Our bus had WiFi on it which is awesome! I was able to catch up on the news and celeb gossip on my iPad and I also did some research on Valencia to know what I had to see.
After being back on the road again for a short while, we made our way to the resort town of Peñíscola. We had an hour and half to explore this town on our own. Of course the beach was super tempting, especially during this heat wave, but there was a castle overlooking the beach which I of course was more than happy to make the giant, hot climb up the many stairs and pay an a entrance fee to get a glorious aerial view of the beach and the mountains. But first, I bought some new shades for 7 euro. I tried bargaining with the girl but had no luck. I needed them so I paid up and kept going up to the castle. I was dripping in sweat by the time I got up to the top (so sexy), but the view was worth it. When I made my way back down, I was hungry and decided it was time to grab lunch. There were tons of restaurants lining the beach but they all had hot, heavy food. Yuck. I can't eat like that when I'm so hot. All I wanted was a big salad but no luck. And I don't think I'll find that here. Anywhere. I finally settled on a place and got a ham and cheese sandwich. It was like a grilled cheese and came with fries, onion rings, chips, toast with cream cheese, a croquette, and mushrooms. It was a ton of food (for only 6.50 euros) and I didn't finish it all, but what I did eat, tasted good and that's all that matters. Now full, I walked down to the beach so I could dip my toes in the Mediterranean again. This beach was totally different than Barceloneta because the sand was actually grainy like the beaches at home. I prefer beaches like this (plus the water was warm) than to other rocky Mediterranean beaches. However, similar to Barceloneta, there were lots of boobies again. Old, young, big, small, real, fake, perky, saggy, etc... Yeah, lots of boobies. Once again, my bro would have loved it. I could have stayed at the beach all day and just lounged but it was time to get back on the bus to continue on our way to Valencia (or ValenTHia as the locals say) where I proceeded to fall asleep again. When I woke up we were at our hotel in Valencia, a Westin.
I had read in a travel book that this hotel is one of the nicest hotels in town and I believed it, but it wasn't until I got to my room that I was totally blown away. My hotel room was huge!! It was literally the size of six of my apartments. There was a foyer leading to the main room with so much space. The bathroom was also enormous with a separate large room with just the toilet (and a phone next to it cause you just never know) and then another room with a separate bath and huge walk-in shower. OMG. This is probably the nicest hotel room I've ever been in. This is one of the main reasons I traveled with Insight. I know they use nice-ass hotels and that is something that is important to me.
Once I got over the excitement of my room, which I shared with my parents via FaceTime, I charged my phone a bit and then had about a half hour to myself to walk around before meeting up with the group. Let me tell you, it is fucking hot here. This heat wave is no joke, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on seeing things because of the heat. After my little walk, I met up with the group and we got on the bus and drove past the Ciudad de Los Artes y Los Ciencias. Toni gave us a ton of information on the architecture and economic impacts of all the buildings in that area. They are all absolutely gorgeous. Very modern yet with some Gaudi influences. However, they cost the city of Valencia tons of money and aren't doing anything to make any of it back. It's really quite an odd situation, but super pretty to look at.
Then it was off to the center of town for almost two hours on our own. I knew I wanted to see the Cathedral and then just kind of wander around; however I messed up. I could not for the life of me find it on the map but walked where I thought it was and went to where I thought it would be and assumed what I was seeing was the cathedral. Turns out I was wrong and had I just walked a few more blocks I would have gotten there. I'm kind of bummed about it but there is nothing I could do after the fact now. It's not like any church or cathedral will compare to La Sagrada Familia but I had read there was a bell tower that I could climb and see the city so kind go disappointed that I didn't get to do that. Boo. But I did walk around and see some other things though like the post office which has beautiful stained glass inside as well as the bull fighting ring (unfortunately it's not the season right now to get in), and the train station which has an outer decor of oranges which is cool. And then I stumbled upon some orange trees which got me excited because, you know, Valencia oranges. There were a few on the ground that I picked up and smelled and were so fragrant. I wouldn't dare eat one off the ground but still cool to see.
After seeing that stuff, I treated myself to some candy and then window shopped. I went in yet another Nike store. I even attempted trying on those sale leggings I didn't try on the other day but was too sweaty to get them above my calves. Guess it wasn't meant to be. Eventually, it was time to meet the group and head to dinner.
For dinner this evening, we were seeing a paella demonstration. I didn't realize it was going to be at an actual cooking school but it was. Myself and two others ladies volunteered to help out. We made paella, gazpacho, and horchata. After the demonstration was done, we got to eat. I didn't think I would like the paella but I did. However, the serving I ended up with had only one measly piece of chicken in it so I was still hungry after. The gazpacho was good and the horchata was decent too. I thought horchata was a Mexican drink but apparently it's made here too, just differently. It's made with water, sugar, and tiger nuts. Hehe. Nuts. I had never heard of tiger nuts before but they were good. I got to taste one before it was all blended. It was a cool experience and one I would not have otherwise participated in if not with the group.
We got back from dinner around 8:30 and after changing my shoes and cleaning up a bit, it was still super light out and I had a ton of energy so I went for a walk. I asked one of the other women to go with me and she did. She's a very nice woman, probably in her 50's, a teacher in LA, and watches Real Housewives so we got along just fine! We walked and talked for about 4-5 miles. I wanted to walk back to the cool bridge by the Ciudad de Los Artes and Ciencias and also catch the sunset. We got back around 10:00 and it was time for bed.
We have to be up early tomorrow to head to Granada. Besides not finding the Cathedral today as per my own fault and being hot and impatient and thinking I found it, today was yet another great day!!
No comments:
Post a Comment