Valencia

Still a bit worn out, we spent most of our first day in Valencia relaxing and getting our bearings. We grabbed some delicious tapas for lunch and read/rested much of the day. Later in the evening, we ventured out for dinner in the downtown area, promising ourselves we would return to the cute area for helado the next night. It was full of restaurants, street performers, and people out for a night stroll. The buildings in Valencia light up at night, making the overall scene very beautiful...it almost looks like allthe buildings have a golden shine to them. We passed a bull ring - lit up as well, making it majestic in a way. We had already decided that we would NOT be stepping inside to watch a show while we are in Spain despite the cultural significance. We just don´t have the stomach for the brutality. But from the outside, it was quite beautiful.

Day two in Valencia we spent at the beach. It was farther than the beach at San Sebastian, a bus ride in fact. We had both forgotten our towels...how? Not so sure. But not all was lost, for when we got there, we noticed chairs with cushions strewn about the beach. Of course we had to pay for them, but it was worth it...the sand was intolerably hot...as was the sun (even Ashley put on sunscreen.) The water, on the other hand, was GORGEOUS. The perfect mix of refreshment, yet warm enough to stroll right in without cringing, or even hesitating. It wasn´t a long day at the beach - neither of us could have tolerated the heat for the whole day. No wonder why they take a siesta in Spain...at that time of the day, it´s just too hot to be alive, let alone moving. So while we were in Spain, we did as the Spanish do, we went back to the hostel to take a relaxing siesta in our air-conditioned room.

We cooked up the rest of our pasta for dinner with some spinach and chicken croquettes on the side. As we promised ourselves, we put on our dresses for the first time this trip and made our way back downtown to treat ourselves to some helado (ice cream). It was SOOOO good...creamy and sweet, but not too sweet...perfect really. I´m curious to see how it compares to gelato in Italy.

That rounds up our stay in Valencia for the most part. We mostly looked forward to Valencia as a calm, relaxing trip, and that´s exactly what we got. We needed that rest, especially considering day three consisted of an 8-plus hour train ride to Sevilla. While you might think that would be relaxing, it´s far from it. In fact, we are most exhausted on our travel days, and this particular train was not exactly what you would consider "clean" and comfortable. On a specifically non-smoking train (as most of them are), we had one passenger in particular, in our car (lucky us), who decided he was above the rules. It got to the point where we even switched our seats to another cabin due to the lack of oxygen in ours. However, although the ride wasn´t exactly fabulous, we got to Sevilla both safely and without problems.

Onto the next post for more about Sevilla!!