Today we had classes as usual in the morning and in the afternoon we got to meet a new CSS Valencia activities officer whose name is also Gema! Gema brought us to the ‘Mestalla’ which is the name of the Valencia Football Club stadium. We had to wait a little while for the tour to start so we went for an ice-cream in a nearby cafeteria and then we had a browse around the official shop of the Valencia FC.
The tour was very interesting as we learned about how it acted as a refuge for the Valencian people when the River Turia flooded the city in the 1950s. As a result of this, the stadium was rebuilt even bigger and better but it still had some features which reflected its history. For example, there were old Spanish-country-style tiles at the entrance of the VIP area where the tour actually began. We got to see the pitch, sit on the substitutes chairs (which were very comfortable and looked like something you might find in a race car!), see the players’ changing room and the conference room where they speak to the media before and after a match! Personally I’m not a huge football fan but I must admit that I enjoyed feeling like a VIP getting to see behind the scenes!
After the football stadium, we walked to the Old River Turia park where Gema showed us a recreational area called ‘Gulliver’. This was one of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen and although none of us are young enough to ‘play’ at a playground, we all were were a little bit excited! ‘Gulliver’ is a sort of horizontal statue depicting Gulliver from the story ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. Built into this statue are loads of slides, steps and climbing ropes! It was so much fun and the slides were big enough to take three of us at once!
Day 15 – #FirstFarewell