century, became a possession of the Crown of Aragon, which gave it to Valencia's cathedral in the 15th century. We decided to climb up the 207 steps of the Miguelete bell tower (it's octagonal!) for the amazing 360 degree city views. Thanks to the glorious weather, we could see out to the blue ocean, but there were are many beautiful blue domed roofs all around the city! I've never seen any other city with so many blue-tiled domes, but it was absolutely beautiful. Next we checked out more of the old city streets. I am amazed and excited by how many bicycles they have here! The city has set up one of those urban bike systems in which people can rent bikes for the hour and park them in the designated city areas -- and lots of people seemed to be using these "bicis"! We explore the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a giant square with the theater and municipal buildings, lots of palm trees too. There wasn't much action going on at the Plaza del Toros (bull fighting stadium) because bullfighting season is summer and fall, but they were already selling season passes with discounts for people under 20yrs and over 65 yrs. At 2pm we went to the restaurant recommended by our hostel (La Riuá) on Calle del Mar for paella (it's a typical lunch thing). Had 2 giant cast-iron dishes of Paella Marinero (seafood! rice with excellent prawns, mussels, squid and pulpo) and Paella Valenciana (rice with chicken, rabbit, green beans and gigante white beans). Both were good, but the seafood was particularly rico. Then back to the hostel, caught a cab to the autobus station, and now it's time for a 4-hour siesta back to Madrid haha). Adios to the city of blue tiled domes and oranges!
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