Day 26 - Valencia

We had our second art class which helped prepare us for our visit to the Reina Sofia Museum this Sunday.  After lunch we met up again to have the famous Valencian drink- Horchata with Fartons, a sweet pastry.  We went to probably the most famous horchataria- Daniel.

Day 25 - Valencia

We rearranged the schedule so that we could be free to watch the Spain - Germany semifinal World Cup game.  During the day, however, we had our first art class to help us prepare for the museums in Madrid.  I have struggled to make a good contact for this class and decided this year to take a shot in the dark and ask at the Valencia museum of modern art (IVAM) for some help.  They gave me the numbers of some art guide companies.  I called one and tailored the class to the Prado one day and Reina Sofia the next.  Today's class was mediocre but I spoke with the teacher and hope that we can make some adjustments and improve the Reina Sofia class.

Day 24 - Valencia

Today we had a really nice piano class where the boys leaned about some great Spanish composers and heard some of their work played by a piano teacher one floor below our classrooms.  Ed Denault first found this woman when he heard her music flow into our classrooms and he recognized the composer.  Then we met after lunch to walk around the City of Arts and Science where there are many futuristic looking buildings. many of which built by Calatrava, who is from Valencia.  We then headed to a restaurant where we had a wine and cheese tasting and explanation of how important different artisanal cheeses are and how to "marry' them with both wine and "confit."

Days 22 - 23 - Valencia

Yesterday, we celebrated the 4th of July with a mall trip with laser tag, chinese buffet, and some bowling.  Tonight we had a night tour of medieval Valencia with actors popping out of doorways playing different roles from the 16th century.

Day 21 - Calpe

We met at the bullring to load onto a bus for a beach trip to Calpe, a town about 2 hours south of Valencia.   The pictures will show that the main event is actually a scary hike up a huge monolith.  Everyone dared to hike though one group went before lunch while the other group went after lunch.

Day 20 - Valencia

Today the boys had a very complete explanation from a very well known law professor from the University of Valencia about the structure of the Spanish government and how it came to be.

Days 18-19 - Valencia

The last couple of days have been a quick introduction to Valencia. We took a quick tour of the center of town and the fantastic Central Market. Last night we met up for a really good Italian meal and an interesting Spanish movie - La vida empieza hoy. It was a bit shocking for our students but less so than most Spanish movies. Today, after classes, we had a big seafood (razor clams and local mussels called clochinas) and paella meal right on the beach.