Sun! Sea! Sand! &…..School!

Ok, so imagine attending a school in the heart of a beautiful historic city… that’s also home to ‘space age’ architectural design…and two magnificent beaches. It almost seems too good to be true, but hear it from me – in Valencia you have the best of everything!

I think that being a student in Valencia is perfect, as there is a really young feel to this city – full of life, laughter and at present the pride and thrills of being host to the 32nd Americas Cup.

I also think that studying in Valencia would appeal to anybody and everybody, as Valencia seems to break all the rules as it manages to perfectly cater to a whole range of different tastes.

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My time in Marvellous Madrid!!!

Honestly? Okay, as a dedicated Heat magazine  reader, my immediate thought when I planned my course in Madrid was… I wonder if I’ll bump into Posh  and Becks. I never did get to meet them, but fortunately I did find that there is sooo much more to Madrid than shopping (Posh) and football (Becks)!

If you love art you will go crazy in the Prado. If you are a foodie you will be in manchego and jamon paradise. If you love history you can trek museums ’til you drop. But for me, one of my biggest raves is the nightlife – absolutely incredible. With the largest number of bars per capita of any European city, it has to be among the best in the world! In fact, I found that one of the biggest problems with going out in Madrid was deciding where to start! Fortunately, I got on wonderfully with the other students that I shared my apartment with, one of whom had already been in Madrid 3 months and had managed to put together a shortlist of the most fabulous places in Madrid!

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Surfing in Hawaii? No! Go to Lanzarote!!

Have you ever surfed the Canarian Pipeline? Do you want to learn Spanish and surf in one of the most beautiful places in Spain? Well, you should come to Lanzarote then!

Being from the Canary Islands and loving surfing as I do, I have visited Lanzarote many times, and from my personal experience, I can assure you that you will have one of the best surfing sessions of your life if you visit this amazing island. You can’t know what surfing really means until you surf these epic waves!

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Why you MUST go to Granada!

I admit it. It was peer pressure pure and simple which initially made me go to Granada.

I have been fortunate enough to visit most of the main cities in Spain and have enjoyed my time in every one of them.

However, Spain was not somewhere  I would normally have considered going to on holiday (as a French speaker, I usually prefer to go where I can put my language skills into practice!).

All this changed when I realised how many of my friends, neighbours and colleagues had visited Granada and how every one of them had been blown away by the stunning beauty of the city!

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Study Spanish in Santiago de Compostela – a gem of a city!

I’ll be honest, I knew NOTHING about Santiago de Compostela before I arrived. A pretty poor show on my part, I know, but my university suggested the location, the dates, put us in touch with the company who arranged my Spanish course… I just went with the flow, paid my money and turned up at the airport on time!

And I’m so glad they chose Santiago de Compostela – it really is a little gem of a city! It is so unspoilt, small enough that you can walk pretty much everywhere, not to mention the fact that it is downright beautiful. The old town is incredible; I’ve been all over Spain and never seen anything like it. The stone cobbled streets are smooth and shiny like glass, from so many centuries worth of people walking those streets, (but watch out, those smooth cobbles get very slippery when it rains!). The buildings are breathtaking, everything is so well preserved, you really can imagine that this is exactly how the city looked 600 years ago… I felt like I was exploring an amazing movie set! And the great thing about Santiago is that the old town is still a thriving, active part of the city, not just ‘a bunch of historic buildings’, which let’s face it, are great to look at but sometimes a bit soulless.

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Why my year studying Spanish in Granada was unbeatable!

The first line of the Granada chapter of my Rough Guide to Spain reads, “if there is only one place you visit in Spain, make it Granada”. And my Rough Guide, as usual, was spot on!

I had the time of my life in Granada! There is so much that I loved about the city it is difficult to know where to begin. Everywhere you look there is some amazing sight or another. From the beautiful Alhambra Palace, to the snow-capped mountains, lively fiestas, flamenco dancers and the caves at Sacromonte, Granada has everything you could dream of. And don’t forget, Granada has a fantastic social scene, and the biggest and best tapas in the whole of Spain!

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“If you spot the frog in Salamanca…”

‘When you get to Salamanca, don’t forget to visit the university and look for the frog’, said my friend. This was how I ended up standing in front of the beautiful university façade for 30 minutes…looking for the Frog! In the end I found it, but it was not easy! I don’t want to give it all away and tell you where is it located – that’s something that you HAVE to do for yourself when you visit this amazing golden city!

I spent a wonderful week in Salamanca  studying Spanish in a fabulous school! I chose Salamanca because a friend of mine had been there for his Erasmus year and he was so incredibly enthusiastic about the city. My first view of Salamanca was from the coach. We drove out of a grey cloud and Salamanca was there, shining gold (resplendendo de oro) and with sun rays falling across the old houses!!!

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Get romantic in Seville!

I believe that the closest to the most “Spanish” experience you can get is to spend a lengthy period of time in Seville, the heart of Andalucía.  I went to this gorgeous city to study a language course, and I ended up staying there for almost a year because I fell in love with the place.

I had the chance to find a place to stay in the historic quarter of Santa Cruz, right next to the famous cathedral La Giralda in the city centre. It certainly gave a special romantic feeling passing by this enormous amazing building while hearing the sound of the cathedral bells and the clippety-clops of the horse hooves on the stone every morning. The calm River Gualadquivir runs slowly through the city, and you usually can find young people sitting in the grass, playing the guitar and looking at the view. On the other side of the river you find the Triana quarter where there are charming narrow streets filled with traditional ceramic factories and typical Andalucian tapas bars.

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Where to go surfing in Tenerife!

I’ve lived in Tenerife all my life. Tenerife has some world famous beaches.

However, listen closely as I’m going to tell you about other beaches…you know…the ones you may not be so familiar with! These are the beaches on the north of the island – they’re very different to the beaches in the south, which are busy with tourists.

Yes, I am going to tell you about the beaches with real black sand, the ones that are off the beaten track, and are much more worth a visit, especially if you like surfing!

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My fortnight of fun in Nerja, on Spain’s Costa del Sol!

I had the chance to take a Spanish course in Nerja, a beautiful Andalusian coastal town in southern Spain. Actually, I didn’t even know that this town existed until some friends of mine were in Nerja some months before.

Located just one hour from Malaga, Nerja combines all the best characteristics for a person who wants to learn Spanish or just see Spain. The school is very nice, the teachers and staff at the school are friendly and approachable and helpful…and all of this, whilst enjoying Nerja’s secluded beaches, friendly people and continuous sunshine!

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