Weekend in Valencia!

I’m back in El Ejido after a short but sweet visit home for Easter.  It was definitely easier returning this time than it was at Christmas.  I have a feeling the weather might have had something to do with it 😉 the sun definitely shines in the South of Spain!  I’ve thrown myself back into my normal routine of work, private classes, gym and travelling.  So you shouldn’t be surprised then to hear that in my first week back I have already been somewhere: that somewhere being Valencia!

I arrived in Valencia on Friday evening after a 4.5hr bla bla car.  It’s funny how a car journey that long has become the norm for me, it makes you realise how big Spain is in comparison to England! Finding the hostel was a race against time as my phone battery was on its last legs but I made it with 3% to spare.  After a lovely tapas (and brownie!), we called it a night ready for our day of sightseeing on Saturday.  Our first port of call on Saturday was La Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences), the most important modern tourist destination in the city and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.  From the outside, it is an extremely interesting architectural building with a very modern futuristic vibe.  I loved it and could happily sit there all day just looking at it.  Inside is an interactive science museum, quite similar to the Science Museum in London.  It is worth the visit inside, lots of interactive activities and interesting facts.  Who knew that the speed of a sneeze is around 150km/ph and that the shape of your foot can determine your roots (apparently mine are Egyptian).  So, it provides a wealth of information and facts that could come in useful one day!

Next on our list was the beach.  Mentally prepared for a short walk, it was a shock to discover that an hour walk awaited us after a slight miscalculation concerning direction.  I definitely take it for granted being able to walk everywhere in El Ejido.  We can safely say that we’ve seen first-hand the outskirts of Valencia.  We were slightly disappointed to discover once we’d finally made it, that there hardly any cafes or restaurants along the beach where we’d hoped to lunch.  On the bright side, Valencia’s annual kite festival was taking place.  The sheer number of kites in the sky was pretty impressive and cool to see.  With rumbling stomachs, we caught the metro back into the old city where we ate our well-deserved lunch and tried Valencia’s famous cocktail, “el agua de Valencia”, in the Plaza de la Virgen.  After a relaxing break in the sun, it was time to climb the 207 steps of the Miguelete bell tower.  It’s well worth the climb, offering fantastic views of the city and sea.  One descent later and we treated ourselves to frozen yoghurt sitting in the Plaza whilst watching a pillow fight for International Pillow Fight Day.

Agua de Valencia

Having visited the main attractions on Saturday, we spent Sunday wandering around the streets of the old part of the city soaking up the atmosphere and its beautiful buildings and architecture.  A break was needed for a tostada and a tinto de verano sitting in the sun J We then headed to the station to catch our bla bla car back to Almeria.  I’d asked the driver to leave a bit earlier so I could in theory catch the 9pm bus from Almeria back to El Ejido, which became an 8.30pm bus as it was a Sunday and transport was limited.  Missing that bus would have meant a 2.5hr wait in the bus station for the next one, something I was keen to avoid at all costs! Luckily for me, our driver did his absolute best and I managed to catch the bus by the skin of my teeth, 1 minute to spare and a miracle!  My determination to catch that bus led to my most forward moment in a bla bla car so far when I asked him to take me straight to the station instead of dropping another passenger off first.  My friend was surprised and so was I at my forwardness.  Desperate times call for desperate measures!  It was a lovely weekend in Valencia and it’s a city I would happily return to.

P.S. Two weekends before I went home for Easter, I went to Playa de los Muertos in Cabo de Gata.  Although next time, I’ve learnt not to sit on rocks with your back to the sea.  You never know when a wave will suddenly rush in and wipe you out leaving you sat in waist deep water and unable to stand.  I have never had so wet jeans before! For fellow beach goers we definitely provided them with comic entertainment and it further reinforced for us the idea that we can’t go anywhere without something happening to us.  In this case, being soaked by a wave was that ‘something’.  Later that night at home it did result in a few frantic skype calls to a few family members when I realised my phone had probably received more water damage than I’d thought.  Putting it in rice did the trick and all is good now 🙂

One very wet bum later!