My first weekend trip outside of Madrid brought myself and Isabela to Valencia, Spain. Valencia is known for a couple of things; first, it is the birthplace of Spain's famous paella. I insisted on trying the paella while we were there, so on our very last day we went out to lunch and I got to try it. Having tried paella in a couple of different countries, I was not very impressed. Unlike Mexican paella, the rice was very wet and soggy, which I'm told is the opposite of Costa Rican paella too (something I think I would love). I ordered the Valencian paella which I think just means that it has meat in it and a bunch of saffron. I wished there was cactus in it for some reason, Mexican cooked cactus is so delicious.
The second thing that Valencia is famous for is the language that they speak. Now, commonly they speak Spanish, but Valencian's also speak Catalan, which is kind of like a derivative from Spanish and Latin. It's considered a romance language, and although a lot of Valencian's can speak it, you more commonly just see it on street signs and other old parts of the city, but everyone speaks Spanish for the most part. It was a little confusing at first when we were trying to find our hostel using street signs that said "calle", and not the Catalan word for street which is "carrer" or instead of "avenida" for a road, it is called a "carretera." Luckily Isabela has a compass-brain and can direct us out of anywhere we go simply by knowing which way is North. I could never get lost following around a personal compass... except for the one time when I did get lost and roamed around streets going all over trying to find our hostel. Then when I did show up at the hostel I found Isabela sitting on a stoop laughing at me, it was admittedly pretty funny.
The hostel we stayed at was a lot like a dorm. We had a room with four other strangers, from around the world. A french girl trying to find a place to live while studying abroad in Valencia, and a couple of girls who we think were Polish because they were speaking Polish. Part of me thinks they were just speaking Polish so that we couldn't understand because one of the girls screamed in her sleep in Spanish every night, which I think if you're Polish that is not a normal language to have sleep-talking fits in. The view from our hostel window was very nice, even though the heat felt deadly. I thought for a second that it was June in the Dominican Republic, instead of September in Spain.
Our first day, we woke up at 4am so that we could figure out how to get to the airport, since the metro is closed until 6am. We took a cab to a bus stop, and waited for the bus. We had never done it before, and I get nervous easily when it comes to being late for important things, so to ease my worries, instead of waiting 30 minutes and (in my head) cutting it close to our 7:30am flight, we took a cab again to the airport. Next weekend we will probably plan the bus better. The flight to Valencia took 35 minutes. I don't even think the flight reached altitude.
After getting to Valencia, Isabela wittingly navigated us to our hostel from the metro, through plazas and following very interesting directions that used landmarks like "turn right at the caja madrid" or "if you're by a fountain you're going the right way." When we got to the hostel we were very excited to get going but I was borderline hallucinating from exhaustion, and I fell asleep in the hostel's computer room while Isabela explored what to do in Valencia. Not only did the hostel have a computer room with free access, but it also had three floors of dorm-like rooms, community bathrooms, and a big kitchen where you could get paella and sangria every night. The first night there it was like there was a big party in the kitchen, there was loud music and people drinking and talking in all kinds of different languages.
After my 20 minute nap, Isabela and I went to an old river that no longer exists and has since been reconstructed into a long park. We followed the park for about 40 minutes in the hot sun, until we reached the several buildings which make up La Ciudad de Las Artes y Ciencias (The City of Arts and Sciences). La Ciudad holds a science museum, opera house, and the largest aquarium in Europe! We paid for a pass to explore everything. Most of our day was spent in the aquarium looking at penguins and beluga whales, or walking through tunnels with different fish, sharks and eels all around us.
Our passes included a dolphin show at the end of the day, and we explored a Marvel Comics exhibit in the science museum that I know my brother would be jealous of. We walked around life sized statues of the Hulk and Captain America, and colored pictures of super heroes at a childrens area for coloring. The buildings themselves looked like they were constructed to make one big fish, if you look at the picture, the opera house looks like the head of a fish.
This year La Cuidad was hosting fashion week in Valencia, and so we, by chance, got to explore where all of the models were being dressed, or getting their hair did, and we even got discounts at one of the shopping booths because it was the last day and so some things were on sale. When we were exploring we saw a naked girl getting her entire body painted like a dragon, that was really cool. I've never seen anything like that in person, just on TV.
The next day we spent 5 hours at the beach! I got a great tan, and a burn, and it was nice to absorb all of that yummy Vitamin D. It was Isabela's first time at the Mediterranean Sea, and I thoroughly enjoyed dipping my toes in the same Sea that has so much history and is connected to so many other countries that I love. People are just always topless or only wearing speedos. Europeans are way less self-conscious than Americans. Being naked at the beach in the U.S. is definitely not P.C.
Afterwards we went on a free walking tour of Valencia where we learned about history and saw many beautiful churches and learned about the local drink called Horchata (Orxata) which I got to drink the next day. It tastes like coconut juice of some kind.... but everyone is supposed to make their own opinion of it according to our tour guide.
The next day we slept in and went to Catholic mass at the cities largest and most beautiful church. I didn't see any Goya paintings inside, though we were told that there were. The altar was adorned in old paintings and gold. It was beautiful to look at and aside from the Creed or the Lord's Prayer, I didn't follow much of the service so I just stared around a lot. I wished that I could go to a Greek church for liturgy, I have yet to do so. But I imagine going to a service and praying at all is a lot more pleasing than not going to a church of any kind, so it was nice to get my fill of prayer in during a service. Below is a picture of the alter, I snuck it real quick before the service started.
We walked around and saw some cool sights before heading back to the metro and to the airport to complete our journey.
I realized on our weekend that I need to learn how to relax a little more. I am always worried about something or thinking "okay whats next." In silence, I talk instead of enjoying the sounds around me. I know that's normal for most people, but its something I'd like to change. Sufficed to say, I enjoyed the sights and laying on the beach and seeing the aquarium for the first time since I can remember. I also thoroughly enjoyed doing all of these things with Isabela, but that is nothing new.
Now my parents can know all about my exploring of the eastern coast of Spain. I'm sure it will not be my first time out there, since we are planning on going to Barcelona when Isabela's mom visits, but it was a great ice-breaker for traveling and flying in Europe!
More to come after we go to Morocco next weekend.
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