Central Market and Magic

Our very full day started out with a class in the market led by chef Jordi Morera and then a tasting of olives, olive oils, hams and cheeses followed.  Jordi showed us how important these are in Spain and how there are varieties and levels of quality that make a difference.  Here is a link of a NY Times article that mentions Jordi (we got him last summer for the first time before this article came out.)

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/travel/23hours-valencia.html

We stopped in at La Lonja, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and then we returned to Jordi's restaurant for a great, imaginative Valencian lunch.

We met up again for a night of magic and dinner.  Through a good friend of mine we managed to get a private performance with some of Spain's top magicians.  It was a fantastic end to what was one of the most complete days of Woodberry in Spain history.

Piano and Horchata

We had a pianist play some works and explain the life of a few of the top Spanish composers of classical music.  Later in the afternoon we had fartons (a sweet pastry) with horchata (a milky drink made from tiger nuts,) famously from Valencia, at the famous place to have them- Daniel's.

Government and cheese

Seems like as good a combination as any.  We had a law professor from the University of Valencia come to talk to the boys abut how Spanish democracy, much younger than our democracy, came to be.  Tonight we had a cheese tasting from one of the very high quality stalls in the Central Market give us a talk about the different regions of Spanish cheese and the importance of artisan cheese and how it differs from factory made cheese, all with tastings.  We then had a great group dinner.

Dia de independencia

We celebrated 4th of July with an night trip to a mall, laser tag, all-you-can-eat Asian buffet and bowling.  We also met up with an ex-Woodberry Spanish teacher, Ed Denault, who had rune the Spain trip for Woodberry for 11 years and was in Valencia visiting his in-laws.

Calatrava

Last night we saw a very fun Argentine movie called Un cuento chino.  The boys really enjoyed and many commented on how proud they were of themselves that they could follow it with relative ease.  Today we walked part of the ex river Turia to the City of Arts and Science which has many buildings by the famous architect Calatrava, who is from Valencia.  Part of the city houses Europe's largest aquarium.

Night tour

Last night we met at Torres de Serranos for a night tour of the city.  We walked as if we were in medieval Valencia and actors popped out in character to tell us about the city.  After the great tour, we stopped for a midnight dinner at Galeria, a very fun,hip bocadillo joint.

Mercado Central

We took the boys to the central market which is the most impressive market in Spain, probably of all Europe.  They will get a tour in a few days from one of Valencia's best chefs but today it served as a place to learn new food vocabulary.  The images are downloaded from the internet so you can see what kind of market it is.