Valencia

Valencia is the capital of the region Communidad Valencia which includes Castellón and Alicante to the north and south respectively. The city has around 750,000 inhabitants and is Spain's third city after Madrid and Barcelona. It is most famous for Paella, invented here, the Holy Grail and Las Fallas, the week long fiesta held in March which culminates in the burning of effigies of historical and political figures, and a mighty fireworks display.

I studied at Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, on the Erasmus student exchange programme. I lived in the city in a student residence for around ten months over 2002 and 2003, and also took the opportunity to see more of Spain and even fit in a trip to Morocco.

The Town Hall or Ajuntament (in Valenciano) which sits in the Plaça del Ajuntament is the civic centre for the city.

Banco de Valencia is just off the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and is a rather smart looking place, part of a larger national bank chain called Bancaja. It is a good example of the 1920s and 30s architecture prevalent in downtown Valencia.

Valencia is particularly noted for its football team, or rather its better one, who generally perform very well in Europe. We went to see Valencia CF versus FC Basilea from Switzerland who were soundly thrashed and sent packing 6-2. It was the wettest football match I've ever witnessed, you can just see how most people are sitting under the terrace to try and avoid the rain, whereas us lot with the cheap seats just had to sit there getting more and more mojado.

The Ceramics Museum is an old converted palace in the city centre, and is quite easily one of the most obsessively designed buildings I have seen. The museum inside takes a second stage.

The old Cathedral of Valencia and the Miguelete, the 70m tower which can be climbed, although not after a fat lunch. The views are excellent, the tower is much higher than it seems. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries and contains bells dating back to 1350. It gave me quite a shock when the large one visible at the top rang as I stood right next to it!

Silk trading was strong in Valencia in the past, so much so that the twisty columned Silk Exchange was built.

Torres de Serrano are part of the ancient city wall of Valencia, again from about 600 years ago, and recently refurbished. Not much remains of the original walls, but a similar gate, the Quart is nearby.

Santiago Calatrava, world famous architect who happens to be from Valencia, designed this bridge and metro station combined. (The station is underground but still in his style).

Lately there has been a lot of development in the reclaimed bed of the Río Túria, notably the new Science Centre, IMAX cinema, Oceanographic Park and Arts Palace. The building in the foreground is l'Hemisferíc housing the cinema, and in the background is the Prince Philip Science Museum, all designed by Santiago Calatrava.

The new science museum is a hands-on type place with lots of amusing things for nerds like me to do. They have one of those gyroscope chairs that spin you round all over the place, a set of cameras that will film you Matrix-style leaping in the air, and a working hot air balloon. Cool!

L'Hemisferic is a combined IMAX cinema, planetarium and laser light show type thing, it has been open for a few years now. Dance act Ian Van Dahl filmed one of their music videos here, "Try" and I predict that before long we will see some Hollywood blockbuster future action thriller using this as a set.

Another part of the same development is the Arts Palace across the road, which is still under construction (in case you couldn't quite tell from the picture!) They are using ship building techniques to clad the structure which once completed will be the most prestigious entertainment facility in the city.

Plaza de la Virgen is in the centre of the old part of Valencia, right behind the cathedral. The fountain in the middle represents the old man of the River Turia, and his seven daughters who bring irrigation to Valencia. In the background the alabaster windows of the cathedral can be seen on the tower.

Valencia is the host to one of Spain's most famous fiestas, "Las Fallas" part of which incorporates the detonation of hundreds of firecrackers in the town square, every day at 2pm for 19 days. It lasts ten minutes and includes rockets and confetti, with noise levels reaching in excess of 120 decibels. It's the kind of noise which literally shakes the ground and makes all your hair stand on end.

Las Fallas is based around the creation of many hundreds of "ninots" or fallas, wood, cardboard and papier mache models representing the failures and misgivings of today's society, notably political figures and forms of Spanish culture. This is just a part of the 2003 winner "Mother Nature", which is larger than a house. At the end of the fiesta all the Fallas across the city are torched in "La Quema".

I attend the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia which is one of two major Uni's in the city. Like my Uni at home it specialises in technical subjects. There are around 35000 students, and a great many services are offered in the main square seen here, a variey of cafes, shops, a barbers, banks and a shop that sells houseplants, should the need arise.

The term "Colegio Mayor" applies to a hall of residence, this one is mine. This is the main residence building, made to look nice with palm trees and all, but I live in a flat in a separate building which is owned by the Colegio.