A good opportunity for me to get to know some people, so I decided to join. My class finished at 6pm so I decided to do my homework in the 2 hours that I had to wait at a cafeteria on a terrace near the school.

We were quite a large group divided over 2 tables in the bar and of course we were speaking Spanish, or at least making an attempt to…
It did actually go a lot better after a few beers, but isn’t that always the case?

After a few hours we went on for dinner, which was nice enough, just not really organized, which resulted in a big mess once the bill arrived.

Then we went to watch the fireworks that started at midnight to celebrate Valencia Day. October 9 is the Provincial Day.

[from Wikipedia:] In 1238, King James I of Aragon the Conqueror, with an army composed of French, English, Germans, and Italians, laid siege to Valencia, and on 28 September in that same year forced a surrender. 50,000 Moors were forced to leave. Poets like Ibn al-Abbar and Ibn Amira mourned their exile from their beloved Valencia. On 9 October King James, followed by his retinue and army, took possession. The principal mosque was purified, Mass was celebrated, and the “Te Deum” sung. James incorporated city and territory into the new formed Kingdom of Valencia, one of the kingdoms forming the Crown of Aragon.

We were not in time anymore to be able to watch the fireworks near the Turia, where the view was said to be the best, but I think it was nice that we watched in the city center; it gave a very nice contrast!

[singlepic=95,320,240,,center]

After that the group feel apart and I left with 2 co-students to see a live blues band in some street I am not sure if I’ll ever find again. It was a great performance and we stayed until after the performance and talked with the band after.

In the meantime it had started to pour down, but we decided to push on for more bars, so in the rain we walked until we found some kind of club. After a few more drinks it was time to head home, rain had stopped and I had 15-20 mins of walking to clear my head.

Just came back from a weekend in Shanghai.

Why Shanghai? It’s not that great a city after all

Well, Shanghai happened to have its first ever open-air music festival during the October Holiday (on Oct. 5) and the closing act was of none other than Faithless!!!

They also performed in Beijing, but indoors, so I chose to fly down to Shanghai to see them there and it was…..PERFECT!!!

The last time I saw them was on a festival in Amsterdam in May 1998, the year I came to China, so for me it was a bit more special.

The vibe on the festival was fantastic! Positive spirit all around, lots of energy that you almost could see and definitely feel! Very difficult to describe such an experience!

Sorry no pics, I was too busy dancing