Adventures in my accommodation - Valencia, Spain

My accommodation experience in Valencia, Spain

As I have already described how to find accommodation in Andalucía – South of Spain – I would like to share some stories about my accommodation in Valencia – eastern part of Spain.

How did I find a flat?

I decided to move to Valencia for three months in March 2017 to do my second Erasmus+, but this time a traineeship. What helped me a lot was the fact that I was going to stay in the same country, so I knew that there were a few Spanish websites for finding some accommodation. Moreover, I also tried to check Facebook groups as they worked the best before, when I was looking for a flat in Granada.

I remember a flat where my room would have the only window which was offering a view of the kitchen of the flat. At least, the price was really low – maybe 120 Euros per month. Luckily for me, one Slovak girl contacted me because she was doing her internship in a Spanish company through which I applied for my traineeship. She offered me to live with her because her flatmate (who was also doing an internship) was slowly moving back home. And again – how lucky I was! When she sent me the address of the flat and I checked via Google maps how far it would be from my work, I smiled. It was only a three-minute walk. Then she told me how much the rent was and it was quite fair, not bad (220 Euros with everything included). The girl showed me the flat through Skype and I knew it would be a nice place for my new life in Valencia.

Picture: Valencia, my new Erasmsu "home"

How did it look like?

The flat was in the highest floor of the building – in the 5th floor. There was no elevator, but that was not such a problem. It was just on the corner of some principal streets and roads. There was a theatre right in front of the house and another one was approximately 200 metres far. Just around the corner there were three supermarkets and groceries’. Next, there was an amazing Chinese shop where you could get anything you needed and it was really cheap and quite a good quality. It took only four minutes to get to Turía – a large beautiful park where you can chill, do sports, enjoy some parties, meet many people. This park was the best bonus of my accommodation. It is between five and six kilometres long, so I never got bored being there and exploring it.

My flat itself was very beautiful and quite modern. There were two rooms (plus a private one), a living room, a kitchen with a balcony and a bathroom. (Did you know that in the Czech Republic it is quite common to have a bathroom divided into to rooms? One where there is just a toilet and the second one where there is a sink, a bathtub, a shower corner).

There was a television in the living room and an oven in the kitchen (but anytime I was baking something in it, it got burnt). The “jackpot” was that I did not have any cockroaches there. (In another flat in Spain where I was living later on, there were at least two new cockroaches every single day!!!)

Picture: It was a really nice flat.

How did I get on with my flatmates?

Perfectly! I could not get on any better with them. Well, the thing is I did not have anyone to share the flat with. The girl who told me about the flat went back home four days after I moved in. I was supposed to live with a lesser. I was happy, because I decided to stay in Spain to improve my Spanish and she was a native speaker.

However, any time we saw each other, she told me she would move in next month. And so the months were passing and passing and I had the whole flat just for myself (for that amazing price).

I have to mention, however, that I had really nice neighbours who were very kind and friendly. I got on really well with them. It was a young couple who was full of life. So I could practice some Spanish with them.

Picture: I had no flatmates but I had the Turía park really close.

When things do not work

First thing that did not work was a window blinder. Well, it took some time to a serviceman to arrive but once he got to the flat he repaired everything and that was more or less it.

However, after some time a sink got choked up and when I tried to clean it, it did not help. Of course, I informed my lesser and she replied that it is all right because it had been happening every once in a while. She assured me to come to check it. When she finally came (it took some time, so I was brushing my teeth above a bathtub), she just poured some chemicals in it, but it did not helped. So again, she assured me that it would be all right and that she would find someone to repair it. Time flew and nothing had happened.

One day, two of my acquaintances from Granada contacted me because they were planning on a trip to Valencia and wanted to know whether they could stay in my place. I asked the lesser who had no problem with it and so I hosted these two girls. It was a busy time for me but when they were leaving, I locked the door and walked them to a bus station. I was not outside longer than half an hour. I put a key into the keyhole and noticed it was not locked but only closed. I was not that sure then: “Maybe I really did not lock it..” So I just moved the key and opened the door. Shock! I got completely shocked because there were two men inside who I had never seen before!

Do you know the feeling that something takes ages even though it happens within a few seconds and so lasts just a while? This describes exactly how I felt when I was standing in a hall with those two unknown people. How did they even got in? I was wondering... One of them started to talk to me – he introduced himself as my landlaidy’s father. He came with his friend to repair the sink. Ayayay – my lesser even did not inform me someone would come. But at least, the sink worked again after they left.

Conclusion

You know, I could tell you more stories. For example that I left my friends one really beautiful night to get back home because my landlaidy’s friend was supposed to come and sleep in the flat. I wanted to welcome him and meet him so I would have an idea, at least, who I would be sharing the flat with for some days. However, the landlady forgot to text me that he was not finally coming that night (so I could have stayed with my friends).

Or another day, when I got an unexpected visit. I came home from work in the evening and heard someone having some fun in a room. First, I thought they were my neighbours from the other side which I usually heard when having a family weekend  lunches. Well, it took a while to understand that what I heard was in the flat where I was just eating a dinner.

You know, the Spaniards usually do not take off their shoes. So imagine: I had just finished cleaning the whole flat, including wiping the floor and again, my landlaidy came unexpectedly and walked in with her shoes on. Well, I was trying to adapt to this culture.

Anyway, what my point is, is that no matter where you live, there will be always some issues. If you choose a university dormitory or a flat for your Erasmus period, things will be happening there. No worries, it is a part of Erasmus life. And finally, you might even laugh about it in the future!

Picture: Turía park, the place where I left my friends that beautiful night to meet my lesser's friend. But nowadays, I remember it all with a smile on my face.