So I did a thing. I googled stuff. Yeah, dangerous, I know. But this time, it paid off — big time. Turns out there’s a massive Leonardo da Vinci exhibition going on here in Valencia, from March all the way to next year. At the “City of Arts and Sciences,” no less. That name already sounds like something out of an Avengers base. And for just 9 Euros? You bet your Mona Lisa-smiling butt I’m going. And I’m dragging Flo with me. He doesn’t know it yet, but resistance is futile.

Speaking of not missing out — we also finally strolled through the shopping mile at Plaza de Sant Francesc. Fun fact: this square is like the stylish cousin of all other plazas. It’s got history, it’s got flair, and apparently, it’s got my wallet now. I bought myself a fresh pair of pants (because you can’t fight art crimes in ripped jeans) and some pretty awesome shirts. Fashion icon unlocked.

After the shopping extravaganza, Flo and I hit up an Italian restaurant. Cue pasta, deep conversations, and those aesthetic palm trees in the background that made us look like we were in a movie — possibly a buddy comedy, with a side of tiramisu.

Easter came around and we visited a parade near the beach — and I even got a flower. A real one. Like, someone just handed me joy in petal form. Made my day. We had breakfast there too, right by the sea. And yes, we visited the sea — the big blue beauty herself.

Picture this: waves crashing gently, kids laughing, bubbles floating through the air, and someone playing the piano like we were in a rom-com montage. I half expected credits to start rolling.

All in all? Another awesome, slightly-too-sunny chapter in the Valencia saga. My sweat glands are screaming, but my soul is chill.

Stay tuned, nerds.

More pictures and videos on my Tumblr Blog: https://afib-in-spain.tumblr.com/

Wednesday, April 16th, 2025
Wednesday marked my last day at the university for this week, as the Easter holidays officially begin tomorrow. The work went well. I got to support Adrian again. He is been incredibly helpful throughout this project, always willing to assist with any kind of question, whether it’s directly related to the project or just general stuff.
In the afternoon, I went for a jog.

Thursday, April 17th, 2025
Since the university is on break, I stayed home and used the day to dive deeper into Python programming. It was actually pretty fun.
In the evening, I met up with Adrian again. This time, he brought a friend along who’s also a programmer. Turns out he’s currently developing a new computer game, which sounded really exciting. Both of them are from Valencia, so they had a lot to share: local tips, stories, and of course, plenty of tech talk.

Friday, April 18th, 2025
I took it easy for most of the day we didn’t do much, and honestly, it was nice to just relax a bit.
After lunch, in the early evening, Thaddäus, Timur, and I decided to take a walk down to the beach. It’s about a 60 minute walk through the countryside, and on the way. We saw jumping fish.

Saturday, April 19th, 2025
Saturday started slowly, with a much-needed sleep-in.
Later in the evening, a few of us went out for dinner at an Asian restaurant. I had gyoza and miso soup. Simple, but so good. There are no pictures.

Thursday was already the last workday of the week since Friday was a public holiday! We had a meeting with Rafael, Liz, and Christinas to check on the progress of our presentation. During the meeting, we got a new task: we’re supposed to write a more detailed explanation of how AI can be used for specific tasks. It’s definitely more hands-on now, and I’m excited to dig a bit deeper into the topic.

I also got to meet another employee named Fernan. He, Christinas, and I ended up having a really wholesome conversation about life in Valencia and what it’s like to live here. Christinas is honestly such a sweet and friendly person – working with her has been really nice so far.

After work, I met up with my boyfriend in the city center because (of course) I forgot my laptop charger at home… We tried our luck at MediaMarkt, but sadly, the one in Valencia isn’t quite as good as the ones in Berlin. In the end, I just ordered a replacement from Amazon. On the bright side, we also checked out this little Asian dumpling spot!

Unfortunately, my boyfriend started feeling a bit unwell, so we ended up spending the whole weekend at home so he could rest. I tried to take care of him as best I could. I’m honestly just really glad that Monday is also a holiday – fingers crossed he gets better soon!

Valencia Trip – Part 3 (Monday to Wednesday)

Monday

Monday started slow. I slept in since I didn’t have a placement for my internship yet. After finally getting out of bed, I took a nice long shower and made myself some tasty food while watching a series. Super chill vibes.

Later in the day, I went grocery shopping with Timur and Jimmy to stock up on some essentials. The rest of the day was pure relaxation. Sometimes you just need that reset.

Tuesday

Tuesday was all about taking it easy again. I basically spent the whole day eating and relaxing, no shame in that. I also got some laundry done and hung everything up to dry. The Valencia sun does the job pretty quick. In the evening, I went for a jog, about 5.5 km along a dried-up riverbed near our place. The views were nice and the air was warm, perfect for a solo run with niche music on your headphones.

Wednesday

After waking up, I went on a big grocery run to refill the fridge. In the afternoon, Ruben and I hit up a basketball court nearby and played for a while. After that, we checked out a calisthenics park and did a little strength training session there. On the way back, we stopped by Lidl to grab a few things and then had a chill, quiet evening at home.

Monday, 14th April 2025

Still no internship placement for me yet. So on Monday, Jimmy, Thaddäus, Tobi, and I spent most of the day waiting and hoping to hear something back.

Since we had time to kill, Jimmy and I decided to revisit some of our old Udemy courses to brush up on a few skills.

Later that evening, I felt like getting out for a bit, so I went on a solo walk through the city. It was nice to just wander around and take in the atmosphere without any rush.

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Tuesday, 15th April 2025

Another day of waiting. It’s definitely a test of patience, but we’re making the most of it.

In the evening, Jimmy and I took on a little adventure. We walked all the way from our place to the MediaMarkt in the city center. Took us around two hours, but it was a good walk.

Once there, I picked up a new charging cable since mine finally gave up on me (RIP old cable 😢). Afterward, we found this cozy Asian restaurant nearby and treated ourselves to some amazing ramen, which were very good 🙂

The rest of the evening was super chilled.

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Wednesday, 16th April 2025

Still no news on the internship front – at this point, it’s kind of becoming a daily routine.

To get out and do something, Jimmy and I decided to take a walking trail that led to the beach. The walk itself was nice, but the wind was really strong.

Later that night, I went on another solo stroll through the city. And totally by chance, I ended up at a Semana Santa parade. I had no idea it was happening, but it was such a cool and unexpected moment. It is one of those things you just stumble upon while exploring.

Monday – 14.04.2025

We’re still waiting to be assigned to our internship placements. Since a spontaneous interview could come up at any moment, we decided to stay in on Monday. To make the most of our time, Timur Kasperek and I agreed to go back through some old Udemy courses and refresh our knowledge. Better than just waiting around.

Tuesday – 15.04.2025
I had an interview scheduled for Tuesday, but unfortunately, it was canceled at the last minute. So, Timur and I decided to explore the city on foot. We walked all the way from Alboraya to downtown Valencia – it took us about two hours, but it was a great way to see more of the city. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a delicious bowl of ramen at a cozy Asian restaurant. Totally worth it!

Wednesday – 16.04.2025
Still no updates from the agency. To pass the time, Timur and I went for a long walk along a trail that eventually led us to the sea. The scenery was beautiful and peaceful. Later, we grabbed some Italian food before heading back.

Monday, 14th April 2025
The day started with Jacky and me heading to the University of Valencia for our first workday.
We were introduced to the whole team and got a short overview of the project we’ll be working on. The main goal is to explore how artificial intelligence can support the collection and analysis of different weather data.

On the way to the store in the evening, I spotted a funny-looking cloud.
What do you see in it?

Tuesday, 15th April 2025
The next day, we met the professor who is leading the project at the university.
He gave us some more detailed background and explained our roles. For the first few days, my main focus is to dive deeper into Python programming, since that’s the language used throughout the project.

Wednesday, 16th April 2025
Today was all about understanding the project on a deeper level. I spent most of the day reading a 64-page document explaining the whole concept, its purpose, and potential impact – quite a marathon.
In the afternoon, I played a bit of basketball with Thaddäus, which was a nice change of pace.

My internship at DLQ Consulting officially started on Monday at 9 a.m., and I met up with Luca from the agency to get there. The commute only took about 30 minutes by metro, but wow – it was packed. Definitely rush hour chaos.

Once I arrived, I quickly realized that punctuality isn’t exactly a priority here – everyone showed up late, though I didn’t really mind. I was introduced to Liz, who thankfully speaks English and originally comes from South America. She gave me a quick overview of their current project and told me to explore it a bit to see where I might be able to contribute.

But when I came back the next day, Liz wasn’t in. Instead, I got to meet Rafael, the CEO of DLQ Consulting. He gave me a different task: helping prepare a presentation for an upcoming course he’s teaching in early May, targeted at people aged 50 and up – he calls them the “silver economy” (because of the silver hair, obviously). Together with another intern, Christinas, I’m working on making the slides more visually appealing. My main responsibility is to add more context and explanations related to AI, since that’s one of the key topics of the course.

That’s what I’ve been focusing on over the past few days – researching, writing, and figuring out how to present AI concepts in a clear and interesting way for beginners. It’s a pretty cool challenge, and I’m curious to see how it all comes together!

PS: No pictures this time because the whole blog only has 500 MB of space and we’re trying to save some of that for later posts!

Guess who strutted into the University of Valencia’s Computer Science and Engineering department like they owned the place? That’s right—me (and Ruben, my trusty sidekick who doesn’t know he’s my sidekick yet).

We kicked things off by meeting the big boss lady—aka the head of this mega-ultra-European-supercollab project. What’s the project about, you ask? Oh, just a tiny little app powered by Artificial Intelligence that helps tourists navigate the city. Not impressed yet? Wait for it… It includes the best sightseeing routes, pollen-free paths (bless you, allergy squad 🤧), reviews from both tourists and locals, and probably can predict your future too. I mean… who needs Google anymore?

After that, we sat down with the rest of the international brainiacs to hear about their work. My brain melted just a little. Then came the real kicker: Ruben and I were assigned to work on the website’s frontend and backend using WordPress. Yes, we get to play with buttons and make things work behind the scenes—like the Batman and Alfred of web dev. (I’ll let Ruben decide who’s who.)

They even gave us a little university tour—because you can’t just dump international interns into a building without showing them where the coffee lives. ☕

Our first few days were surprisingly chill. Not the “Netflix and nap” kind of chill, but the “wow, people are actually nice here” kind. We’re working closely with two programmers, Adrian and Emilio—absolute legends. They’ve been trying their best to make us laugh in English, and honestly? They’re succeeding. It’s like working in a sitcom.

Lunch with them was not only fun but also educational. Adrian immediately gave us the real local guide: where the students party, where the good (and cheap) food is, and which streets to avoid unless you enjoy surprise bird poop.

The work vibe? Amazing. Friendly, relaxed, helpful—10/10, would code again. Only downside? They have never heard of airing out a room. Ever. Germany, please send help and windows that open.

Oh, and bonus content for you public transport lovers: the tram here is elite. At the end of the line, there’s a freaking sofa lounge. I repeat: a sofa. In a tram. With a view. If that’s not peak public transport luxury, I don’t know what is.

More pictures and Videos on my Tumblr Blog: https://afib-in-spain.tumblr.com/

Valencia Trip – Part 2 (Thursday to Sunday)

Thursday

Thursday started off pretty easy we didn’t have to be at Spanish class until 10 AM, so I finally got a bit more sleep. After class, I went grocery shopping with Timur, Jimmy, and Ruben to get everything we needed for a group dinner.

After shopping Timur and I went to Decathlon to buy a football, and I also grabbed a pair of sunglasses because the sun here is way too bright. When we got back to the apartment, Jimmy and Ruben had already finished cooking. Perfect timing! We all sat down and had dinner together, and in the evening, I went on a relaxing walk. I ended up exploring a dried-up riverbed near our place, super peaceful and a bit surreal.

Friday

On Friday, we had our final Spanish exam, both a written and speaking part, and it actually went pretty well. To thank our teacher Jesús, we got him some flowers and took a group photo together, because it was our last day of class.

To celebrate, we went to KFC. The rest of the evening was super chill , later on, I went out for a beer with Ruben and Timur at a bar. A nice little way to end our Spanish school week.

Saturday

Saturday was all about rest. I slept in and literally did nothing for most of the day, which felt amazing. In the afternoon, I went for a jog to a basketball court Ruben had told me about, the whole trip was around 5.5 km. After that, I just relaxed, kicked back, and watched a Marvel movie. Simple, perfect day.

Sunday

Sunday was another slow start, I slept in again (I’m sensing a trend here). Around 2 PM we met up with Herr Maier at the beach and had a few cervezas while enjoying the sun. Later, Timur, Jimmy, and I ordered sushi, and I ended the evening binge-watching a series.