Monday was our first full day in Valencia and it began with an early start. The host families accompanied the students to the language academy on the first day, showing them the way. As it was the first day of Spanish classes, the students had to be up extra early so they could sit an introductory exam that would split them into classes matching their levels of Spanish.
The classes began at 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. At 1 pm, myself and Alba from CSS Valencia did an induction with the guys, giving them a chance to read over their timetables for the next three weeks. They were also given maps of the city where they could locate their homes and the academy location so it was easier for them to know the way around.
After lunch the first day’s activities began with a tour of the city led by Alba. We took the bus to the centre with our new travel cards. We went to El Miguelete, the medieval belltower attached to Valencia cathedral, which is over 70m high. We went up the steps the whole way to the top where we were greeted with a view of the entire city of Valencia. We headed back down and Daniel pointed out that it was almost harder going down because it was so steep. Once back down the 70m, we went to a famous Ice-cream shop in Valencia called ‘Gelateria llinares‘, which is known for some of its crazy flavours like the Spanish tortilla flavour which nobody dared to try. Aoibhín was the bravest and went for the Red Bull flavour, which she confirmed was very tasty.
By this time everyone was exhausted after a day in the sun and we were all happy to head back to our host families. Once everyone arrived home they enjoyed their first proper Spanish evening with the host families.
Day 1-Valencia Here We Come