University
Residence
"Colegi Mayor Rector Peset" & Botanical Garden
University of Valencia (Spain),
September 24 - 27, 2007
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University
Residence University of Valencia (Spain), September 24 - 27, 2007 |
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General Information.
The province of Valencia is the largest of the three which go to make up the Valencian community. It is situated in the centre of the Spanish Mediterranean coastline. It overlooks the spacious Gulf of Valencia and is skirted at the back by a group of medium-high mountains and rolling plains leading to the lands of Aragon and Castile-La Mancha. It is opposite the Balearic islands and equidistant from the country's two major decision-taking centers: Madrid and Barcelona. Valencia is identified with the Mediterranean Sea because the culture deriving from the old Mare Nostrum is manifest in its patterns of social behavior.
Location
of Valencia in the East of Spain. Click on image for a Google map.
It is the administrative capital of the Valencian community and the centre of the region of L'Horta. It is the most densely populated town in the Valencian community as it is encircled by a wide belt of medium-sized municipal districts which form an unbroken built-up area with an average density of 1,600 inhabitants per square kilometer. Sightseeing around the city begins in the old quarter. Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was defended by a wall, the inner route of the number five bus. Still standing as proof are the graceful Serranos Towers, the spacious Quart Towers and some remains of the apron wall in the basement of the Valencia institute of Modern Arts. The most outstanding artistic heritage is to be found in the districts of Seu and Xerea, where the marks left by the Romans lie hidden beneath Arab ruins and modern churches and palaces.
The Market district took shape around the commercial life of the city's inhabitants. Accordingly, its two most emblematic buildings are used for trading purposes. The Gothic building of La Lonja, declared by UNESCO as a heritage of humanity, features a beautiful columned room where the old tables on which trading transactions were finalised are still in use today. Outside the destroyed wall grew the Valencia of the bourgeoisie, with its wide pavements, broad landscaped thoroughfares and countless instances of modernist architecture. On the other side of the Turia's old riverbed lie the nursery gardens, along with the Fine Arts Museum and the ultramodern part of the city which, on account of its size, serves as a nexus between the coastal townships and the old quarter. The futuristic face of the city is mirrored on the old riverbed through the Gulliver Children's park and the leisure and culture complex., Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciencies. Life in the city spreads down to the seafront with the harbor are and the beaches of Las Arenas and La Malvarrosa.
Temperatures
The region of Valencia has a mainly Mediterranean climate: warm and dry summers, and mild winters. The rainy season is mainly in spring and in autumn. There are often torrential rainfalls. Inland in the higher reaches of the region the rainfall may turn to snow. The temperatures are pleasant all year round, with an average that does not fall below 15ºC, with the exception of the mountain areas, where temperatures can fall below freezing.
Here we have the average temperatures in each month in Valencia capital:Valencia Museums
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IVAM (Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno): It includes the Julio González Centre, opened in 1989, and the Sala de la Muralla (Wall Room), in the basement of the front building, with remains of the city's old medieval fort, inaugurated in 1991. The IVAM is attached to the Department of Culture and Education of the Autonomous Government of Valencia. |
La Beneficencia Cultural
Centre:
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Municipal museums:
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Botanical Gardens: |
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Monforte Gardens: |
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Jardines del Real (Royal Gardens):
This park's great history (of Arabic origin), its size, is gardening wealth and
the profusion of sculptures and fountains, which highlight the surroundings,
make these the city's most outstanding gardens.
How to get there:
San Pío V, s/n.
Tel. 96/352 54 78, Ext. 4303. 46010 Valencia.
Jardines del Viejo Cauce del Turia (Gardens of the Old Course of the River
Turia):
After the floods of 1957, the course of the river Turia was artificially
diverted south of the city. The old river bed therefore dried up and was turned
into a series of differently-designed gardens and a new focal point for the city
at the same time. Gulliver's children's park and the gardens opposite the
Palacio de la Música are of special interest.
In ceramics, the shopper will find a wide range of qualities and sizes, with Manises as the undisputed traditional centre of production. Tavernes Blanques is the home of porcelanas Lladró, a firma which exports all over the world. To earthenware and pottery must be added the craft of vegetable fibre applied to furniture and household equipment, as seen in the towns of Vallada, Montesa, Navarrés and L´Olleria. This last town, together with Llosa de Ranes, also supplies a full catalogue of handmade glassware. Craftwork in wood, which led to the thriving furniture industry, is to be found in Alboraya, Xirivella and Torrent, while Sagunto is the place for handicrafts in cork. Connected in a way to this raw material, the towns of Aldaida, Alacuas, Godella and Valencia show fine craftsmanship in fan making, going from the simplest to the mos sophisticated models, made with mother of pearl and patient by hand. If the shopper is on the lookout for foodstuffs, he will find a wide variety of sausages, confectionery a bakery product at the bake houses and cake shops, not to mention rice and citrus fruits and other fruits which are more usual in the inland area. The visitor should also taste the delicious red and white wines.
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The Valencian paella, made with rice, chicken, rabbit and greens, is the typical dish in Valencian gastronomy. Each village has its own variations and preferences because rice mixes well with so many different ingredients. However, the most popular specialities are the meat paella (with chicken or rabbit), the seafood paella and the mixed one. Among fishermen, a dish known as arroz banda evolved, so called because the rice and the fish are cooked separately, for the flavour to be taken in, and it is served with garlic and oil (all I olí).Rice done in the oven in an earthenware dish is also extremely popular among Valencian families, together with rice and beet, cuttlefish, cauliflower and spinach, among other ingredients. In the region of La Safor, a dish known as flideau is made. This is similar to rice with seafood, but noodles are used instead of rice. In some inland regions, the main dish is gazpacho (a cold soup of bread, tomatoes, garlic, salt, vinager and oil), served in the form of a shepherd´s pie - made of wheat flour and cooked over a fire. This dish is found in the regions of Requena-Utiel, Valle de Ayora, Canal de Navarrés, La Costera and Los Serranos. In Los Serranos, the visitor might also like to try what is known as the olla churra, made from pieces of pork and black pudding, and gachas (a form of porridge), so as to have a taste of the region´s plentiful meat. Speaking of meat, it is custom to cook lamb chops over the fire, together with varieties of sausage such as longaniza (long and thin), black pudding and chorizo (spiced pork sausage).It is from the world of traditional home cooking that the custom of frying chicken and rabbit garnished with tomato sauce comes, as does the popular hervido (a dish of green beans cooked with potatoes and served with an oil and vinegar dressing), eaten as the evening meal.
Valencia is a land of tasty sweetmeats and bakery products. There is bread of all sizes and flavours, panquemados (toasted bread), Valencian doughnuts, turnovers, coconut cakes, anisette rolls, almond rosegons, egg-rings for Easter, Epiphany rings, and so on, all available at the many bake houses and confectioner's shops. As for drinks, a special mention must be made of orgeat (horchata), made from earth almonds, which is server as a cool refreshment, and natural orange juice mixed with cava (Catalonian wine similar to champagne) to make a drink known as agua de Valencia. Wine production is notable, as shown by the existence of 75,000 hectares of vineyards. The main cellars are to be found in Requena, Utiel, Llíria, Villar del Arzobispo and Tuéjar. Quality cava is also made in Requena.
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Rice of paella for 4 people
Ingredients
1 Cup Olive Oil
4 pieces of Chicken
4 pieces of Rabbit (if it is available)
¼ of Pound Shrimp
½ of Pound Mussels or Clamps
1 or 2 legs of Crab
½ of Pound White Fish (any kind)
1 can (small) Peas
1 can Lima Beans
1 can Italian Beans
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 small spoon Saffron
1 pound of Spanish rice, (if it is available or any kind)
1 lemon
Fresh Rosemary
Salt
Water
Put the Olive Oil in the paella pan and heat.
Fry the chicken and the rabbit and the tomato sauce at the same time, during
several minutes; the meat has to be well done. Add a little salt.
At the same time cut the whitefish in small pieces and when the meat is almost
ready, add the fish and fry it too.
When the meat and fish is well-done, add the vegetables and shrimp, move a
couple of times, and after 1minute, add water and saffron, (fill the paella pan
completely)
You have to boil everything with high fire during 20 – 30 minutes, is very
important that you taste how salty the water is. Then add crab legs and the
mussels and clamps.
After 20 or 30 minutes the paella is ready for the final touch, you need to add
the rice. There is a very special form to do it. You have to make a mountain
that is going to cross the paella pan, drawing a diameter. This special mountain
of rice has to be over the water one inch, with that technique you don’t have
a problem to know how much rice you need. After you have measure the rice like
this, move it with a spoon and split it into the whole paella.
Add water again, but in this case you put water until you reach the handles,
(very important don’t put more water than that).
Lower the fire and add in the middle of the paella the rosemary as you put a
nice garnish. The rice has to cook 20 minutes. Watch the water and the fire, the
rice has to cook 20 minutes but don’t burn it!!
Cut the lemon in 4 pieces and serve the rice with one-piece of lemon on the
dish, before you eat the rice squeeze the lemon, brings the flavor of
everything. Enjoy it!!
