In the last few days I started to explore the city.
I'm using the city's bike service Valenbisi a lot. You can get a 1 year subscription for 29 €. (Be carefull: the one week ticket is 13€ already). When you apply for the one year subscription you get an nfc card. This can take up to 20 days (registration is online). Since I didn't want to wait I bought a week ticket first. Then I figured out that you can order a card and use the service right away even without the card (you immediatly get a code...). But this has also been usefull already a few times because I was able to "borrow" my second account to other people
Apart from that I really like valenbisi. There are really a lot of bikestands in the city. You still have to check if there are free places and bikes, I am using the "BikeHire" App on IOS for that. This app also has a convenient timer (only the first 30 minutes of valenbisi are without additional charges). When your 30 minutes are over you have to check your bike in at a bikestand, but you can check it out immediatly after that again to continue your ride. I really like apps that have not a button more than what you need and are add free and well designed :-)
As I love to play around with IoT gadgets I found an API for Valenbisi (and other bike sharing systems) called citybik.es . Since I have a ESP32 with an oled display with me I spend the last night programming it to show state of the bikes and stands infront of my apartment =D. (I'll probably post the code on github...)
Today I was at the beach, swimming in the very warm sea and meeting new people on the volleyball field. The water is as warm as the air outside and much more salty than in Iceland. But now I remember why I don't really like sandy beaches: It might be very comfortable to lie on but this stuff gets everywhere, including your apartment... It is really not too clever to take your phone out on the beach, I am leaving mine in its waterproof case all the time.
I also had some time to explore the "ciudad de los artes y sciencias" the city of art and science. This is an architectural perl near the end of the "jardines de tura" consisting of the Opera, a cinema, l'umbracle (another garden), some museums and the oceanografic (an ocean museum). I'll have to go there a few more times and take some good pictures because it looks stunning.
The jardines de tura by the way are gardens in an old riverbed. The river Tura was rerouted around the city and what was left has been turned into a huge park where you can go cycling and running or just have a picknick.
On my way home I also got me a soldering iron cause this is one of the only things I (deliberatly) did not bring to spain.
After 3 Nights of Erasmus parties this is the first night I told myself to actually do some long overdue work, so I'll better start now...
till the next post...
Lukas
