In January, Friends and Former Students will hold, together with Valencia Club de Cocina, the course Platos de cuchara (stews), on Tuesday 14 from 17:00 to 19:30, at the headquarters of the Club (San Felipe Neri, 6-B). The activity is funded by Friends and Former Students of the University of Valencia.

"Friends and Former Students wants to bring back the most traditional flavours. In most Spanish regions there are a large number delicious stews consisting of excellent legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils) that marinate alongside vegetables, meat or fish, resulting in exquisite dishes that have claimed their place in popular Spanish cuisine over the centuries", explained the organising group.

In the course, participants will learn how to cook or improve typical stews, so popular in cold winter days, such as the Valencian stew, the chickpea stew, the soybean stew with vegetables and the fabada asturiana (bean stew).

Registration includes a practical cooking class, with a list of recipes and the utensils needed for proper learning, and a dinner to taste the dishes prepared.

Moreover, Friends and Former Students of the University of Valencia, with the collaboration of Club de Viatges Fil-per-Randa, has organised three trips as part of the series Valencia, por dentro y por fuera (Valencia, inside and out), to take place in January. On 22 we will visit the Micalet Tower on the occasion of the festival held in honour of San Vicente. On 26, we will take a walk through the extension of Ruzafa, founded by Muslim ruler Abd Allah al-Balansi. On the same day, we will remember the figure of Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla with a tour of the places where he spent his training years and where he began his artistic career.

On the other hand, Friends and Former Students will dedicate a day to the Ruta de los Pueblos to learn about Valencian castles. On 25 January we will go to Marina Alta to visit the defence towers in the area, centuries-old constructions that extend along 400km of coastline. This activity is also funded.

The Mediterranean was one of the most difficult borders to defend, especially in the 16th century, when the presence of the Moors was perceived as a threat due to their possible alliances with the Barbary pirates in Africa. The towers were built to defend the coastline.