Our Unforgettable 2-week Experience with Pilar in Valencia!

We had an absolutely fantastic time with Pilar Martinez at her homestay in Gilet, Valencia. We cannot begin to describe the wonderful times we shared together and the amazing experiences we had that surpassed our expectations. Read more below!

To begin with, we're two children from Kenya of Indian ethnicity, and Pilar catered perfectly to our strictly vegetarian diet by making us various vegetarian meals from different cuisines and even treating us to a meal outside the house. We had some of the best food during our 2-week stay, from homemade vegetable paella, patatas bravas, tacos, and even churros! We
We even got to share meals with Pilar's family, including Christmas eve dinner, allowing us to converse in Spanish with multiple people and stretch our learning further.

Beyond this, Pilar's home was comfortable and catered to our every needs, having radiators in the rooms for the chilly winter weather, and a perfect fireplace to warm the home during our lessons. The kitchen was well-fitted with anything we needed if we were craving a quick bite. The beds were comfortable and the bathroom was modern and had a very hot shower!

We came for this immersion course with the aim to better our Spanish all-round, and prepare for our IB Diploma Programme and Middle Years Programme final exams. Pilar helped us achieve exactly this, with personalized one-on-one and group classes between the two of us, aimed at mastering grammar, verbs, and working on practice exams. Furthermore, speaking Spanish constantly for 2 weeks with our teacher automatically improved our Spanish listening and speaking skills, while helping us pick up vocabulary throughout the day.

Moving to the excursions, we got the opportunity to explore several surrounding historical sites and tourist sites within Valencia as well. Pilar's house is perfectly situated in the hillsides of Gilet, allowing me to go on blissful nature walks and hikes with ease, finding stunning trails in every direction and catching beautiful views of the surrounding areas from nearby hilltops. This was a perfect experience for me; as a avid hiker and nature-lover from Kenya. We also visited the local Roman castles of Sagunto, a wonderful archeological site where we were fascinated by the 2,000 year old Roman castle complex.

Within Valencia, we explored lots of historical and tourist sites both on foot, and during a bicycle city-tour by Pilar, such as Torre de Miguelette, Valencia Beach, and a lot of important city and religious buildings. We were super fascinated by the rich cultural and historical background of Valencia, including Roman, Islamic, and Christian rule and several fierce conquerings of the city.

One of our favorite visits was definitely the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. We spent 4 hours taking in the fascinating exhibits on Leonardo Da Vinci, Spain's noble prize winners, space, and anatomy. Definitely a must do!

Besides all these wonderful experiences, spending time with Pilar was absolutely wonderful. We talked for hours about absolutely anything, and spent quality time all while conversing in Spanish. She is super-welcoming, friendly, caring, and kind throughout our stay and always had a smile! She took wonderful care of us and made sure we were always comfortable and enjoying. She was super flexible and let us choose what we wanted to do with our stay, while maintaining the main goal to learn Spanish.

We would definitely do this again, and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for an authentic Spanish immersion course while also seeking new thrilling experiences in Valencia! Thank you to Monica and the team at Spanish Express for making this a seamless and simple process for us and providing guidance at every step along the way.