Regine Hebgen at Universitat Jaume I in Castellon, Spain
Castellon is a city with 140.000 inhabitants between Barcelona and Valencia at the `Costa Azahar`. Castellon is very famous for the "Fiesta Magdalena", which is a non-stop party for 10 days, every year, three weeks before Easter. Everybody in the city is outside on the streets or in the pubs for having fun, drinking and dancing. One thing is sure, the Spanish know how to celebrate and having parties.
The University is 1,5 km from the city away and every student has the possibility to rent a bike at the university or to go by bus. 13.000 students study at the "University Jaume I". The life at the campus is multicultural, the technology is modern and the Spanish people are very friendly and helpful.
El Grao is the part of Castellon, which is situated directly at the Mediterranean Sea. Here is the beginning of a 20 km long beach which ends in Benicassim. In the summer most people travel from Castellon to Benicassim for holidays and parties.
Castellon has many restaurants, tapas bars, music pubs and discos. On weekends, most students party in a disco called "Botanico", but don´t enter before 4 am in the morning because in Spain everything is much later than in the remaining parts of Europe. A special place to taste tapas is the bocateria "Bocatta" near "Botanico". The food is very good, typical and cheap. Every Saturday people meet in the early evening at "Las Tascas". The lanes near the market place are crowded with people eating tapas, drinking beer or vine and listening to bands which play Spanish music.
What about travelling and sightseeing? Valencia is only 60km away and the train leaves every 30 minutes. That makes it easy for sightseeing or shopping. Famous places to be are Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla and Lisbon, too. The cheapest and easiest way is to go by bus, which is very well organized.
Regine Hebgen, November 2002
