Bahl-ehn-thee-ah

Hola muchachos/as!

The last weekend, we took a break from the intense exams period in which we are deeply immersed. Orjola took advantage of the scorching sun of the late start of this summer for the first swim in the sea of Rimini. Dimitri, on the other side, escaped to Spain to celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of one of his best friends Matteo. In this post we want to share with you some photos and experiences of Dimitri's weekend in the beautiful city of Valencia. Third-largest city after Madrid and Barcelona, Valencia (pronounced bahl-ehn-thee-ah by the locals) is a wonderful interweaving between different cultures: Romans, Visigoths, Arabs and Aragonese have created a concentration of Mediterranean culture that is unique in Europe and gives a great charm to every little element. This framework is made even more impressive by the extreme modernity introduced by the end of the Franco regime, especially with the futuristic projects of Santiago Calatrava.

Arriving
The only way to fly directly from Milan to Valencia is with Ryanair from Orio al Serio airport. Prices tend, however, to be very low (on average 80 euro per person) except during the high season (June, July, August). You could alternatively fly with Vueling with a stopover in Barcelona but the price difference does not compensate the inconvenience of this choice.

Accommodation
There are many alternatives for all kinds of travelers, but according to the occasion we opted for a superior category hotel. We were undecided between Las arenas balneario resort and the Westin, both in the same price range (around 200 euro per person per night), but different in concept. The first one is a resort next to the runway of formula 1 as well as in the beginning of one of the most popular beaches of the city "Las arenas". The second is immediately outside the historical center and is created mostly for people who want to visit the city. Of course, because of the limited time available and the prevailing desire to have fun rather than sunbathe by the sea we chose the Westin. To be totally honest we were very influenced by the presence of the private jacuzzi on the terrace of the room.

Activities
In the first evening we wanted to try a variant of the Italian aperitivo so we had a tapas tour (25 Euros per person for 2.5 hours). Even though the tour guide Suzie, was very nice, I think that this experience can be easily done on your own. This was because the places chosen by Suzie were mainly touristic and did not allow you to have a truly Spanish experience. The streets in the area of "el pla remei" are excellent for this kind of experience.

The activity that we liked most and we highly recommend, was the segway tour. Although at the beginning we realized that it was more difficult than we thought, after the first 10 minutes of testing everything became easier. It's a great, quick and quite cheap way to see the city: 55 Euros per person for two hours between the historical center and the city of science and arts.

If you want to go out in the evening to have a drink and then have dinner, a good alternative is the waterfront Las Arenas full of small bars and very nice restaurants. We stopped for dinner at the "Gabbana Beach," which convinced us from the Italian manager. Despite the mediocre reviews on TripAdvisor (on our opinion because of the higher cost compared to the average of the restaurants in the area 60 euros per person) we had a very good time: the lobster paella was really fantastic!

We are back to our exams...so wish us good luck & pray for us!

Have a nice weekend,

Jola & Dimitri