January 19th:
(Phew, only a month more and I'll be caught up)
Some of the perks of being in different classes in Valencia is that you get to go to different places for class instead of sitting in a classroom (sorry for all of you stuck in a classroom until may). Today we got to go to Sagunto with my culture and civilization class.
For those of you that don't know about Sagunto, it is a city where a Carthaginian named Hannibal- one of the greatest military commanders in history- attacked in 218 B.C. and started the Second Punic War. He Came across the Mediterranean sea with elephants and attacked the city riding on top of them. Know knowing that let me show you a few pictures from our trip.
The A- Team, getting a little bro-mance in the Roman Amphitheater. Which was recently restored and regularly hosts plays and concerts. Side note: the restoration is highly controversial in the city of Sagunto, the people didn't want it resorted because they damaged/ took away from the original look and the authenticness. Apparently the mayor just built it with out caring what other people thought. There is currently a petition to rip up all the new marble and get stones from the mountain and refurbish it to the way it would have looked when the Romans used it.
(Phew, only a month more and I'll be caught up)
Some of the perks of being in different classes in Valencia is that you get to go to different places for class instead of sitting in a classroom (sorry for all of you stuck in a classroom until may). Today we got to go to Sagunto with my culture and civilization class.
For those of you that don't know about Sagunto, it is a city where a Carthaginian named Hannibal- one of the greatest military commanders in history- attacked in 218 B.C. and started the Second Punic War. He Came across the Mediterranean sea with elephants and attacked the city riding on top of them. Know knowing that let me show you a few pictures from our trip.
The A- Team, getting a little bro-mance in the Roman Amphitheater. Which was recently restored and regularly hosts plays and concerts. Side note: the restoration is highly controversial in the city of Sagunto, the people didn't want it resorted because they damaged/ took away from the original look and the authenticness. Apparently the mayor just built it with out caring what other people thought. There is currently a petition to rip up all the new marble and get stones from the mountain and refurbish it to the way it would have looked when the Romans used it.
One of my really talented classmates, who recently talked to the guy who produce the new cold play album, sang us a song in the amphitheater. The acoustics are awesome, you don't need speakers.
Modern day Sagunto
Random Wall of the Castle
A view of the castle from the inside.
Next stop: Requena
On Friday morning we had a mandatory trip to Requena, again for our culture and civilization class. Requena is the wine country near spain; I know, I know my classes are boring and hard! When we got to Requena they showed us around the vineyard and then proceeded to tell us the correct way to go about drinking wine. 1) always hold the wine glass by the stem. 2) Slightly fill up the glass and hold it over your (white) napkin, to see it's color. 3) smell it. 4) swirl it around the glass a few times, this way you can see the "legs" of the wine as well as aerate it so it tastes better (weldon you were right, i'm coming back cultured).
They then took us down and showed us how they make the wine, told us some fun facts, and showed where they store it. Fun fact for Dad, remember how we couldn't figure out why the bottom of the wine bottle is indented? Well, it's so when they pressurize the bottle the glass bottle doesn't burst. Anyways here's some pictures:
It's the top vineyard. Apparently the best in the region.
Framer. We are about to try the Cava, which is Spanish sparkling wine.
Most of our program went; who doesn't want free wine that's the best in the region?
Us down in the cellar where they store the wine.
Some machine they use to make their famous liquor.
Classic.
Xátiva
While Everyone else went on a weekend "camping trip", that consisted of cabins somewhere and no tents. We decided to go to Xátiva, which is an old castle town, which is really cool. We got off the train at the bottom of the mountain and had to hike to the top of it where the castles were, naturally. But first we stopped and got lunch at this really good restaurant.
I'm pretty sure our waitress hated us because we all ordered different things and every time she would bring someone their plate someone else would envy it and order another one. I had a beer at first because I wasn't hungry. Then when she started bringing things out I ended up ordering a molten lava cake, a sandwich, and then bread covered in warm brie, bacon, and then covered with balsamic. We then hiked on our full stomachs.
On our hike up we found this:
Yes, that is a church that has been placed in the side of the mountain. We stopped and awed at it's beauty for a while and then proceeded up the mountain. Once we got to the top the photo shoot began. Every way you looked there was something you wanted a picture of or with. Here's a few:
At the end of the day we got back on the train and headed home. When we got back in Valencia we were greeted with the town in uproar. The government had cut spending on public schooling and Valencians were letting them know they weren't happy about it. So naturally Paul and I joined in for the hell of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment