Spain Tech- Valencia- by Gabby

Valencia

We started our trip to Valencia with a walk around the city. Because the city is made up of two major parts, the old part and the new part, we split into two groups. One toured the old part and another toured the more modern part. We paid close attention to the landmarks, zone lines, and other notable features on our walk.

The next day, we went on another walk, but this time, in teams of 3. One person was blindfolded, one was the leader, and another person was the photographer. We took the blindfolded through a (less busy) part of the city and anytime they heard an interesting sound, or smelled something different, the photographer stopped and took a picture. This exercise really taught us to use our senses and to look at Valencia through a different perspective.

We went on yet another walk the next day, but this time we walked through the park the runs through Valencia. Mario, one of our leader from CivicWise, guided us through the park making a few stops along the way. At each stop, we talked about a color, a specific place, a smell, a feeling that you get from your surroundings. We learned to look at a city in a different, more emotional way.  By connecting the feelings of our surroundings, to those of familiar places that we know, we can feel more connected and more at home in this new city.
We went on a guided tour of Valencia, where we learned about the cities oldest buildings, their culture and other remains from medieval Spain. We were all in awe of the giant churches and palaces and remnants of medieval life were still present in the city.
We then traveled to the Oceanográphic Valencia, to look at all the beautiful aquatic life in one one Europe’s largest aquariums. Then some of us went to the beach to soak up some summer sun.
Next, we had a bike workshop with Aula de la Bici, where we encouraged people to use their bikes, learned a little about how the bike paths work in Valencia, and went on a bike ride of our own through the city.