Alicante, Spain has been preparing for this big event for more than a year. On September 19th, the Race Village opened its doors to the public so we could see what was going on in preparation for the Volvo Ocean Race, starting from the new dock in the port of Alicante . One evening, we met up with CEA study abroad students and toured the whole Race Village, which is alive with the buzz of activities and events for the next 23 days.
It was nice to walk along the dock and sightsee all the different sailing teams that will be competing for the next 9 months while sailing around the world. All of us were impressed with the dimensions of the sailboats and we made friendly bets on which one was going to be the winner.
Among the different attractions the CEA students participated in different activities such as a “The Ride”. We got inside this simulator and experienced the feeling of sailing in a rough sea and sailing the seven seas, as if we were one of the elite sailors. It was like living the live at extreme. Some CEA students tempted to sail their own Sailing boats with Remote Controllers competing with other sailing boats in a big swimming pool.
Finally, we couldn’t leave without a visit to Nao Victoria. This is a replica of the 16th century boat that traveled around the world, captained by the famed Juan Sebastián del Cano. We toured the boat, including the captain’s private room, the dinning room (mess hall), and crew's sleeping quarters. It was unbelievable how much sailboats have changed! If you compared the facilities of this old boat to now, it is as if sailors nowadays stay in luxury apartments at sea!
In all, this was a fun activity and a unique culture experience that we loved sharing with our study abroad students. It was the perfect opportunity for us to show our students this small local secret and encourage them to participate in the many activities going on at the dock through October 11th. And although the festivities on the dock are done now, there's plenty more for you to do in Alicante, Spain this spring! Programs start closing on November 1st, some on December first, so find your program today!
It was nice to walk along the dock and sightsee all the different sailing teams that will be competing for the next 9 months while sailing around the world. All of us were impressed with the dimensions of the sailboats and we made friendly bets on which one was going to be the winner.
Among the different attractions the CEA students participated in different activities such as a “The Ride”. We got inside this simulator and experienced the feeling of sailing in a rough sea and sailing the seven seas, as if we were one of the elite sailors. It was like living the live at extreme. Some CEA students tempted to sail their own Sailing boats with Remote Controllers competing with other sailing boats in a big swimming pool.
Finally, we couldn’t leave without a visit to Nao Victoria. This is a replica of the 16th century boat that traveled around the world, captained by the famed Juan Sebastián del Cano. We toured the boat, including the captain’s private room, the dinning room (mess hall), and crew's sleeping quarters. It was unbelievable how much sailboats have changed! If you compared the facilities of this old boat to now, it is as if sailors nowadays stay in luxury apartments at sea!
In all, this was a fun activity and a unique culture experience that we loved sharing with our study abroad students. It was the perfect opportunity for us to show our students this small local secret and encourage them to participate in the many activities going on at the dock through October 11th. And although the festivities on the dock are done now, there's plenty more for you to do in Alicante, Spain this spring! Programs start closing on November 1st, some on December first, so find your program today!