1/22/10-1/25/10

Friday (1/22)

We arrived in Valencia around 5 am after a 7 hour bus ride. What a lovely way to start the weekend. I had Spain's worst cup of coffee to which did not compliment the early arrival. After we had something to eat, we made our way to the hostel which was pretty easy to find. It was an old renovated church. The decor was pretty modern and they had a lot of extras like a kitchen, flat screen tv (which seemed to be used entirely too much seeing as the travelers staying in the hostel had plenty to see and do in Valencia) and computers with internet (which is nice to let everyone know that you are ok). We took a power nap and then had a little snack before going on a free walking tour. The tour was one of the best I have taken. We had a young tour guide who had a masters in history so we got to hear all the history of Spain and Valencia but it was still fun! The buildings are gorgeous in Valencia. My favorite is the ceramics museum which I believe originally was a home for nobility. The intricate design around the door was incredible. The artist must have gone insane from all the little details! After the tour, we did the tapas tour by the same company (Valencia Nonstop) which took us to a few restaurant/bars. At each we got a small drink or 2 and a few tapas. It was a really good deal (only 10€) for basically a full lunch. After that it was about 3 or 4 and we decided to go to the beach before it got dark. We wanted to get it in too on Friday because the weather was supposed to be a little rainy the next 2 days. So we took a taxi down and took some pictures and just walked around in the sand. Valencia's climate is milder than Pamplona. I could definitely tell the difference today when I got off the bus back in Pamplona's bus station. Then we took a well deserved siesta! We grabbed a quick bite and went on a pub crawl that was part of Valencia Nonstop as well. That probably was the least fun of the trifecta of activties of Valencia Nonstop. Eventually we made it to bed.

Saturday (1/23)

Saturday started off with some breakfast of course and then we took the bus down to La Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias (the City of Arts and Sciences). La Ciudad is a cluster of amazing architecture that houses several exhibits and museums. We went to the aquarium. Pretty much your typical aquarium. My favorite were the walruses though...unsuspecting I know but they just looked like they were purely enjoying being alive. We also got in to see a dolphin show. It was really cool, a little chilly, but worth it. We checked out a few more exhibits, eventually covering the whole aquarium and made our way out. We decided to stop at the mall which was across the street since it was still mid-afternoon. This mall is where I first was introduced to Spanish hot chocolate, later to be surpassed by chocolate con churros. Spanish hot chocolate is basically liquid chocolate. To purely drink it takes effort and skill. It is best to dunk in a pastry, this is where the churro comes in to play. It was the best pick me up ever! Then we took another well deserved siesta before we had a paella dinner. Paella is pretty famous in Valencia. The traditional Paella Valenciana has seafood and rabbit in it. Somewhat unfortunately, the restaurant was out of paella valenciana so I was unable to taste rabbit. Our paella was decent, I think I can find better though. Then we had chocolate con churros!!!! Heaven in a mug con churros is what the name should be! By the time we finished out amazing dessert it was after midnight so we made our way back to the hostel and slept soundly with chocolate con churro dreams (or at least I had those).

Sunday (1/24)

I had a nice bacon and cheese sandwich and fresh-squeezed Valencia orange juice to start my morning. Then we jumped on a bus and headed back down to La ciudad de las artes y ciencias. This time we went to the regular science museum. They had some strange stuff for an art museum like a superheros exhibit?? But it was pretty fun, I was exhausted though from all the stuff we had been doing! After we got some lunch and headed back for siesta. Then we decided to go to a flamenco show. My absolute favorite part of the weekend! I love watching flamenco because it is spontaneous and even though there is a singer, musicians and a dancer there is no sheet music. They all just basically do what comes to them from the beat of the music. I think I find it so amazing because logically it seems like the end result of no sheet music or anything like that would be chaos but the result is incredibly brilliant. I took some video but I don't think that it will give the show justice. I highly recommend that you all see a flamenco show if you get the chance especially if you are lucky enough to see it in Spain!! After a long long weekend we had some noodles from Wok to Walk which is a great idea for a restaurant-customized noodles to go. It was delicious and just what we needed! Then of course we slept!!

Monday (1/25)

I was on a bus for 7 hours so the highlight of my day was the pastry I had for breakfast.