VALENCIA is a fast rising city and all the more in 2008 as residential and hotel developments around the port area are being fasttracked this year just in time for the 2009 America’s Cup stopover by the summer of next year. That and a few more things make Valencia indeed a very exciting place to visit and live in. Speaking of living in this beautiful city, you’ll be amazed at what Valencia can offer. Valencia imbues the richness of urban city life with the warmth of the relaxed Mediterranean life. Valencia rivals that of nearby Benidorm as the city with the tallest skyscrapers in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula. But since Valencia is coasted to the Mediterranean, then the food here is very healthy. Most seafood restaurants have aquariums where you can order fresh fish and lobsters from the aquarium to be cooked. They are often cooked with olive oil, the healthiest cooking oil in the world because of their low fat content. There are indeed lots of olives here in Valencia and olive is one very healthy fruit to eat. Aside from that, lamb meat in Valencia is yummy too.

This year, the World Indoor Championships in athletics will be held in Valencia come March. Preparations are already under way and the sports hall where all events will be held is located northeast of the city and is called the Palau Velodromo Luis Puig. The Palau Velodromo Luis Puig features a 200 meter ring track made of rubber and polyurethane and it also has its own weightlifting area and gymnastics area. Since 1992, the Palau Velodromo Luis Puig has been host to the European swimming championships, the Spanish Master Tennis tournament, an international billiards tournament, an international gymnastics tournament and of course concerts by various music artists not just from Spain but from England and North America as well. Palau Velodromo Luis Puig has a total of 6,000 seats.

Moving now to arts, the European Federation of Professional Photographers will have their convocation in Valencia by February. In the field of genetics, the International Course on Microarray Data Analysis will be held in Valencia this March. Back into the world of sports, one thing that has Valencia folks getting revved up recently is the holding of the Spanish Grand Prix this year back on the Valencia calendar in August. This is one exciting event as the race track in Valencia is a modified one because the race will not really be held in a formal race track – it will be conducted at the thoroughfares near the harbor. This early, hotels and vacation homes around the race track are already reserved for the August 24 event. Fernando Alonso, the Spanish representative to the Formula One race, has vowed to regain his title in the Valencia Grand Prix and snatch it from current holder Kimi Raikkonen of Finland. Now isn’t that something to look forward for in 2008 here in Valencia?