The annual Ninot Exhibition opens this Saturday, 4 February and runs until 15 March.

For those of you who don’t know a lot about Fallas yet, ninots are figurines (often life-sized) which make up part of a falla. Every year, each of the clubs which build a falla puts one ninot into the exhibition where the public vote for their favourites.

Route 66 Idiomas language school students shouldn’t miss this opportunity to get a close-up look at over 750 ninots and vote for their favourite models. The winners of the public vote in the “mayor” and “infantil” sections will be declared “indultat” and saved from being burnt on 19 March (they are then kept in the Fallas Museum).

Tickets for the last 2 weeks of the exhibition and weekends usually sell out fast. So if you want to visit to exhibition, get down to Nuevo Centro shopping centre (metro stop: Turía) as soon as you can to avoid queues and disappointment.

For those of you who are new to Fallas, the pictures above should give you an idea of the calibre of previous winners of the prestigious honour that is being chosen as Ninot Indultat. For more information, check out fallas.com.

Indiana Jones™ and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibition

If any Route 66 Idiomas Language School students are looking for an escape from Christmas, the City of Arts and Sciences is offering an adventurous alternative.

On 22 December, the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum will open the Indiana Jones™ and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibition. This is the European premiere of the exhibition, which will be in Valencia until 16 September 2012.

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology will not only feature a vast and exclusive collection of Indy props, models, concept art and set designs (from the Lucasfilm Archives), it will also display a wealth of historical and cultural facts from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the National Geographic Society.

Information and tickets
Tickets are on sale here. Adult tickets are 15 euros and reduced admissions 11.55 euros.

To find out more about the exhibition, visit the official website (available in English, Spanish and French).

Lucasfilm, the Lucasfilm logo, Indiana JonesTM and all characters, names and all related indicia are trademarks of & copyright © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the three weekends from 23 September to 9 October, thirteen historic houses in the Valencian districts of Canyamelar, Cabanyal and Cap de Francia (by the city beach) open their doors to the public.

Route 66 Idiomas Language School students shouldn’t miss this opportunity to see inside a bit of the city’s history. Keep reading for opening dates and times, maps…

Jornadas de puertas abiertas 2011

La Plataforma Salvem el Cabanyal y la editorial Media Vaca nos invitan a visitar la XIII edición de Puertas Abiertas, que este año abre al público 13 casas típicas en los barrios del Canyamelar, Cabanyal y Cap de Francia.

Los visitantes tendrán la ocasión de conocer la exposición Bienvenidos al Cabanyal, que consiste en una colección de 99 historias, recuerdos y noticias ilustradas por 40 artistas gráficos a partir de testimonios de vecinos y vecinas que viven o han vivido en Cabanyal, así como fragmentos de obras literarias y escritos varios.

Programa:
Del 23 de septiembre al 9 de octubre de 2011
Puedes ver el programa completa y un mapa de las casas aquí.

Horario:
Sábados y domingos de 11.00-14.00 y de 17.00-21.00.

Inauguración:
Viernes 23 de septiembre a las 20 horas en L’Escorxador, calle San Pedro, 27

To get you in the mood, here are some pictures from the Exposición del Ninot.

If you have any Fallas pictures you’d like to share, why not send them to us?

See you all soon!

The annual Ninot Exhibition open this Saturday, 5 February and will be open until 15 March. Fallas 2011 has begun!

Route 66 Idiomas language school students shouldn’t miss this opportunity to get a close-up look at over 750 ninots and vote for their favourite models. The winners of the public vote in the “mayor” and “infantil” sections will be declared “indultat” and saved from being burnt on 19 March (they are then kept in the Fallas Museum).

However, don’t leave it to the last minute. Tickets for dates in the last 2 weeks of the exhibition and weekends tend to sell out fast. So best to get along to Nuevo Centro (metro stop: Turía) quickly to avoid queues and disappointment.

For those of you new to Fallas, the pictures above should give you an idea of the calibre of previous winners of the prestigious honour that is being chosen as Ninot Indultat.

Next week Valencia will receive a glamour injection with the return of Fashion Week.

The 10th edition of Valencia Fashion Week (Autumn/Winter collections) runs from 2 to 4 February in the Ágora at the City of Arts and Sciences. The fashionistas among the students at Route 66 Idiomas language school might be interested in the late night catwalk shows, the daytime designer workshops, the “kissing bar” (!?) and an exhibition of Vogue covers.

For more information and the full events programme, visit the event website (available in English, Spanish and Valencian).

VLC Skimountain, the ski and mountain pursuits fair, returns to the Turia for its 5th edition from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 November.

In addition to the regular appearance of a ski slope in the heart of the city, this year’s new attraction is a 300 m² BMX bike circuit. Route 66 Idiomas language school students interested in skiing or other mountain sports (particularly in either the Valencia Region or elsewhere in Spain) can make the most of a visit to the fair to enjoy a wide range of activities and exhibitions.

Where: the bed of the old River Turia between the Puente de Calatrava and the Puente de las Flores.
When: Friday 19^th, from 13.00 to 20.00; Saturday 20^th, from 11.00 to 21.00; Sunday 21^st, from 11.00 to 20.00.
Tickets: Adults €4. With flyer €3. Entrance free for children under 12.
More info: Skimountain official website

Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences has been invaded by dinosaurs.

The Umbracle is the new home to a group of 26 animatronic dinosaurs, ranging from 2.5 to 27 metres in length. Valencia’s own Jurassic Park is the largest exhibit of its kind in Europe and gives you the chance to see robotic replicas of the best-known dinos, including the triceratops, diplodocus and velociraptor.

The T-Rex and friends will be on display until May 2011. However, until 31 August the exhibit is open until midnight for those visitors wanting to avoid the heat of the day.

Route 66 Idiomas students who would like more information about opening times and ticket prices (in English) can click here.

It’s all happening today.

Firstly, it’s St. George’s Day, who is the patron saint of England, and of Catalonia and Aragon in Spain (and of a host of other European countries, it appears that slaying dragons really scores you a lot of points: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Day).

And as if that weren’t enough, since 1995 the 23rd of April has been World Book and Copyright Day (as proclaimed by UNESCO). The date was chosen because three great writers died on 23rd April 1616: William Shakespeare (who was also born on 23rd April), Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. However, UNESCO can’t claim the idea was originally theirs. Giving a rose away with every book sold on the 23rd of April has long been a tradition in Catalonia. This date has been Book Day in Spain since 1930 and in 1964 it officially became Book Day for all Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries.

All book lovers at Route 66 Language School can get their fix at the 41st annual Valencia Book Fair which is on until 2nd May in the Jardines de Viveros.  Among the many activities and exhibitions on offer, visitors can get books signed by their authors and attend readings and workshops.

For the full programme of events, check out the Book Fair website: http://www.firallibre.com

‘Bahala Na. Prevención de desastres naturales en Filipinas’, an exhibition organised by Acción Contra el Hambre en Filipinas, will be on show in the Estación del Norte until the 30 November.

For more information about the exhibition: http://www.bahalana.info/

For more information about Acción Contra el Hambre en Filipinas: http://www.accioncontraelhambre.org/