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:
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| This bed was actually very comfortable, and I slept great! |
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| 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)!
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| View of the city of Valencia from the towers we climbed |
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| 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! |
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| Here I am enjoying the bubbles and sunshine! |
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| The main altarpiece in the Catedral de Valencia |
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| 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. |
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| 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! |
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| 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.
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| This was one of my favorite buildings. It is called the "Palau de les Arts." |
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| I felt like I was on the set of Star Wars! |
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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| Here it is in all of its glory! |
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| 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!
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