Mallorca

So I am currently in the middle of my second spring break thanks to a wonderful tradition that Sevilla has (more on that later). To kick off the twelve classless days, I finally went to Mallorca with my interest group! With everything arranged, like hotels, meals, flights and tours, all I had to do was get to the airport and enjoy. We left late Thursday night, so it didn't really hit me that I was on a beautiful island until the morning, but walking into the hotel was a riot. Basically Mallorca is a little Germany. The Germans have the money to vacation in Europe, and a lot of the time people will use German as the first language. Also, in the areas that are full of hotels and resorts, the 65+ age group runs the show. So upon arriving in the hotel I was dying of excitement because the lobby consisted of a dance floor with a disco ball and a game of Bingo! It was hilarious! The old people staying at the hotel, aka everyone but my group, were up late dancing choreographed dances led by a man who also was the bingo caller. Despite my attempts to convince the group to stay in and play Bingo, we ended up hitting the beach and bars at night and then resting up for our first big day in Mallorca.

I have come to appreciate hotel buffet breakfasts during my trip because Spain doesn't really do my favorite meal of the day. This one was a little so-so, but it was still a good way to start the day, because none of us knew just how bad the tour was going to be that morning. Since it was a trip led by my program, there had to be some academic things involved other than going to the beach. So to begin the trip we took a bus to the center of Palma (a city in Mallorca) and met up with our tour guide Lola. Usually I love personal tours because I find the history to be fascinating, but Lola was by far the worst guide ever. She took us to the most pointless places and talked on and on about nothing all that interesting and her tour lasted for four hours! But overall Palma was beautiful. It has a lot of modern aspects to the architecture, especially with influences from Gaudí. The cathedral was surprisingly incredible, with a main altar piece similar to Sagrada Familia's and another altar piece looked like nothing you would expect to find in a church. After Lola finally let us go on our way, my friends and I went back to enjoy the beaches on the Mediterranean!

Here is an example of a little touch of Gaudí that can be found in Palma

This is the cathedral in Palma. If you look to the left, you can see the
blue waters of the Mediterranean

This is a Gaudí design in the cathedral 

Parts of the cathedral were very strange. This almost
looked like cave paintings

Day two of my Mallorca trip involved some beautiful sights that were like nothing I had ever seen before. My group had the opportunity to take a boat to an island called the Isla de Cabrera which was one hour off of the coast of Mallorca. The island is a national park in Spain so it is very well preserved. Only one family actually lives there, and I wasn't even allowed to throw away my apple core! We took a rocky boat ride through the turquoise waters to get to the island that left me feeling a little queasy, but the feeling quickly left when I set foot onto the beautiful park. We met up with a guide that led us on a short hike up to the castle on top of the hill. I guess the island was used for military reasons in the past, and there are some french soldiers buried there from when Napoleon controlled Spain. The views from the top were crazy cool, and on the way down we took a different route that led us to the beach. The boat tour included lunch, so we were fed a lovely paella lunch on the shore. In typical Spanish fashion, when we got back to Mallorca our bus was running late---like almost two hours late, but we had the beach and made the best of it. My interest group leader Cristina taught us the spanish equivalent of dodgeball, and I am still confused about the rules. There was something about getting out you had one chance to throw and hit the other team to save yourself...none of us really knew, we just went along with it and of course Cristina's team won!

Here is the cute little port where we caught our boat

Here I am with my friends Sara and Kim during the boat ride. We eventually
turned around to hang over the edge and ride with our feet in the water

Here is the castle we hiked up to

This is a cemetery where soldiers are buried

Here I am sitting on a castle perched on a cliff
on the Mediterranean

This was my view sitting on the beach all afternoon

Down the beach from our hotel was this giant bar/amusement park/club/I don't even know that was all German run. As a group, we spent our last night first having drinks with our feet in the sand, and later taking a trip to the infamous Mega Park. It was so fun to go out and dance with all of my friends, even if I didn't know any of the German songs. Lucky for us, at the end of the night with our tummies rumbling, we stumbled upon a little hut that sold Bratwurst! Only in Germany...or Mallorca...or whatever country I was in! Anyways, I am so glad I gave into the Janssen Father's Day tradition and tried a brat this past summer, or I would have been missing out! It had this curry sauce on it and it was hot and yummy! I guess you can say that the typical "Mallorca" food is anything from bratwurst to wiener schnitzel. Good thing I didn't plan a trip to Germany this semester, Mallorca did the trick just fine! 

Waking up on our last morning in Mallorca was relaxing because we had the entire day to just relax without any tours or obligations. Good thing the hotel was just a five minute walk from the beach. I grabbed my towel, book, sunscreen and snacks and set up shop for the day. The weather was absolutely perfect and the beach had views of the mountains and the blue water still never ceased to amaze me! With a late flight, getting back to Sevilla was a little rough, especially after waiting for the airport bus for an hour to get me back to my apartment. But after a weekend in paradise I couldn't complain---well I do have one complaint: nobody wanted to go to Rafael Nadal's home town with me! He grew up a half hour away from where I was staying! It was cool to see where he came from, because everyone was so friendly and relaxed. I wasn't too upset because I of course knew his schedule before hand and he was in Barcelona for a tournament. So I guess I will just have to wait a little more for our paths to finally cross! 

This pretty much sums up my last day on the island paradise

So now I am just casually watching Champions League soccer and listening to horses trot along outside my window. Sevilla has been turned into a whole new world for Feria, and I am lucky enough to have the whole week to enjoy it! 

God created some beautiful things :)

caracoles

It is caracoles season in Sevilla folks! What does “caracoles” mean you ask? SNAILS. And now after just a couple of weeks they have been my dinner 4 times!

With time winding down here in Spain, I am determined to explore new parts of the city. I know there are more “firsts” left for me here, and caracoles are just another crazy food to add to the list. The bar down the street from my apartment is known for their caracoles, and my señora is one of their biggest customers. To my surprise the other day, I came home to find a giant bag of snails crawling around in our kitchen sink! Elisa said she had over 2 kilos of caracoles! This was for the big dinner that we had at our apartment for the student who lived in my room two years ago. Basically, along with the snails, Elisa made every other strange food that I have tried since being here! After a little bit of jamón and queso, we had squid eggs, fried whole squid, anchoas aka the little fishies that I have to take the head and spine out of, and a type of fried fish with olive oil and vinegar. It was a feast! That along with 2 kilos of caracoles had us all stuffed full. It was fun to hear stories from the other student about her time living with Elisa and Monolo and also to just talk and laugh over a big table of food. I know I will miss Elisa’s cooking when I head out in a few weeks!

Here are my new little friends chilling in the sink! 

Caracoles are cooked in a broth with spices and then you have to pinch the bodies with your teeth and slurp them out! You also take “chupitos” or shots of the broth when you are done! This time around I decided I had to take a picture, this way everyone who knew me as a fifteen year old will believe what I have been eating!

I was happy to stick around Sevilla this past weekend to just enjoy the weather, the river, the shopping, my books, etc. I also had a wonderful time with a good friend from Madison who came to visit while he is studying abroad in London. It was another weekend of playing tour guide, and getting to experience some of my favorite places in Sevilla again!

The Alcazar has never looked so beautiful with all the flowers in full bloom! I also found the peacocks that live in the garden for the first time! Our visit to the Parque de María Luisa was also lovely with a bunch of beautiful flowers and the smell of “azahar” or orange blossoms.

At least 3 peacocks live in the gardens of the Alcazar!

Here are some flowers in the Parque de María Luisa
I come here to read all the time!

Now after a weekend spent with good friends, I am starting my third to last week of class in Sevilla and getting ready for my big trip to Mallorca! Minus the time passing too fast, I have no complaints here in Sevilla! 

Semana Santa

So let me just start by saying that everything that happened for Semana Santa this week in Sevilla just fascinated me! Sevilla is known for its elaborate celebrations that revolve around Holy Week---it is definitely the most important week of the year for the people here. There is so much tradition involved, the people are so proud, and I have never seen the streets so alive!

It is hard to describe, but I will do my best! Basically starting on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter Sunday there are "processions" or "pasos" that different churches put on that travel throughout the city. It seemed like a parade, each with two floats, and the "floats" were carried by a group of men whose feet you could see underneath. The pasos contain images or statue-like portrayals of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Each church that participates has a unique image that is an old and priceless part of the processions. You can visit the images at any point during the year at their prospective churches.

During the week, the city never sleeps. The pasos can occur at any hour and when they do, the people know where to find them and flood to see them. They have publications and even iPhone aps with maps and the timing of each procession during the week. It was exhausting trying to figure out which paso was going to be out, and the best place to watch them. Unfortunately if it rains the whole thing is called off because the statues are so priceless that they don't want to ruin them. And of course it rained just about every day in Sevilla during Holy Week--¡Qué lástima!--but a good number of processions were still able to go out through the city during the dry hours.

I got back to Sevilla just in time for the most important day of Semana Santa which is Holy Thursday. Unfortunately it rained during the prime procession hours so I had called it a night early. But thanks to a late night call from my friend Martha who had been watching the news all night, I was able to get my butt out of bed and head to the bridge in Triana to stake out a spot for one of the most important processions of the week. Each paso leaves from their "home" church and takes a route that always passes by the cathedral before returning. My neighborhood of Triana has a paso called "La Esperanza de Triana" that leaves at 2 o'clock in the morning of the "madrugada" or dawn of Good Friday. Martha and I got to our spot a little before 1 o'clock and there was only one group of people sitting on folding chairs in front of us! It was so worth it to get there because the whole experiences was like nothing I could ever repeat.

La Esperanza de Triana is a big procession that includes over 2,000 nazarenos. Even though it left the Esperanza church at 2 o'clock it didn't arrive to where we stood until 3---and that was just a short walk down the street! It said that the length of the paseo was 75 minutes which is the time it takes for the entire thing to pass you--this includes the two images and two thousand nazarenos. During this time there was a constant flow of nazarenos which gave me chills! First the image of Jesus is carried past, and next the image of the virgin who is this case is called La Esperanza. There is also a marching band that walks by with each image. This is the same for each procession, but the Esperanza was special to me because it was in my neighborhood and it occurred under the light of a full moon. Wow. We were standing from 1 to 4 in the morning and my body was numb from the cold by the end but it was so worth it!

Now I will let the pictures do the talking:

Erie picture of some of the 2,000 nazarenos that walked by me!
They were men of any age and most were barefoot. 

Mix of emotions! A little freaked out and excited at the same time!

Here is Jesus carrying the cross. You can see how brilliant the images
are with the gold and silver. Keep in mind that they are very heavy
and carried through the city for miles by a group of men!

I felt like a kid waiting for La Esperanza to pass! Everyone watching
gasps and shouts ¡Qué guapa! or "How Beautiful" at la Virgen.
She was truly stunning with the candles and the flowers. 

Here is a little something on the nazarenos: They really are the heart of Sevilla's Holy Week because of the brotherhood. They are centered around doing public acts of service and public penance. There is so much work that goes into preparing for Holy Week, and it centers on the work of the nazarenos. There is no age restriction, you just have to be baptised, and women are now allowed in some brotherhoods. It is a very prestigious thing to be a nazareno in a procession for the sevillanos. I have heard of people who sign their sons up at age one because the longer you have been in the brotherhood, the closer you get to be to the images. It was common to see parents pushing their little nazareno in a stroller during the procession. I am still confused about the outfits, but people in Spain don't associate the hooded men with the same group as Americans do so I just had to roll with it! 

La Esperanza de Triana was by far my favorite experience of Holy Week, but I also saw two more processions---one during the day in Triana on Good Friday, and the other today on Easter while I was sitting by the river. 

Purple nazarenos

Another image of Jesus carrying the cross. This particular one
is known as the Hunchback. 

This procession is called "La O" and leaves from a church in Triana
As soon as she got to us it started to sprinkle and she passed under a
rainbow. It was a surreal way to end the procession. 

I spent Easter sitting by the river with an attempt at Easter Candy.
We were lucky to have the chance to catch another procession
before the week ended. Watching from the river provided a cool view. 

I am so glad that I got to spend a good portion of the week experiencing this really captivating week. Every time I went to a procession I felt like a little kid---just the anticipation for the pasos was so fun! It was also cool to see all the people out and about. Some even wore traditional outfits on Good Friday that were black with intricate veils. For Easter Sunday the clouds finally parted for good and everyone enjoyed the sunshine. It was a special Easter for me experiencing another culture's way of celebrating. I went to mass with my friend Erin to finish off the day. 

I took some videos of the paseo de Esperanza de Triana that are definitely worth watching. Consider it an Easter gift! 

Just a little clip of the nazarenos walking!
These guys took over the town over the past week it was crazy!
Especially with the rain and fewer processions, they just kept on their garb
and casually walked around with their families. 

Here is the first paso that I saw 

Jesus carrying the cross

Can't even describe how it felt to watch La Esperanza go by
Everyone in the crowd was so in awe and had so much energy at 4 am.
Seriously. The silver sparkling under the full moon. Unreal.

Well Easter is about to come to a close in Sevilla and I am celebrating by nibbling on some of the incredible chocolate that I bought in Barcelona. I don't know how it lasted me so long with my sweet tooth but it is soon to be long gone. Tomorrow back to reality. Only three more weeks of classes before exam week. Talk about crazy! 

Spring Break Part 2: Barça

On Sunday I hopped on a bus in the morning to head to Barcelona. Barça is the capital of the providence of Cataluña and it is situated right on the Mediterranean. I originally considered studying abroad in Barcelona, but the program didn't work for me, so I was excited to see what I was missing! Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and it is on the beach, so it was hard to compare to Sevilla. But with its unique traits like Gaudí's architecture, I enjoyed every minute of my two and a half days there!

Right off the bat I headed up to a place called Park Güell with my group of friends. This was one of my favorite spots in the whole city. It is a Gaudí creation that is situated more up on a mountain so it has great views of the city. It was originally supposed to be something like a housing community and it felt like I was walking around the game board of Candy Land!

Here are two of the houses and a view of Barcelona

You could climb up and stand on the balcony too!

Gaudí uses a lot of colorful mosaics 

After coming back from the park, we enjoyed a great tapas dinner and took it easy to get ready for a full day of sight seeing. There was rain on the forecast for Tuesday, so we had big plans for Monday to get everything in!

Monday morning was full of Gaudí. For those who are not familiar, Gaudí was an architect who did a lot of works in Barcelona and had a very distinct style. He was inspired a lot by nature and religion and used a lot of glass and ceramics. Just walking the streets of Barcelona you can pick out buildings that he designed because they are colorful and have a very different shape and form. First we walked by Sagrada Familia, his absolutely breath taking cathedral and after we went into one of the apartment buildings he was commissioned to design called La Pedrera. The roof of this building was very appealing to me because it is known for looking like it is full of melting ice cream cones! Admission let us get on top for more great views of Barça and later we got to see what an apartment was like. 

Here is the outside of La Pedrera

The roof of La Pedrera had a bunch of weird sculptures that looked
like twist cones from Dairy Queen! 

Here I am wishing that I really was standing in
front of that much ice cream!

While waiting in line to get into the apartment building, we saw a little sign that looked like a cupcake, and thank goodness we decided to check it out afterwards! Sevilla and the rest of Spain has great pastries, but nothing that is really like cake. So of course I have been dying for a Sweet Impressions cupcake or something of the sorts. When we walked in I wasn't all that optimistic until I saw the sign for "Red Velvet" cupcakes. Wow was I excited and had my wallet out in about 2.5 seconds. It was only about 11 o'clock in the morning but I enjoyed that cupcake so much! 

Jealous anyone?? The frosting was phenomenal. Actually the best I have
ever had. I felt like I said that about a lot of the food I ate on the trip!

The morning of sweets wasn't finished with the cupcake! My friend Martha's brilliant guide book insisted that we visit a chocolate shop called Cacao Sampaka that is owned by the brother of Ferran Adriá---world famous chef from the Basque country in Spain. The shop was fantastic. I am currently nibbling on some dark chocolate with sea salt from Ibiza. To die for! I also had a wafer-like chocolate bar during my picnic lunch which was by far the best Kit-Kat I have ever had! Spending the morning with Gaudí and sweets was definitely a good start to the day. 

For our afternoon activity, my friend Martha and I decided to grab some sandwiches and have a picnic up on Montjuic. Basically Montjuic is a beautiful park complex on a mountain in the city that has a castle on top. We spent hours walking around under the sun---perfect way to spend the afternoon! 

Here is the entrance to the castle that is on the top of the mountain.
We had to take a cable car ride to get to the top! The castle looked out
over the Mediterranean on one side, and over the city on the other. 

We decided to walk down instead of taking another cable car ride. While
walking we came across the "Mirador" which had great views of the water

Montjuic also had some Olympic stadiums and art museums that we walked around until it started to get dark! After we took the metro back to the hostel and cooked dinner with the rest of our group of friends. We had a spaniard traveling with us and he made some fantastic fajitas! That and a couple of bottles of wine provided a great time for laughs and food while saving us a bunch of money. The kitchen had a cool atmosphere in the hostel because it was full of people from all over the world cooking food, eating together and sharing experiences. 

Here is a picture of our dinner in the hostel. The veggies were all fresh
from the market down the street and it was delicious!

The hostel had a bar in the basement, so we ended up hanging out there all night with our new friends from places like Australia, Germany and Canada! In the morning we went back to Sagrada Familia to beat the lines and actually get to see the inside. It was a great start to a rainy day! 

Sagrada Familia is a basilica designed by Gaudí that still isn't completed. Despite lacking about ten towers, it was such a compelling building--like nothing I had ever seen before! I just couldn't believe that it was a church because it was so modern. Of all the places I have been to, this is the one that I really wasn't able to capture fully with my camera. Seriously people, put this on your list of things to see during your lifetime! 

Here is the outside of the Sagrada Familia. The cranes are
there because they are constantly working on finishing it. 

The ceiling was so incredibly cool that I couldn't stop looking up!
I felt like I was in the middle of a forrest. 

This is the piece hanging over the main altar

The stained glass was gorgeous, and there were many
windows that still needed to be completed. 

One thing that really struck me about Sagrada Familia was just how different it was from all of the other churches I have seen so far. There were even turtles at the bottom of some of the columns. It almost felt  refreshing because of its modern interpretation of what a cathedral should look like. It had so many places set aside for prayer and encouraged all of the visitors to take a moment and pray. 2 years ago the Pope came to Sagrada Familia and consecrated it as a minor basilica. Really there is nothing "minor" about it! It has an estimation completion date of 2026...do you think I can book my flights for a return visit now?? 

After getting in and out of the Sagrada Familia early in the morning, Martha and I took shelter for a bit while we waited to meet up with our tour guide for the day: mi amigo Karl from high school! Karl and I took spanish together for all four years and he is studying abroad in Barcelona this semester. After seeing most of the sights in preparation for the rain, it was great to have someone who knew the city just walk us around for the day---and that is exactly what we did! Meeting up with Karl started a day that wasn't anything like what I expected, and still one of my favorite days in Spain. 

We started our rainy tour while walking around the Gothic district of Barcelona which has the Cathedral and a bunch of cute little streets. One of my favorite places that we visited was the Mercat de la Boqueria. I have visited a lot of markets in Spain and this one was by far my favorite! Probably because it had a lot of sweets including chocolate, gelato, and a ton of fruit! 

Everything in the market was so colorful! It was also indoors which made
it the perfect stop on a rainy day. 

Here is a picture of the cactus fruit that I tried!
It was just too bright and fun to resist!

The market is located on the Ramblas which is a main street that goes all the way to the beach so we walked down to check out that neighborhood. Karl told us that a lot of it was man-made for the Olympics in 1992. It is also where a lot of the clubs in Barcelona are located. They have little buildings on the sidewalk and then you walk down and parts are on the sand. On our way to the beach we stopped at a little sandwich place for lunch called Bo de B. The sandwiches were similar to a chipotle burrito, but with fresh bread instead of a tortilla. The meat was cooked right there for you and all of the vegetables were so fresh. I had chicken, feta cheese, tomatoes, corn, rice, peppers, avocado y más! 

Here I am holding the best sandwich I have ever had
in all of my life. No exaggeration. 

To continue our tour we walked back up to the Parc de la Ciutadella where the Arc de Triomf is located. The parc was right by our hostel and it was gorgeous. Unfortunately because of the rain and the sandy dirt paths, it felt like we were sinking while we walked around, but that didn't stop us! 

Here is the wonderful fountain in the park. The statue on top was bright
gold, and you could see it from far away.

Martha and I by the Arc de Triomf

With Karl as our guide, we were able to explore more of Barcelona that I ever could have with a map! After our six hour walking tour, we took a break to prepare for a night of watching FC Barcelona vs. AC Milan in a Champion's League quarter final match---aka I was in heaven! Karl took us to a cool bar with tons of screens to watch and a menu full of greasy game-watching food. Nachos, wings, pizza...We even met up with a couple more friends from Sevilla who had gotten to Barça that day. It was a great game and a great win for Barça

Here I am with the group watching the fútbol game. It was a great mix
of new and old friends in a perfect game environment. 

After the game was over was the beginning of the most unexpected and fantastic night I could have asked for. My friend Michael wanted to go to a fountain on the Ramblas because his professor told him that all of the Barça fans went to drink from it after a victory. Well, Michael was misinformed and we were the only ones there, but it led us to this little Irish bar that said they were having live music at midnight. I couldn't have been happier with the style of music. The musician whose name was Kal reminded me so much of my favorite Rich Larson, just with a spanish accent! In Spain, a lot of the music is played with classical guitar, so it was fun to see a guy get up and play the acoustic to songs that I was familiar with. He also encouraged the people in the audience to come up and play with him, and finally Karl's friend Charles got up to play a song. This spiraled into basically a duet show with Charles and Kal playing great music for hours. To cap off the night, Charles asked Kal to play a chord progression on the guitar, Karl to "drop a beat," and the tree of them together improvised a song! They were incredible and I had so much fun sitting and watching them play from the front row all night! 

Here is the wonderful and talented trio playing the best song of the night!

Overall my trip to Barcelona capped off such a memorable spring break. It was so fun to meet up with an old friend--we hadn't seen each other since graduation---and the week was full of wonderful surprises! On the way back from Barcelona, while looking out onto the cloudy sky, I once again had the feeling that I was so ready to return "home." I loved Barcelona and Valencia, but Sevilla still feels like the best fit for me. All of my travels have blessed me with this realization. 

I'll leave you with some musical entertainment! 

Unfortunately my battery was running low and I couldn't record the whole song

It was so impressive that these guys could throw this together after just having met!

Spring Break Part 1: Valencia

Having the week off from class, I decided to plan a trip around Spain. First stop: Valencia, the birthplace of paella and the third largest city in Spain.

Planning this trip was the first time I had to book flights on my own and plan out all the details like hostels, how to get to and from the airport, etc. The trip involved two towns on the Mediterranean, and I was lucky to have all the travel go very smoothly!

On Friday night I boarded my first flight on an airline called Ryanair. It is a low budget airline that does flights around Europe. You can find tickets as low as 10 euro, although unfortunately mine weren't quite that cheap! But it was a funny experience because since they are so low budget, they try so hard to make money in other ways. For example, if you are not a citizen of the European Union, you have to get your boarding pass stamped at their window before heading up to the gate. If you fail to do so they charge you something like fifty euro as you are boarding. Also, your bag has to fit into the metal box that they bring around before boarding, or you will be charged again. They also have the flight attendants walk around selling perfume, smokeless cigarettes and lottery tickets. At the end they play a ridiculous song that ends with "Another Ryanair flight on time," but they never actually tell you what time you are supposed to arrive! Also, the seats aren't assigned so everyone watches the board for the gate to be announced and as soon as they do it is a stampede for the gate to get a good seat. So funny. The flight from Sevilla to Valencia was only one hour so although we flew out a little late, we arrived at our hostel around 10pm aka dinner time in Spain. I was so proud after I found the hostel without a problem by taking the metro from the airport to the center of the city!

Valencia's hostel experience was my first ever, and it was interesting to say the least! I was with my friend Allyson and we booked a private room because it was such a short stay. The man at the reception started off by telling us about all of the cool rooms in the hostel, because each has a theme. There was a jungle room, a Sevilla flamenco room, and then our room...apparently it was the only room left when we checked it. Allyson and I were stuck with the "Sexy Love" room! Leopard blankets, disco balls, mirrors on the ceiling...I think a picture will sum it up much better:

This bed was actually very comfortable, and I
slept great! 

I think the mirror on the ceiling was the best part!

Since we only had one full day in Valencia, we were up and out the door early to get as much in as possible. The hostel had breakfast included, which was so comforting, especially because it had milk and cereal! I had a couple bowls each morning, and we ate with a group of British students who were staying with us for the weekend.

Our hostel was located in the historical center of the city, so we started by walking around to the main sights like the cathedral, towers, the main plazas and government buildings. The center of the city was so pretty with crisp white buildings, flowers, beautiful fountains and an ice cream shop every five steps (and of course I couldn't resist grabbing a dish)!

View of the city of Valencia from the towers we climbed

This is the main Plaza de la Virgen. There was a health fair going on with
tents and people walking around in white jackets. Also, the fountain was
filled with bubbles for reasons we never figured out!

Here I am enjoying the bubbles and sunshine!

The main altarpiece in the Catedral de Valencia

Here I am in la Plaza del Ayuntamiento. This is where a lot of the
government buildings in Valencia are located. It is a big open space
with pretty white buildings and a lot of flowers in bloom.

We took a trip to the market and found some treasures.
"Conejo" means rabbit, and it is what makes the paella
in Valencia so good-eaten without the eyes of course!

We had "pinchos" at a cute little spot for lunch. With
this style of tapas, you walk up and grab what little
bread you want. When you go pay, they count your
toothpicks to determine how much you owe. 

After touring the historic center, we took a bus to the "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" or the "City of Arts and Sciences" which is this huge modern complex in Valencia with art museums, iMax theaters, aquariums, science museums, etc. They even had exhibits like the anthropology of sports and Indiana Jones. We spent all afternoon there because it was just so big! Walking around was like being in a completely different world in the future. Everything was big and white and really just plain weird looking.

This was one of my favorite buildings. It is called the "Palau de les Arts."

I felt like I was on the set of Star Wars!

We went into Oceanográfic, which was the huge aquarium. They had
exhibits from a bunch of different ecosystems like the
Mediterranean, tropical, arctic, and more. 

While walking around, there was water all around you as
you traveled to the different ecosystems. 

At the Oceanográfic we saw penguins, sharks, walrus, strange birds, a ton of different fish, sea horses, dolphins and more! There was a free dolphin show that we got to watch and it was so impressive. The dolphins would jump into the air and spin around three times or throw one of their trainers in the air and they would spin too! After we saw all the different ecosystems, we went to the beach. It was nothing special because although it is seventy degrees, it still isn't beach season in Spain yet. Next we took the metro back to our hostel for a needed rest before dinner. 

Now dinner really was the main event of the trip. Valencia is credited as the birthplace of paella. While planning my trip I wanted to see a lot of Spain, and the paella is what brought me to Valencia. Allyson and I were starving and found a cute little restaurant to eat "Paella Valenciana." It is known for having chicken and rabbit meat, so I decided to forget about the images of the "conejos" from the market while enjoying the delicious dish! I had been looking forward to this paella for weeks and knew after the first bite that the entire trip to Valencia was worth it! Unfortunately, eating paella in Sevilla won't be able to live up to it ever again. The flavor is so hard to describe but it was incredible! They even grow their own rice in Valencia. 

Here it is in all of its glory!

Yes, Allyson and I finished an entire paella on our own.
It definitely lived up to my expectations!

After dinner, Allyson and I went back to our "Sexy Love" room to rest up for traveling the next day. Valencia was my first encounter with "Catalán" which is another language/dialect in Spain. It isn't really correct to call it a dialect, because it is a language of its own. It is basically a mix between Spanish and French. Of course in Valencia they don't say they speak Catalán, rather "Valenciano." But we noticed that although all of the signs in places like the metro and on the street were in Valenciano, everyone spoke Spanish which is known as "Castellano" in Spain.

In the morning we got up, enjoyed breakfast with our British friends, and headed to the bus stop for our 4 hour trek to Barcelona, where Catalán is the official language. But more on that trip later!