{"id":226,"date":"2010-11-08T11:11:35","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T16:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.wabash.edu\/studying-abroad\/?p=226"},"modified":"2010-11-08T11:11:35","modified_gmt":"2010-11-08T16:11:35","slug":"holygrail-valencia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/2010\/11\/08\/holygrail-valencia\/","title":{"rendered":"Wabash Student discovers Holy Grail, Valencia"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week has somewhat trying. Malaga was rainy and surrounded by excessive train delays, schoolwork was difficult and abundant, and a bizarre run-in with a door has left my right middle finger virtually useless for the next several weeks.<\/p>\n

So when the weekend finally came, I was more than ready to explore. I\u2019ve certainly gotten to know the city of Valencia, and figured I\u2019d take the time to share some of my knowledge with you now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A futuristic world where art and science collide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The postcard perfect Cuidad de Artes y Ciencias<\/a> is just as amazing as it looks in the above picture. The surrounding parks make for a great jogging area, or just one of many places to watch the sun set. Reviews for the aquarium inside have been mixed, but the architecture is definitely work a quick walk past.<\/p>\n

The Cuidad is at the end of the \u201cGardens of Turia<\/a>.\u201d Until a catastrophic flood in the 50s, Valencia had a large river flowing through its center. This river was redirected around the city, and the riverbed was filled with gardens, soccer fields, and fountains. For someone who enjoys a good walk through a bustling city, there could literally not be a better scenario.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
La Plaza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the jewel of Valencia is la Plaza de Ayuntamiento\u2014or the City Hall Square. A central fountain makes the perfect meeting place; the best restaurants, stores, and nightclubs are all a short walk away from the Plaza.<\/p>\n

Perhaps my personal favorite daytime attraction of the city is the Santa Iglesia Catedral. It\u2019s here that I spent the majority of Saturday\u2014exploring the various chapels and Catholic relics and climbing the 207 steps to the top of the Micalet Tower for an unsurpassed view of the city. But most impressive, of course, was the Holy Grail.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Holy Grail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yep, this weekend, I found the Holy Grail. No big deal. It\u2019s a small alabaster cup with several (slightly gaudy) additions since the Last Supper. Turns out that the Holy Grail has been in Valencia since about 1,400 years after Christ\u2019s death. The only other contender for the title is housed in Antioch, and is much more likely a lamp or \u201ccommunal wine tank.\u201d Regardless, it\u2019s a fairly awe-inspiring, especially considering my affinity for Indiana Jones.<\/p>\n

While my tour Saturday ended with the cathedral, Valencia\u2019s tourist sights keep going through the Barrio Carmen, the older district of the city that\u2019s home to all Valencian subcultures come nightfall.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the Plaza de la Virgen, which is home to the Tribunal de las Aguas, a Valencian court that\u2019s been meeting for the past 1,000 years to resolve irrigation disputes. I\u2019ve heard its a fascinating experience, but I have yet to attend due to classes. Speaking of classes, homework is waiting\u2026<\/p>\n

The upcoming week, while hardly Monon Bell week, looks to be an interesting one for me. Tonight, I\u2019m meeting with a local Spanish student for some language practice, tomorrow with my lawyer internship and then a local Baptist to see about a Bible study. Thursday evening I take off for Seville where I\u2019ll spend the weekend exploring yet another lovely Spanish city. Any gaps will be filled with a pleasant mixture of food, siestas, and homework.<\/p>\n

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Loving la vida espa\u00f1ola on top El Micalet, despite windy conditions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have a glorious week and keep the bell safe!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week has somewhat trying. Malaga was rainy and surrounded by excessive train delays, schoolwork was difficult and abundant, and a bizarre run-in with a door has left my right middle finger virtually useless for the next several weeks.<\/p>\n

So when the weekend finally came, I was more than ready to explore…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-study-abroad"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2010\/11\/7Tower.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}