Valencia

The second week of December we had a break from school called: El Puente. It literally means "bridge" because there is a holiday on Wednesday and then one on Friday -- so a "bridge" from Wednesday to Friday of holiday I suppose!

We decided to head to a warmer part of Spain for El Puente. Originally we wanted to go to Granada, but we looked too last minute into it and the affordable hostels were gone. I was kind of kicking myself for that, as I usually book more in advance but was thinking winging it would be fine this time since we'd stay within Spain. Nope -- should've known since it is a Spanish holiday after all and Granada is in Spain. Lesson learned.

Anyways, there was plenty of space in Valencia so we headed there instead! Not sure why there was room there and not in Granada, but it could have been because Valencia is the third largest city in Spain and since it's close to the beach, people were less inclined to go there since it was December. Who knows? Either way, we ended up having a great weekend there!

I got there before Willa and Erin, as they weren't able to buy their bus tickets online before going because of phone issues (the bank would send a text and we'd have to enter that number into the computer to confirm the purchase of the ticket). Thankfully mine worked just fine and they were able to get train tickets to arrive at almost the same time. They actually arrived slightly later, but because I had to walk about 40 minutes from the bus station to the hostel, and the hostel we stayed at is in the train station, they beat me there by about 5 minutes! I had a really nice walk over though - it was much warmer in Valencia than in Madrid, so I thoroughly enjoyed walking to the hostel and through some really nice places (like above, this is the courtyard in front of the library).

As I mentioned, our hostel (Up Hostel) was located in the train station (train station featured above)! It was really conveniently located for that, and was just a short walk away from old town. I really liked our hostel, it was just a bit hot at night and there wasn't great ventilation to help with that. None of use found the trains to be an issue of noise, so despite reviews saying to the contrary we slept well! Plus, it was nice to have a change of weather - I'd rather be hot than cold like in Madrid!

With half the day left, Erin and I set off on a long walk to Museum of Science and Arts complex. Willa wasn't feeling well so she stayed behind at the hostel and took a nap. On the way over, we also ran across this random play structure at Gulliver Park. It literally is Gulliver on the ground, and then kids (and bigger kids aka adults) can climb all over this massive structure. We had a good time (see below, Erin's happy face). It was quite a gem to find.

In the end, we actually ended up going to see the Aquarium though instead of the Science and Arts museums: L'Oceanografic. I am so glad Erin was as excited as I was to visit this aquarium -- I love aquariums! And Oceanografic is the largest aquarium in Europe! We did have to pay over 20 euros to get in (even with our student discount) but it was so worth it. There are other free museums, but we prioritized the BIGGEST AQUARIUM IN EUROPE!! We also saw a beautiful sunset and colorful skies on the way over. It made the Science and Art complex look even more futuristic!

We stayed at the aquarium until they kicked us out at closing time. We were surprised they were ushering us out so fast, even from the gift shop! We're used to gift shops staying open a bit longer than the actual aquarium since that's a huge money maker, but they were really trying to get us out! It's understandable they want to go home, but we were just so surprised by it. Erin and I were both saying we would have spent more money there buying things if they hadn't pushed us out so fast. Well, the loss is on them.

And anyways we saw so many amazing animals! We even saw a Beluga Whale and her baby! Erin got to see a dolphin show for the first time. As soon as I figure out how to upload videos to Wix, I will share one of her exuberant reaction to this experience. We were also both totally entranced by the jellyfish - I'm so glad I've found someone who finds jellyfish as mesmerizing as I do!

After, we met up with Willa and we walked around looking for food. Since it was the holiday weekend, a lot of places were closed! We walked around for at least an hour before ending up at one place, but it was too expensive! In the end, we got Chinese food and it was cheap and delicious! I had these really amazing fried dumpling type things...so good. Then Willa and I walked back and Erin grabbed a taxi because she was tired.

Willa and I stayed up a bit later that night reading and chit chatting with some other people in the hostel. Then we went to bed to make sure we would get up in time for the free 11am walking tour.

However, there was so free walking tour at 11am! The tour guide never showered up, which was a bummer. But at the same time, we ended up meeting some new people because of the experience! They also had been waiting for the free tour, so when it didn't show up they ended up joining us on our journey to find food. We ended up at this really hipster cafe (so hipster they had a phone as a light - see below) and had healthy, yummy lunches.

After that, we split up. Willa and Erin wanted to rent bikes and bike around Valencia. I wanted to go on foot so I could take pictures and not worry about running into people while taking in my surroundings! So, I set off with Sofia and Alberto to wonder around Old Town.

There, we ran into another girl outside of the Valencia Cathedral whom I had met in the bathroom of our hostel named Martha! I had a great time with them exploring the city and chit chatting. They were all really friendly people, all of them solo traveling! I'm really glad I met them. We were all especially grateful Alberto was with us, because we blindly followed him from site to site as he took charge and made sure we didn't get lost. When he had to leave to catch his flight, us girls found ourselves caught off guard when we realized multiple times that we were just aimlessly walking and didn't know where we were going because we had gotten so used to following Alberto! Obviously, we just opened up Google Maps and did fine on our own, but we definitely noticed his absence in our little group. Thankfully, we all exchanged numbers so if we ended up in each other's areas of the world we could meet up again!

New friends: Martha, Sofia, (me ), Alberto

We hit the major sights in Valencia, including seeing the Holy Grail! I could only get so close so my picture isn't great, but there it is (below)!

Sadly, a lot of place in Valencia were closed for the holiday, so we only got to see the outside of some places like la Lonja de la Seda (The Silk Exchange). Sofia was really excited to see it, and was bummed when we couldn't get inside. We did get to see the outside of many places though, which also did have amazing exteriors. We also ran into Willa and Erin at this horchata place (below). Apparently in Valencia, they make horchata out of nut milk instead of rice milk. It was definitely sweeter than the horchata I've had in the states. For me, it was too sweet and I like the horchata I had in the states and Mexico a lot more, but I'm really glad I tried it at least!

We came back to the hostel in the evening for a rest. I invited Martha and Sofia to come with us (Alberto had left at this point for Madrid) and they ended up inviting another girl in their hostel room to come, so we had a nice big group at dinner. And it worked out because it was an even number of people, which allowed us all to get the dishes we wanted! I mention this because, we went to dinner specifically for Paella, which Valencia is known for as it supposedly is from Valencia. When you order Paella, you usually can't just order a plate of it - you have to order a massive dish of it and they won't serve it to you unless you have 2-3 people to share it with. So Erin and I shared a chicken Paella dish and the others were able to share as well!

IT WAS DELICIOUS! A bit salty, but I love salty food. It was much better than the paella I had in Malaga with Willa. That one was way to garlicy (at least for me).

In the morning, I got up early so I could go see Valencia's Central Market before I left, as it was on the way to the bus station. The other day, the girls and I had run into the Colon Market, which was beautiful, but I really wanted to see the Central Market still (I have a thing for markets). It had been closed the previous day, so I was glad that I got to see it on the way out! It was a huge market, pretty normal and full of meats, cheeses, fruits and veggies. I'm still glad I got to see it, as I would have regretted it otherwise. I got a pastry and a banana for breakfast there before continuing on my way back to the bus. I walked over the old Turia River bed (below) one last time before getting to the bus station.

Willa and Erin had decided to extend their stay for a night, but I was ready to move on. Even though I was tired from an early wake up, I was so excited to go to Calpe for the next few days! Valencia was a great start to the holiday weekend, and I'm sure I would have been happy there a couple more days too. But Willa had shown me pictures of Calpe, and my mind was made up! I wanted to go to this little beach town, enjoy the beach and hike! And I'm so, so glad I got to go after experiencing Valencia.