Blogs from Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain, Europe - page 15

Stayed in an apartment overlooking the 9th hole at El Bosque Golf course at Godellata which is 15 minutes from Valencia. The apartment was great if not a tad cold. We were definitely the first people there this year. Ronnie drove into Valencia and our nerves are still recovering. At one stage I thought I was sitting next to Mutley from Dick Dastardly with all the under breath muttering and cursings. Most of the city was cordoned off for the festival. Decided to park the car on outside Valencia on the Friday which was the final day and get the metro in. Much easier. On Friday there as a great firework and fire display. I loved it. We played golf on the Tuesday. Managed to get a discounted rate as the apartment owner is Geoff Hurst. ... read more

The Coast of Spain We picked up the rental car in Barcelona and quickly made our way out of the city, amazingly easy I thought. We were headed to Valencia, on the water, and were hoping for some warmer weather, like our nice sunny day in Barcelona. The ride, however, was dark, grey, and rainy. I noticed two things in particular about the ride - oranges and tolls. We could see orange trees as far as the eye could see. I enjoy a good orange but I generally don’t crave oranges. Seeing as many as I did, however, I quickly informed Eric that I needed a large bag of Valencia oranges within the next few days. The other notable thing about the highway in Spain - tolls, tolls, and more tolls. Over a four hour ... read more

We were in the Ducati stand at the moto Gp and Casey had pole so we though we where in for a good day. The stand next to us was the Bautastia stand and he won the 250 race so we hoped we would as well. They put up a big banner with #19 on for their rider and as we where close we helped them hold it us. When he won he stopped in front of the stand and through his gloves into the crowd. For the warm up lap the Ducati stand all held up card to make a big Italian flag as we did this and Casey came around he crashed right in front of us at first I thought it was Haydon who cashed as I could not believe Casey would crash. ... read more

Friday 6.11.2009 Day 22 Practice day at Valencia. We had lots of fun watching Casey get the fastest time in practice today. Then back to the hotel for some rest before going to the Ducati party at the Cathedral that started at midnight and we did not get home till about 4. There was also a absolute promotion on so lots of vodka was consumed and we won lots of absolute prizes. Alcohol is very cheap in Spain. ... read more

The camino has left me limping, feeling sorry for myself, and unable to continue...so where to next in beautiful Spain? Not wasting a minute, made a quick call to English friends Clare and Steve in sunny Valencia, and I´m booked in for two weeks of intense Spanish lessons to fill up my September. And intense they were! Valencia, birthplace of paella (originally made with rabbit, not seafood), surprisingly lacking in cheap fresh orange juice, but sufficiently student-ridden and laid-back, was the perfect place for my language sabbatical, made all the more welcoming by the chance to hang out with my lovely hosts and their awesome and adorable kids Havana and Pascal. We dove after coloured rings in the pool, attempted badminton on the beach, and even made our own poi, which Pascal preferred to use as ... read more