Valencia

We were invited to give a presentation of the ESM at the Congress for the New Evangelisation in Valencia. The Congress was organised by the Bishops Conference of Spain, specifically for the youth apostolate.

We arrived on Thursday morning. While we were waiting at the airport for someone to collect us, we met up with a group of Italian girls who were also coming for the Congress. They recognised us from a WYD meeting in Rome earlier in the year. After waiting at the airport for a long time, we decided to catch public transport into the city...we were staying at the same place.

 Kev and the girls from the Jeunesse Lumiere Community

Kev and I, and many of the participants for the Congress were staying at the youth hostel. This brought back memories....noise, noise, noise...all night. But it was fun. At least we had our own room!

We met up with Miguel. He is a Spanish guy who did the ESM some years ago. After registering for the Congress, we planned to go over the presentation together but ended up having beer and tapas instead. Then we headed off to the opening of the Congress. It finished quite late so we decided to call it a night.

We gave our presentation the next day. We think it went quite well. (We have already received an email from one of the participants, wanting to apply for the School next year). It was a relief to have it finished because then we could just enjoy the rest of the events. It was fun hanging out with Miguel because, well, he is mad.

 Hele, Kev and Miguel in Valencia

We just love Valencia. It is really pretty. We loved wandering around the shops and eating and drinking...in moderation, or course.

 Piazza, Cathedral, and Basilica

Lots of fancy buildings

We really got into the tapas (various appetisers). Most nights we went to a tapas bar and tried out lots of different yummy stuff. They had cute little mini hamburgers.

Wine and tapas

We went to a restaurant for lunch on the last day. It was a 15 euro menu and it was superb  We had a delicious homemade ravioli for the first course. It was the best that I have ever had. Then I had stuffed capsicum for my main. The presentation was delightful and it tasted great. Kev had a slab of steak. It was a very exciting experience. We had wine, coffee and dessert. What a bargain!

 Yummy yummy yummy

It was a pretty busy five days but we really enjoyed it. We had to leave the hostel at 5:30am on Monday morning to get our flight back to Rome. We are starting to feel quite old and tired these days.