Valencia

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4 days of relaxing and lounging in the Balearic Islands have come to an end. This morning was an early wake up as we had to catch our morning ferry to take us back to the mainland. Once we all boarded the ferry, everybody pretty much crashed for the duration of the trip. Back at the port at Denia, we reboarded our Contiki coach which seemed like it had been forever since we were last on it. We continued down the coast to the city of Valencia which is Spain's third largest city. Valencia was the only one night stop during the entire tour and nobody really knew what to expect. The only thing about Valencia that I knew was that it was home to Paella. We arrived in Valencia and headed straight for our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express which was located next to a huge commercial mall and near the brand new Ciutat De Les Arts I De Les Ciencies.

After dropping our bags and freshening up ourselves, we all got back on the coach to explore Valencia. We were dropped off in the city center and Colin pointed out a few points of interest such as the Bull Ring, the basilica, and the tower. We walked over to the Basilica de la Virgen de los Desamparados. We had a look inside the cathedral which contained a cup which locals claim to be the Holy Grail. Not being too interested in religious imagery, I went outside to wait for everybody and had a brief look around at all the shopping stalls. At this point, people in the group started to split off and go in different directions. Shea and I decided to go with a group that was going to the Torres de Serranos, just a few minutes walk from the Basilica. A few of us decided to climb the tower and have a nice view of the surrounding Valenica skyline.

We left the tower not really knowing where to venture off to next. The group decided to walk back towards the city to do a little shopping. Everybody had their own specific items to look for so we all decided to meet back at a designated spot in half an hour. Shea and I didn't really feel like shopping so we spent the next half hour just relaxing at a tapas bar while enjoying a nice cold beverage. Once everybody was back together, we decided to search for a nice place to have dinner. We stumbled upon a small restaurant along some side street called Palacio de la Bellota. Most of us ordered the local specialty, paella along with some red wine. I shared a seafood paella dish with one of the Australian girls and it was absolutely delicious. After dinner we just made our way back to the bus stop to catch a bus to our hotel. Everybody seemed really tired after such a long travel day.

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