Introducing Granada

First full day in the magical south of Spain. After settling in last night, having a pretty good sleep (for me) and catching up on blogs etc this morning, I decided to go for a walk to see what I could find. First stop was the school so I know where to go tomorrow - it is very close about 7 mins walk. I then discovered the river which has a wonderful shaded path along both sides so decided to follow it for a far as I could. 3 kilometres later, I decided I'd better turn around and get back home for lunch. From my first taste of wandering around, I can't wait to explore the rest. I really think 8 weeks here is not going to be enough!

Below are some photos from my walk.

Rio Genil, Granada

Puente Arabe (Arab Bridge)

Fountain

View from bridge across Genil River to
mountains

Upper reaches of Genil River

The Road to Granada

Sometimes when travelling, the unexpected path is the best one to take. There are several options for getting from Valencia to Granada, but I decided to take the "slow" bus as this gave me the best opportunity for viewing the countryside. Coincidently, it was also the cheapest. Most people opt to fly or take the high speed train. This gets you to Granada in a few hours, whereas my trip took 10 1/2 hours. I now have a very flat and numb bottom, that just may never recover. Part of the reason the trip took so long was it stopped at many towns on the way. The other reason was there was no services on the bus so we had to stop for toilet breaks, drinks and food. This seemed to occur every hour to hour and a half, some for only 5 mins but two stops for 30 minutes. In all, we had over 1 1/2 hours of stops between Valencia and Granada.

Flat bottoms and long day aside, it was a wonderful way to see the spectacular Spanish countryside. From towering mountains, rugged cliffs, to open dry semi-desert country & sparse vegetation, to lush vegetation, snow capped peaks and terraced olive groves. The only difficulty was that getting photos was almost impossible with the sun's glare on the windows of the bus.  Hence I only got a couple close to Granada which really do not do justice to the scope of the landscape.

Anyway, the good news is I've arrived in Granada and I have tomorrow to explore before having to make my way back to school and further study. I'm here for 8 weeks so I hope to get to see the amazing Moorish architecture and other cities like Cordoba, Sevilla, Cadiz etc. I pretty sure I will enjoy this part of Spain very much.



Landscape close to Granada.

Leaving Valencia

My time in Valencia has come to an end. After farewelling some good friends made in Valencia, I was kind of in a hurry to leave but only having one more week after their departure, it wasn't a problem to stay. During my last week, I met a couple of lovely fellow students who invited me to a live music show. On Thursday, we went out for dinner to a modern restaurant (MasQMenos) near the Plaza de Ayuntamiento and then to Café Mercedes which turned out to be a Jazz club. I happen to very much like jazz, particularly the tranquil kind rather than the over the top improvisation. Hence, I had a fabulous night with 3 other ladies - wonderful company, interesting conversation (all in Spanish), excellent music and great food.

 On Friday night, my last night in Valencia, I invited another couple of students who were in my classes, Catherine who was in my grammar class this week and Emma who has been with me for conversation classes for 3 weeks. We went off to my favourite restaurant, Taberna de la Reina, for one last meal of tapas, good wine, beautiful surroundings and of course, the obligatory conversation. It was a wonderful night, but ended much later than anticipated so after getting home after midnight, I still had to pack my bags and get up at 6 am to be ready to get to my bus on time. Hence not much sleep was had over my last two nights in Valencia, but wonderful memories.

I found myself being quite sad to leave but looking forward to Granada and new places to explore!  

Salad meal with very thin dried meat, MasQMenos Restaurante

MasQMenos Restaurant & the Gals - Justine, Rosa & Haley

Café Mercedes Jazz Club, very intimate & guay (Spanish for cool)

 

Spanish Encounters: Noche de San Juan

Picture this: night time, full moon, 500 000 people on a beach, and hundreds of small fires. What do you think happens at midnight?

Spain is a land of festivals. Some are for each region, others celebrated all over the country.
One festival famous in Alicante (east coast) is the Noche de San Juan. This festival is basically a summer solstice festival, which was originally celebrated on 21 or 22 June each year, which in the northern hemisphere is the longest day of the year. It is also the official start of summer in Spain. However, the Saint Day of St John the Baptist (not to be confused with St John the Apostle) is on 24 June. Hence, the original pagan summer solstice festival was moved to the night of 23 June and became known as the Noche de San Juan (Night of St John).

The original pagan festival was celebrated to "give strength to the sun" as the people noticed that after this day, the sun began to lose strength, little by little every day. It was celebrated with fires and normally held near water, either the sea or the local river. Traditionally, the young men jumped over the fire at midnight (not really sure why) and this tradition continues today. However, now women can jump the fire as well. Today it is thought that if you make a wish for the coming year then jump the fire, the wish will come true. Another variation is first running into the sea and jumping waves, then running back and jumping the fire. For women, if they want to have a son / daughter, they have to jump 10 waves. There is lots of these "traditions / superstitions" in Spain and probably many other countries as well.

So last night was the Noche de San Juan. Most of Valencia it seems heads to the beach in groups of friends and family etc, light a smallish fire, sing, play music, chat etc and wait until midnight. The foreigners tend to just get drunk. At midnight, the majority rush into the sea, run back and jump the fire. Depending on how big the fire is or how much people have had to drink, this is either a safe or dangerous activity. They also light big paper style lanterns that float up into the sky. Very pretty. I take it that the majority of people stay on the beach all night. As it is a work day the next morning, I'm not sure how many make it to school / work etc and I'm sure productivity would be very low.

I joined a largish group of "extranjeros" (foreigners) and ventured out around 10 pm. My two English friends from school and I shared some Sangria and soaked up the atmosphere and generally chatted to whoever was interested. I managed to make it home by 3 am and got 3 hours sleep before having to get up and go to school. Lucky we are doing revision this week or I wouldn't have been able to manage any Spanish! Conversation class was a little challenging as there were only two of us and we both had been celebrating Noche de San Juan. Hopefully tomorrow we will have caught up on our sleep.

I've included some photos which I admit aren't great given they were hand-held shots taken at night, but I think you'll get the idea.

Fire circle, Noche de San Juan, Valencia



Lighting the lantern

Hoguera (fire), Noche de San Juan, Valencia



Valencia - "The Sunshine Coast" Spanish style

Valencia is on the east coast of Spain, about half way between Barcelona and the southern edge of Spain. The climate here is very similar to what we have on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, including the humidity. The beaches here are world famous, sandy and very beautiful. However, I still think we have better beaches in Australia. The main beach here in Valencia (Malva-rosa) is a wide expanse of golden sand that stretches for a couple of kilometres. There are several other beaches as well, with the best ones reportedly ones down the coast around Benidorm and Alicante. I would have to say the beach at Benidorm would get my vote rather than Alicante or Valencia. However, beaches are very popular here and more people "tomar el sol" - take the sun (sunbake) than swim it seems. I have it on good authority that the water is generally quite cold.  

Valencia is a very flat, open city, with a tram line, metro and buses. It is very easy to get around, has some world class attractions - one being the City of Arts & Sciences which is a complex of modern buildings housing an aquarium, astronomy section and a science museum. The centre of the city is medieval, complete with the cathedral, main square and towers. One other attraction is the Lonja or Silk Exchange, which is a medieval building, complete with gargoyle type statues but was never a church. There is a Plaza del Toros (bull ring) next door to the train station, a wonderful covered market place that seems to be a feature in many European cities and lovely grand buildings wherever you look.

My two favourite places are: the Jardines del Turia (Turia Gardens) which is an old river bed converted into a 9 km long park and the Plaza de la Reina (Queen's Square). The gardens are a lovely place to walk, complete with the old bridges that are still in use for traffic, although they cross the park now rather than the river. The Plaza de la Reina is just a lovely place to sit, and has my favourite tapas bar (Taberna de la Reina). I spent many an hour here with my friends Sergei and Olli. We all found it a very relaxing place to be.  I've included some photos, but beware, it is really had to take a photo of a 9 km long park!

Torres del Serranos

Façade of Mercado Central

Plaza de la Virgen (Cathedral in background)

Inside Mercado Central

Tower of Iglesia Santa Catalina near Plaza de La Reina,
Valencia

Puente de Mar (old bridge over Turia Gardens)

Old City Gate

City of Arts & Sciences

City of Arts and Sciences

City of Arts & Sciences

City of Arts & Sciences

Valencia Cathedral

La Lonja (Silk Exchange)

Statue, La Lonja

Mad Monk(?), Statue, La Lonja

One of my favourite places, Plaza de La Reina

My favourite restaurant / bar, Taberna de La Reina
Plaza de La Reina, Valencia

Small part of the Jardines del Turia, Valencia
My other favourite place!

Food, glorious food...

I believe there is a song from the musical - Oliver, that starts (or has a chorus with these words). How apt for this post. One of the wonderful things about travelling, is getting to try lots of different food. Spanish food is as varied as its regions and communities. So, for fellow foodies out there, below are some pictures of my culinary adventures whilst in Valencia. Remember, Valencia is the home of that famous Spanish dish - Paella which is generally eaten on a Sunday, bit like how in days gone by, Australians would have the Sunday roast. There appears to be 3 types of paella - yellow - usually with chicken & rabbit or with seafood, red - cooked with the bones of a lobster to give it the colour and the very strong taste, and black - cooked with octopus ink. Haven't tried that one yet but believe it is a specialty in Galicia so will see if I can find it when I am on the Camino and give it a try.

Tapas portions

more tapas portions

Traditional Paella with chicken & rabbit

Red Paella - made with lobster

The mandatory jug of Sangria (don't worry, I shared it with 2 other people!)

Russian Salad (Spanish style).
There's a story that's just waiting to be told about this!

Different tapas portions

and more tapas portions

South American food at Feria de Las Naciones
wrapped and cooked in banana leaf. Think was from Columbia.

"Anaconda" - actually it was pork. Another story to tell!



Finding my way between subjunctive and conditional tenses

This week has been a very mixed bag both on the learning front and emotionally.
It started very well with the return to conversations classes and a renewed sense of confidence. However, on Tuesday, we had a rough day in class, which resulted in one of our teachers getting quite frustrated with us all. The problem was, we couldn't get our subjunctive verbs right. She actually said if we couldn't do subjunctives by now, we were in the wrong level. I believe she was just frustrated and trying to motivate us, but as a motivational strategy, it wasn't great. Most of the 8 students in my class (we were all equally as bad), found it difficult to come to class on Wednesday, but dedicated group that we are, we came, we struggled and just kept trying. Compounding our confusion was the fact that this week we commenced learning conditional tenses as well. Lots of new grammar, lots of new rules and verb terminations to memorise and chaos rained supreme! For those of you who aren't familiar with the terms, English doesn't use subjunctive tense very much but it is used a lot in everyday Spanish, as is the conditional. Basically (I think I have this right), subjunctive is used for giving advice, orders or commands, or expressing desires / wishes for others or yourself. The conditional tense is used to also give advice, but is used more in hypothetical situations or for expressing probability in future, past or present. Easy to understand the rules, hard to get it all together.

Luckily, by Thursday our teacher was happy with us again (or maybe just resigned to our slowness) and we started to enjoy our lessons. On Friday, we listened to a very well known and loved Spanish pop song from the 1970s era (kind of like Spain's answer to ABBA). This song has a catchy but quite rhythmic tune and the entire song is written using subjunctive verbs. We then had to write our own lyrics to the same tune, using subjunctive verbs.
This activity was actually lots of fun although a bit brain straining. We got put into groups, and as there were 8 of us, I ended up in a group of two. My partner in crime and I had an amusing time coming up with a theme and lyrics and actually won the class vote for the best song. The teacher was actually smiling and laughing at our song so we must have done something right! I've now added this song to my repertoire of favourite Spanish songs so I might just have to bore you all with it when I get home. If you are lucky, I may even sing you our version of the song!

So, good start, bad middle of the week. At the end .........

Goodbyes are awkward, aren't they?. There never seems to be the right time or words to express what you want to say, in English or in Spanish. After saying goodbye to Sergei last week, Olli and I were feeling the loss of his company. However, Olli's wife had arrived for a holiday so he had other options for his week. Now, Olli, Saichi and Marianna (from Brazil) have all gone as well. Three of my direct classmates have also left, as well as two from my conversation class. So, new students and new dynamics next week. Will be interesting to see what transpires. However, my song writing partner is still here for two more weeks so we may just see what mischief we can get up to in class. Leonardo has a black sense of humour that matches my own and we get on well in group activities.

On a very positive front, I received several emails this week from absent friends which was just wonderful. I feel very connected to my global family today. Thank you all for your friendship and faithfulness. It is very much appreciated.

Until next time............

Back to School - The Art of Conversation

It's hard to believe, but I have been away from Australia for almost 4 months already. That means that almost half of my trip is already completed.

By this stage of the year, most school children (and teachers) are getting ready for exams and school holidays. For me, it's back to school time. I now have the longest block of continuous study, for a total of 13 weeks. So for 3 months until the end of August, I am a "real" student. I certainly feel like a student this week as I have again increased my study time to encompass conversation classes. This means that I have 7 hours of face to face lessons each day. I have chosen to spend the first half of each block of time at each different school just concentrating on the grammar and the second half  including practicing my speaking skills. As I've chosen to stay with local families, I get plenty of speaking practice anyway.

So today commenced the start of my conversation classes here in Valencia. My teacher, Rosa, has a very different style from the teachers in Salamanca and is very good at instilling confidence in her students. There are 4 people in my conversation class this week, representing England, Holland and Belgium (& Australia). I found today's session much easier than when I had conversation classes in Salamanca. I think this is a combination of understanding more, having had lots of practice and having a fantastic teacher. I felt really comfortable and was able to find the words I wanted with less difficulty than before. I also didn't have to "think" in English so much. Progress seems to be being made at last!

I'll have a test of my new found skills on Thursday when I join my Australian Spanish Class via Skype. Then we'll see if they think I've improved as much as I think I have. Should be fun!

The Northern Alliance

One of the joys (and challenges) in learning a new language in-country is meeting people from all over the world. At Don Quijote (my school), there are students from America, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, Kurdistan, Turkey, England, Finland, Holland, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Germany, Scotland (and many more places). Whilst I have interacted with people from many countries, I became particular friends with two lovely ladies, Rebecca & Mandy from Switzerland and Holland respectively, whilst in Salamanca. In Valencia, I have been privileged to become friends with two wonderful men, Olli from Finland and Sergei, Russia.  So, I thought it might be an opportune time to introduce some of my new acquaintances. As they all come from northern Europe, I've nicknamed them - The Northern Alliance". I've had a lot of fun visiting places, eating tapas and having great conversation with them all. Helps that we are all at a similar level of Spanish so we can communicate generally quite well. Except for my Russian friend, the rest of us speak English well enough  that if our Spanish fails, we can still manage. However, with Sergei, we had to speak Spanish as he only speaks Russian and Spanish. This was really good practice for Olli and I. I'll tell you more about our "adventures" in a later blog. I have their permission to tell stories (well, some of the stories anyway).

Julia, one of my teachers in Salamanca & Rebecca

Don, USA, fellow student
Salamanca

Mandy, Rebecca, Isabel (my teacher), Wlacha, Nico, Theo & Don
Salamanca

 

Sergei, Olli & Katja (front), fellow students from Valencia
 

Rebecca (again), Mary & Me!!
Plaza Mayor, Salamanca


 

Oranges and Rice

Valencia is known all over the world for it's oranges. A little known fact is that Valencia is also the biggest grower of rice outside China and exports more rice than China. Rice is a staple food here in Valencia with locals eating it generally every day and like Mexico loves beans with every meal, Valencianos love rice. This is also the home of that famous Spanish dish - Paella. There are rice fields galore in this part of Spain.

I've now made my way south to the east coast of Spain and in total will be in Valencia for 5 weeks. Time to leave the vacation behind and get back into studying and improving my Spanish. After saying farewell to my great friend and travelling companion, Gillian, I took the train south along the coast from Barcelona. Coming into Valencia, all you can see for many miles, are the orange groves that have been the famous export of this area. They grow orange trees in the public parks as well and have a festival for the oranges too.

Valencia is the capital city of the Autonomous Community of Valencia (kind of like a state government area). Once, the Turia river flowed directly through the town but in the late 1950s there was a very serious flood, after which the river was diverted to go around the town. The old river bed has been made into a wonderful garden park. It is a lovely place to walk and has many uses. There are bridges, water features like you see in Arabic palaces, lawns, trees and a garden of flowers on one of the bridges as well.

Bridge of Flowers, Valencia (city)

Rice fields, Valencia (province)

Bits of the puzzle - Finding our way through Spain

I've mentioned a couple of times the differing landscape we have come across in our travels across Spain. Whilst I have posted some pictures previously, I thought it might be interesting to show you more of the countryside that I have seen to date. Photos really don't do justice to the size and depth of the landscape, but below are my best efforts. I hope you enjoy.

From snow covered mountains:

to rocky plains:

to cliffs:

to fields of wildflowers:

to terraced hillsides with olive groves:

to coastal scenes:

to rugged peaks:

and mountain lakes:  

Spain is an ever changing visual display that is always interesting and stunningly beautiful.