24 April 2023
The trip to Valencia was undoubtedly a highly anticipated one, and the city delivered.
After walking and cycling around every nook and cranny of the city it is no wonder everyone now wants to live in Valencia, as we became experts on the rich history of such a unique city thanks to the fountains of knowledge that were Gabi and the two Miguels.
After arriving and settling in with our very welcoming host families on Friday, the action began on Saturday with a tour around the city centre which included ascending the cathedral to be greeted by a stunning view of the city’s multicultural architecture.
Sunday included a bike tour on what felt like a perfect Valencian summer’s day. After cycling through the city’s drained River Turía, which has now become a hub of culture and activity, we reached the arts and sciences metropolitan. The buildings were breathtaking and such was their beauty they gave everyone a burst of energy to attempt to reenact a Formula 1 race on Valencia’s very own nearby street circuit, without quite matching the excitement of the races the circuit has seen in previous years despite (almost) matching the speed of the RB19 according to Arthur. A cycle along the coastline followed a highly stimulating game of headers and volleys on the beach and rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable bike ride with no major casualties, despite Angus’ best efforts to change that.
From Monday to Wednesday, the first half of the day consisted of Spanish lessons over a variety of topics, with the highlight being the frankly admirable ability of Geordie and Ludo to hijack an intriguing debate about tourism and evolve it into a rather less intriguing debate about McDonald’s, and to do this all in Spanish was quite the achievement.
There were a variety of afternoon trips which were all as interesting as the other, with the likes of dolphin shows and sea lions at the Oceanografic on Monday. Tuesday saw a tour around the breathtaking Mestalla Stadium, and it wasn’t just the prices of the club shop that took our breath away, but also the success of the club throughout history and the role the stadium played in housing victims of the flood of the river turía in the 20th century.
The modernism route walked on Wednesday followed by the visit to the El Museo Marqués de Dos Aguas further immersed us in the city’s long and full culture and history, as proved by Mr Davies’ riveting ‘spot the flying chicken on the plate’ challenge. The weekdays were also rounded off with authentic, fifa street-esque football against los locales, rounding off what was a relentlessly authentic Spanish experience. Overall, the trip was thoroughly enjoyable, and for the Upper Sixth, there are little better ways to revise for the Spanish Pre-U than actually to be there in a Spanish school and living with Spanish families. All of us would like to express our thanks to Señora Fraile and Mr Davies for ensuring everything went safely and according to plan throughout such an enriching experience.
Written by Clem Davies
