Universidad de Alicante

We were able to take the bus to the campus on Saturday.

It's about a twenty minute ride from where Leah is living. It starts in the city center and goes through neighborhoods, businesses and out into the newer parts of the city.  I have a tour of photos here for you to see, but when I asked Leah (after loading them here to my blog) to remind me what the buildings were, she said she didn't know. I said, "but when we were there you were telling us what the buildings were and that is why I took pictures of them." She replied that she had been reading it off the signs and translating to English for us, but didn't really know all of the buildings. So, you get to see some of the campus, and the pretty grounds, but I won't be able too tell you much about the buildings. 

The university was founded in 1979 and was built on the grounds of a landing strip and old airport. Being Saturday, the campus was closed and we were not able to go into any of the buildings, but certainly enjoyed seeing the buildings and surrounding grounds.The school is largely a science and engineering university and if you click here you can read a little about the affiliate to NAU here in Arizona.

This first photo I pulled from the internet, as we were not able to get such a nice aerial view. 

This was the first image we saw as we walked up to the campus.

The large hand statue sits prominently on the campus grounds.

The buildings are certainly more 'modern' in comparison to the very old buildings in the city center where she lives and where we were staying. 

 They have several outdoor community area where during the week she says is a very popular place to socialize. Being a European country as it is, wine and beer are served during any given school day.

We were very struck by all the beautiful landscaping and foliage on campus. They take very good care of the campus and certainly have many types of trees and flowers that we have never seen before. Such as this, which Leah said she calls it a Dr. Suess tree. Yes, I would agree.

                                 But the flowers are beautiful. Some type of orchid tree I think.

       And another one. We saw these trees in other parts of the city and I just loved the flowers on them.

So pretty.

A building that cannot be identified now, but she did tell us that the fountains and shallow pools are very pretty when running.

The walkways and open areas are all vey lush with grass and trees.

And trees with flowers!

There are actually about five different Spanish languages in Spain. The two most prominent dialects in Alicante are Castilian and Catalan. Here, and on most of the signage on campus, those two spanish dialects are represented.

A pretty reflecting pond and sculpture.

Many of the sidewalks and walkways were brick or stone with trees growing over forming archways.

Another common area with the tables and umbrellas for outdoor dining, which is very popular throughout the city. These are great social gathering areas that Leah says are always full of students.

I was certainly surprised at how tropical Alicante is. Leah had told us after she arrived there that she felt it was a combination between Phoenix and California. I certainly saw what she meant with all the palm trees and the ocean!

Wouldn't it be nice if I knew what building this is? Oh well, it just gives everyone an idea of where Leah is and where she is studying and walking and enjoying every day.

This tree trunk caught my attention!

Ok, finally, I do remember that Leah actually has one of her classes in this building. Does anyone else see the seal under the tree? I didn't notice it the day we were there, only just now as I'm looking at this picture.

More interesting trees. Now, interestingly, it was October which is technically fall.There were some trees that were changing color and dropping their leaves.These trees didn't have a lot of leaves, but they were full of small berries.

The berries.

Of course some orange trees. The fresh orange juice served everywhere was just delicious.

Another pretty building and park-like area in front of it.

We spotted these up in a tree. Maybe some kind of date?

This I do remember. It was an International Building with flags representing all the countries that students come from on campus.

Another angle.

And another walkway that was just gorgeous. The bougainvillea that covered it was so beautiful.
                                                                      Oh, hi Leah!

Dad and Leah walking on ahead while I was snapping some photos.

 As a contrast to the beautiful full green foliage they had a full cactus garden as well.

And...they had a rock garden too!

So, for my rock loving science-teacher daughter, I took these photos for her!

It was actually neat that they had all the rocks identified.

I thought this view was interesting with the arching diagonal trees and the straight vertical tree and lamp post.

I was struck by the starkness of this white building against the green lawn and blue sky.

They left the structure of the old hanger buildings  and planted gardens throughout. A good juxtaposition of the lines of metal structure and the green plants.

We thought it was nice that they left part of the integrity and history of the air field on the campus. This is a main walkway through campus, not just an area to purposely visit.

So, on any weekday, these brick paths are filled with students taking off on their educational path.

We were happy and felt very glad to be able to visit Leah and see where she is going to school this semester. She doesn't let a day go by that she feels lucky and thankful to be learning in such a beautiful environment.

Buenos dias!