teacherCanada

In March 2008 I'll be escorting a group of about 35 students aged 15 - 18 to France and Spain. We'll be in Valencia for the last few days of the Festival. Never been there ... never done that. This is a generally trustworthy group who will have a bit of freedom while in Valencia. I will need to offer some guidelines about behaviour. Any suggestions from those who have attended Fallas?

lincasanova

kind of funny being "called" out to!!

behaviour.. fireworks, drinking, the typical.

may i ask where you are staying?

i have a suggestion that perhaps will be a wonderful opportunity for all involved.

i have a good friend who has a language academy.

perhaps her students would like to "host" your students for a day of touring the city fallas. they could practice their english that way.

if you are interested, let me know and we will see how you can get together.

her institute also teaches spanish to foreigners. they are also sponsors of a fallas club and offer the neighborhood a nice huge paella every year during the festivities.

the days you are here, you will see the "ofrenda" the flower offering to the virgin.
canīt explain all this in detail, but it is very impressive.

there are fireworks every night at 1 a.m

so you can see it will be a long day that requires logical pacing.

up early.. see fallas. have some chocolate mid morning wiht buñuelos/churros.
meet for mascletá.1.30/1.45

.. lunch.. NAP. and get your second wind so you can stay up late for the fireworks.

you will need to reserve restaurants (if you plan to all sit down at once, or even a small group of 8). it is virtually impossible to do that together unless you plan it.

i have some suggestions for that, but i am not sure how much you want to pre- plan all this.

have fun!

teacherCanada

Thanks for the prompt response. At this time our accommodation is scheduled to be the Catalonia Excelsior.

We planned this trip (as we have done on our other trips) and then ask travel professionals to sort out the details and make arrangements for us. Our current itinerary has us arriving in Barcelona from Carcassonne (with a 4 hour stop at the spa in Andorra) on Sunday March 16. We leave Barcelona for a coach ride to Valencia on Tuesday, March 18. We depart Valencia on Friday, March 21 for connections and our return to Canada.

We are not a specific class or band, just a group of students that want to travel and taste some of the flavour of Europe. In our group of 35, only 11 are female. This is a marked difference from previous years when the majority of travellers were girls. The girls will be well protected this year. Our travel company has filled in some activities for us while in Valencia - but at this point everything is tentative. We do expect to travel with a company guide. His/her job will be to smooth the path for us and ensure things go well.

Restaurants will be arranged by the travel company. Your idea of meeting Spanish students sounds enchanting. I would like to explore the opportunity more. In March 2006, when we were in Switzerland, Schuler and I tried to arrange for my students to meet with some of hers - but our schedule did not allow it to happen

We were originally scheduled to leave Valencia on the morning of the 20th, but after a bit of research I realized we would be exhausted on that day. I asked to arrange a "rest" or "shopping" day for the 20th and depart on the 21st. They are working on it now. Since we plan so far in advance there is a good chance we will be able to make the changes.

By the way, it was interesting to note the similarity of our replies to the poster who asked about Bacharach vs. Rudeshiem a few days ago. We love the youth hostel in Bacharach. This is the first time in 3 European trips that we will not be staying there.

My home email is [email protected] and if you (or any other Fodorite) has suggestions or cautions for our trip I would love to hear from you.

lincasanova

it will be very important that you leave barcelona as early as possible.

i doubt your tour bus will be ablee to get into the centr of the city anywhere near your hotel as all peripheral roads are cut off. the last three days or so.

so, travelling light, should be no problem.

if you have anyone with a disability, this could be a problem.

this hotel is very well located, and if you are there before 2 pm you can hear the mascletá.

so, keep that in mind. otherwise, stop off at peñiscola, weather permitting, for a wonderful photo opportunity of where "el Cid" was filmed.

teacherCanada

Lincasanova - we are preparing to depart in 7 days on our wonderful journey to France and Spain. Our itinerary is much the same as I posted last March. We will be staying at the hotel Aqua 3 instead of the Catalonia Excelsior. Not my choice, but the C. E. could not guarantee us the rooms we needed for the four nights.

We will be travelling with a Spanish speaking guide, but I would love the chance to meet with you even briefly while we are in Valencia. You can reach me at [email protected] - I hope to hear from you.

lincasanova

i am so confused. i thought i answered this post earlier today.???

your kids will love the aqua location and mall below. there is also a bowling alley there.

it is practically across from the science center which is gorgeous lit up at ngiht.

it is not near a lot of the big fallas, but you will be taken in closer to town i imagine for that.

i assume your guide knows all about this, but if you are travelling by bus, there is NO REASON the bus driver canīt DRIVE you all to the biggest falla at NOU CAMPANAR. it is on maestro rodrigo. ( very edgeof town) You MUST see this one as soon as you arrive.

it, like all of them, is very very impressive at night.

this is one of the few areas cars can get real close and traffic is still not closed. it is not near the center at all and a bit of a complication to get to without a vehicle or knowing the bus well.

have fun. we will talk. ( i now remember i sent you an email!!).