Valencia

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This weekend, we went to Valencia. Valencia is located in the southeast of Spain, right along the coast. Just like Granada, we took a bus from Madrid which is super convenient for us. We show up when we are ready and this time, we literally ran right on a bus. The ride there was about 4.5 hours and pretty uncomfortable this time.

We booked a hostel that was about a fifteen minute walk from the bus station, and we really enjoyed the whole walk. It was warmer in Valencia and covered in palm/orange trees. Our hostel was nice and we had a room just the four of us (Sarah, Kristen, Alanna, and I), which was very lucky. Our hostel was conveniently located for the nightlife and overall, which made it really easy for us to go out at night.

We woke up Saturday morning and headed to the beach on a very strange trolley car. We still aren't really sure how the tickets work, very well could've been on the honor system... The beach was beautiful and warm enough to even sun bathe, which we were stoked for. Unlike back home in the states, there are no resorts bordering the beach in Valencia, only a few really amazing restaurants. So after tanning and walking for a bit, we sat down to eat some authentic Paella, literally on the beach.

The restaurant had excellent Sangria as well as excellent Paella. I ordered Paella Valencia (Veggies, chicken, and rabbit!). And my friends got the seafood one featured in the photo, which was good because I got to eat both : )
Much later that evening, we went out for some amazingly fresh sushi, which just made that day one of the best ever.

The next day we toured the center of the city (unintentionally really, because we got very lost). We found a cool outside flea markets and bought lots of cool gifts. Then after some more Paella and more getting lost, we made our way to the park. The park was enormous and really awesome, spanning miles and miles. We had a little picnic with fruit and wine we bought at a grocery store, and soaked up some more sun. We really miss the sun in Madrid, it's just still too chilly! Glad to be home late Sunday evening from a very lovely weekend. And to realize, no school on Monday!

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Photos

at the beach
can't tell in a photo, but there are mountains in the background!

Comments

[Cristina]

Valencia nice !!!
I recomend a nice post about Valencia and the AVE in www.mihotelfavorito.com http://mihotelfavorito.blogspot.com/2010/12/ave-valencia-high-speed-train-to.html