Before, the city of Valencia Spain used to be synonymous to Valencia Fallas and to the great city within a city called The City of Arts and Science built by the famous and very innovative Santiago Calatrava. But now, whenever someone mentions Valencia the name Americas Cup pops up or vice-versa. When the Valencians heard their city named mentioned back in November of 2003, they felt that they had been born again.
They had long desired to be connected to some international event that would give them an honourable place in history, and they were longing to show, that through hard work, they would earn it. Into the Stream of Things in Valencia Spain After the First Act Louis Vuitton was celebrated in Marseilles, the Valencians started their engines going and on June 14th 2005, the Spanish publicly presented their team, El Desafio Espanol ( The Spanish Challenge ), two days before they faced their first act, which in number was actually Act Four Louis Vuitton. Karol Jablonski was to take the helm helped by the Luis Doreste in strategy along with Miguel Jauregui as part of the crew; all very well-known in the world of navigation.
What is so amazing and the fundamental novelty is that it is the first time that the Americas Cup touches the European continent. This makes it so easy for over 300 million people to only have to travel two hours to the Valencia Airport to see this exciting event in person. Until now, the defence of this cup was always done by Anglo-Saxons and the event had always been done in a country where English was spoken.
The arrival of the America's Cup means a total immersion into another culture which implies that the participants will be open to a new culture, new traditions, new weather conditions and a new way of life. What's Up for 2006 in Valencia Spain After having competed in Marseilles, Valencia, Malmo and Trapani and nine Acts completed, two large transport ships will bring all the equipment back to Valencia. This does not mean that these teams can go into hibernation. They will continue on practising and improving their techniques, some on home ground like the South African Team Shosholoza and the Emirates Team of New Zealand. Others are waiting to try out new boats, but all will be back for Act 11 starting on May 11th in Valencia. Not all evolves around the Americas Cup, but many new activities are constantly being added to enrich the city's attractiveness.
There is going to be a new zoo which will be 14 times larger than the last one, with special attention being given to reproduce the exact living quarters for all the new guests, especially the ones coming from Africa. And the Palace of Performing Arts Queen Sofia has just recently been inaugurated and for next year there is a long list of performances to be seen. It is just a question of what you would like to see most, book an economical flight into the Valencia Airport, reserve at one of the many new hotels like Husa Mas Camarena at exit no. 9 on the highway Valencia-Ademuz when coming out of the airport with a new rented car, and Valencia Spain is all yours. .
By: Ciara McNamara
