Gandia

On  8. April we said goodbye to our families and started to travel. From Rožňava to Budapest we went by car and from Budapest we flew by plane to Alicante. Our journey continued to Gandia. When the bus arrived there were a lot of people. Our "new families". They took us home and gave us a dinner. We were very tired and it was about 10 PM. So we went to our new beds.

   On the second day we met each other at school Abad Sola. The headmaster showed us the whole building. It's different like in Slovakia. The school is visited by pupils from 3 to 16. After we moved to the historical centre of Gandia. There are situated the most of Gandia's historical buildings. We could see for example the Town hall, Ducal Palace or Archaeological Museum of Gandia. In the afternoon we travelled to the beach to see the port and sea food market.

  The next day was special for us. We were welcomed by the mayor of Gandia. We could take a view of the Town hall and we listened to the speech of the mayor. After we took  photos and got  presents. The following day those photos were in Gandia's newspaper. The second part of they we spent in the Ducal Palace. In the past it served like a royal family residence and power centre.

   On 11. April we had really good weather so we packed the towels, sun creams and some food and set out to the beach. We were there for the whole day. The water wasn't very warm but for us it wasn't a problem. We were sunbathing, trying the sea, playing voleyball or cards. The beach is long 3km and it's devided to three parts. One for young people and sport, the second for children with attractions and one for recreation.

   On  Friday we traveled to Valencia. It's city near Gandia (about one hour of travel by car). There we visited the marketplace, churches or temple. In the afternoon we were on boats. It was really interesting  and for lot of us a new experience. 

   Next week on Monday we returned to Valencia. Our plan was to visit the oceanographic. A lot of type of fish swam around us. We could see a dolphin show also. There was a part with birds which live close to seas, lakes or rivers. We had lunch and went to the area of the Scientific museum. The building is white, modern and symetrical. In front of it is a basin full of water and an exhibition of new cars. Some tourists used  bicycles to move from one place to another. 

   16. April was one of most difficult days. At first we visited the ruins of the castle Almansa. After we continued with Xativa. On one hand the castle is huge and it's difficult to get there but on the other hand the view of this castle is gorgeous!

  On  17. April we traveled by bus to towns Javea and Altea. We enjoyed the view  in both of them. In Altea everywhere are narrow streets and the houses are white. Artists sitting on stairs were painting different perspectives. Right there happened something special. One of Slovak students got lost. Fortunately there were policemen and they helped her to find our bus. 

   The Thursday we spent at school. We presented our country, region, town and also our school to Spanish friends. We showed them our national food the most famous castles or caves. In Abad Sola they have a special wall where students of the last years paint a picture on it. We had the honor to paint there, too. We chose to draw the characters of Slovak fairy tale Kubko and Maťko.

   Friday was very similar. In the evening the school and parents prepared a goodbye party. Parents prepared snacks and cakes to eat. During the party we were watching a presentation with our photos and we realized that our trip is at the end. Our teacher and the teachers from Abad Sola had a speech about the project and our experiences in Spain. We got a present and certificate and gave a plant to "our mothers". We took a lot of photos and everybody was huging each other. At the weekend we had a separate program, which was organized by families. 

   Monday was our last day in Gandia so we went to the shopping centre to waste the rest of our  money. After the farewell with our new families we travelled home.