Each month in Home from Home we ask someone to compare Dublin with another city in which they have lived. Sometimes they are Irish who have lived (or are still living) abroad, sometimes they are expatriates in Dublin. Spain’s third city gets its name from the Latin for “strength”, so it makes sense that we’ve exported one of our most vigorous young lads, Adam Keogh, to teach them to know their coddle from their paella.
What brought you to Valencia?
Well I’d known I was going to go to Spain for a while, because I had always wanted to live abroad for a time and learn a new language. I chose Valencia for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that I found a job teaching English there through a connection. Other reasons I chose it were the beach, the weather, and the low cost of living in comparison to the big cities like Barcelona or Madrid. All very practical really.
In what ways is Valencia more class than Dublin?
The weather, obviously. It barely ever rains, and so far has been comfortably warm bar a few weeks in December when i had to wear a scarf. Other class things are the amazing architecture, the bars (the clubs are overall a bit shit), the beach, and Las Fallas (an absolutely mental three-week-long fiesta in march with non-stop fireworks and paella in the streets). The best thing, I suppose, is that so much more happens out of doors, in the streets and parks, cooking and dancing and drinking. There’s an emphasis on food and dance and music, and it’s not so much just about getting locked very quickly. Although they do that too.
In what ways is Valencia more grim than Dublin?
I suppose part of the grimness stems from just being a foreigner without a complete command of the language, and struggling to get to know the people. I’ve been lucky that some of my adult students have taken me under their wing and shown me the nooks and crannies of the city, inviting me to some smaller fiestas and shows I never would’ve known about. But for a long time it felt to me like Valencia didn’t seem to have the same cultural autonomy as Dublin (or other places in Spain, like Barcelona just up the coast, whose identity as a city all of its own is so immediately apparent), and it was very difficult to break into local circles and find out about gigs or exhibitions or events. Valencia, like Dublin, is a relatively small city, and as a result I think it facilitates tighter knit groups of friends, perhaps a little less willing to include the flying visitor with broken Spanish only stopping for a year or two. That said, the smallness is also an advantage, making it very easy to navigate and feel comfortable.
One genuinely grim thing is that because it’s a cheap beach city, you get a lot of lager louts and stag/hen parties in the summer causing hassle and giving English speakers a bad name. But I suppose that just goes with the territory.
What’s the chillest way to spend a day in Valencia?
The beach is very nice and well kept and has beautiful warm water, but considering my skin is like tracing paper I tend to avoid it during peak times. My favourite place in Valencia is the Turia riverbed. There used to be a river running through the middle of the city but due to flooding they diverted it and turned the whole thing into a giant park. It’s a great place to just go and chill out or have a picnic or a kickabout, and there’s always stuff going on, like African drumming sessions or wine festivals. It runs the whole length of the city, so it’s like a giant man-made artery with trees and grass and loads of amenities that you can just pop in and out of as you please. Also there’s a giant plastic model of Gulliver with slides and ropes and ladders that you can climb on and pretend you’re a lilliputian. That’s probably one of the classest things I’ve ever seen in my life actually.
Words: Daniel Gray
