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Valladolid is a medium size city, with about 400.000 inhabitants population. It is believed that it was found in Palaeolithic, although it started to grown in the Medium Age, reaching the category of Spanish Kingdom Capital in 1601, till 1606. It's known as the place where Spanish language was born, so it's supposed to be the place where the purest Spanish is Spoken.
The city on the river Pisuerga, preserves an interesting Renaissance group of buildings in its old quarter, made up on house, palaces, churches and one of its most symbolic buildings: its Cathedral.
The capital of Castilla y León enjoys an intense cultural life thanks to its situation as a university city as well as events like the Seminci, the international Film Week, or the celebration of Easter.
Valladolid is located in nearly the geographic center of Castilla y León in the North-West of Spain, which makes it an excellent star point to anyone who wants to travel around the region(it has border with León, Palencia, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Burgos and Zamora provinces). As well is good to visit principal Spanish cities, some of them a little far away but with good train and bus communications, as Madrid, Barcelona, Santander, Bilbao...
Valladolid climate is known as "Continental Mediterranean", which means that its extreme weather: cold in Winter and very hot in Summer. In winter, temperatures can reach 0ºC (or less) and in the coldest days, you can see frog and frost (and, if you are lucky, maybe it will snow). On the contrary, Summer is very hot and dry (highest temperatures are about 35ºC) . Autumn and Spring do not exist as soft temperature seasons, but it rains more often than in the rest of the year.
Most of our students will stay at the University halls of residence “Alfonso VIII”, which is less than 5 minutes walking distance from the Hospital and less than 2 minutes from the Research Institute and the Medical Faculty.
All the rooms have full bathroom, Internet connection with wire, central heating and telephone. The cleaning service tidies up twice a week.
There's a WiFi hot-spot in the entrance hall of the dorm. There's also a laundry room on every floor and several TV-rooms.
The rest of our students will be accommodated in our students' home's and will live with them and their families.
Near the residence, you can find pharmacies, supermarkets, bars, restaurants...Your contact person will show you this important places.
From the airport, you can take a taxi to the residence (19 euros) or a bus to the bus station (3 euros).
To go from the bus or train station to the residence, you can take a taxi (about 6 euros) or a bus (1 euro).
No dressing code is needed although white coat and stethoscope are required.
The Medical University complex is situated in the centre of Valladolid. All of the Departments are placed there. To reach the University or the Hospital from the hostel you just need to walk down the street in front of the hostel. It will take you 5 minutes on foot to get to the hospital. You can see the hospital and the faculty of medicine from the hostel.
If you have chosen an Elective programme, you will find the Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics (IBGM) in front of the hostel on the other side of the street.
This hospital was built in 1978 and in February (2009) a new hospital has been opened, where you will be able to do your clerkship. You can find there almost all departments you can imagine for your clerkship.
In Spain, health system its public so everybody who lives here can be attended by it. If you need to be attended, just go to the hospital and explain your situation (but we recommend you to have your insurance certificate) Private system is very expensive.
If you want information about our university, you can visit this web (also in an English version): Universidad de Valladolid
Greetings We usually cross hands or give two kisses (depending on the situation) for greeting. Here you have usefull vocabulary:
In Spain, we usually have 4 meals (also you'll have two of them at the hospital):
Smoking Smoking is not allowed in most public buildings, including all clinics and government offices.
According to the new law (January 2006), smoking is not permitted in restaurants which are larger than 100 m2 if they don’t have separate areas for smokers.
For those bars and restaurants which are smaller, the owners can choose whether their customers can or can’t smoke. You can find it easily because they have a leaf of paper at the door.
Night life In Valladolid, weekends are full of night-life. You can find bars and clubs everywhere in the city, open till late at night. Prepare for the neverending nightlife.
And, remember: Spain is not only about sevillanas, sangría and ole. It is much more, discover it!!!
Our Local Committee will organize activities and trips to other places during your stay, specially in Summer. We will be pleased if you are taking part, but if having other plans and need a hand just tell us and we will help you to organize your trip.
If you have any suggestion or question, don´t hesitate to e-mail the Social Programme coordinators:
ev.programasocial@gmail.com
Anyway, Valladolid is perfect to travel to a lot of cities, we recommend:
SANTANDER(Northern seaside) Santander is the closest beach to our city.
Travelling by train, the journey takes about 3 hours, there, you can stay in a student hostel.
Train ticket costs about 14.35 euros.
For details about tickets (timetable, tickets...), check on RENFE.
SALAMANCA
Is one of the closest cities, and its famous for its university and its nightlife. You can do a one day excursion or choose a weekend trip spending a party night.
Journey takes about one hour and a half.
Bus ticket cost about 7 euros, and train ticket cost from 8 to 13 euros depending on the kind of train.
MADRID
Spanish capital tradition and vanguard life together harmoniously, welcoming a dynamic and modern society.
Madrid has a great transportation network which makes getting to any place you wish easy and quick.
From Valladolid, you can choose to go by AVE (High Speed train) in just 55 minutes, which will be expensive (at about 40 euros, depending on the kind of train). In a normal train, cheaper, journey takes 2 hours and a half, and cost about 14 euros.
If you choose bus, it will cost from 12 to 20 euros and take 2 hours and a half (more information in ALSA).
For every travel, please, note that you can find discounts with return ticket or discount cards (as Euro<26 or numerous family) so ask about them when buying the tickets.
Valladolid is very well connected by public buses. You can get a card to use them, but the process takes at least a week (it is a plastic card) so we recommend you to pay the fee (1 € per journey). However, Valladolid is not such a big city, so you won’t need to take the bus very often.
The services start at 7.00 am and finish at 22.30 pm. On Friday and Saturday there are extra services at 00.00, 01.00, 02.00 and 03.00 am.
If you are lost and don’t know what to do, you can always call a taxi: +34 983291411. We don’t recommend this option because taxis are quite expensive, but they are the best option on Saturday night when you are with many friends who are going to share the price.
There are many Museums in Valladolid as Science Museum or Patio Herreriano Museum of Contemporary Spanish Art.
Remember that Tuesday is visitor's day in Science Museum, and you can get discounts with student card or Euro<26 in some places.
If you want to visit them, you can go to Tourist Office.
Visit Asómate a Valladolid.
There you can find a lot of possibilities to enjoy your exchange.
Valladolid usually is a safe city, but there are some places little far from the city centre less safety, especially at night.
But it’s important to know that in the city centre there is no problem!
For any emercency, call: 112
As souvenir, you can buy some chorizo or other sausages, Spanish ham, sweets or wine (at last, Valladolid is a vineyard region).
Anyway, for other typical presents, go to the city center shops.
Last update of data: november of 2010