My Weekend in Valencia!

There is yet another weekend in the books which has left with even more great memories though wind-blown and spinning from the speed at which it flew past me, yikes! Friday morning was not as brutal as I had prepared myself for and I think it was the excitement for what awaited me in Valencia that kept me awake for the virtually the entirety of both bus rides. I think I slept a total of 30 minutes out of two bus rides that were about six hours altogether. As we drove through Valencia upon our arrival we were somewhat disappointed because what we saw out our bus windows (rain and fog) were not really what we had in mind for our weekend vacation. Luckily that weather didn't last and instead we enjoyed 55-60-degree weather on Saturday and Sunday.

After settling in at our hostel which was conveniently located in the center of the city on Friday us girls walked around and shopped for four hours. Our marathon shopping adventure ended with a pit-stop at this great Chinese restaurant. Most of us were craving pasta, but after our delicious meal, we had zero regrets about our decision. After dinner we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night!

We went out on Friday with the boys and our first stop was a bar serving "diez chupitas para diez euros." It was a great deal for some, I on the other hand was still recovering from the shopping trip and lack of sleep that ten shots hardly interested me. Rather the thought of my nice warm bed in my hostel made me much happier. Therefore around 2 am or so Erinn and I went back to the hostel to rest up for the next day's adventures while the rest of the group explored what Valencia's night life had to offer.

Saturday was great. We woke up and went down for the hostel's free breakfast and then Katee and I went on a run through the city. It felt so great to run again (I haven't since the whole ankle fiasco) and especially in such a beautiful place with such gorgeous weather. After our run we showered and walked around the city again until the rest of the girls met up with us. We hopped on a city bus to check out the science museum. I will post some pictures by tomorrow, but the science museum was so cool...from the outside. We decided that it was a little on the expensive side and being the cheap college students we are we moved on to the next, much anticipated, not to mention free destination: The Mediterranean Sea! It was fun to be able to see the ocean and so awesome to be at a beach in January! We walked the pier and took wonderful pictures. Eventually we decided that it was getting a little cold and we were hungry and we found a cute little restaurant to try the famous dish of Valencia: paella. One can order seafood or meat paella and Michelle and I went for the meat which included chicken, rice, green beans, peppers and rabbit. After dinner the plan was to hit the town once again but after all of the walking and running I did that day I had close to no energy left! The four girls that shared a room with me decided to stay in. We drank wine, ate chocolate and had some great girl talk!

Yesterday (Sunday) we needed to be checked out of our hostel by 11 so we ate breakfast and packed up. It was nice because we were able to leave our luggage there as we went out to walk around the city once again. However this time instead of walking we posted up at a picnic table in the Plaza de la Reina and soaked up the Valencian sun for the next couple of hours, it was wonderful! After sunbathing for the first time in seemingly eternity we went back to the hostel to grab our bags and then on to the bus station where we would find that our bus wasn't anything short of luxurious! The buses that we travel by are coach buses and this one was two, but this one didn't have the regular chairs, no it had great big massage looking chairs that were oh so comfy! And it didn't end there, every third seat didn't have a neighbor because every row of the bus only had three chairs. Most of us had a multiple of three and were in heaven because we could lean up against the window to sleep and didn't have to sit by a stranger. It's the little things in life people! We arrived in Madrid around 7:15 from a bus that left Valencia at three with a 20-minute stop at a random bus station for snacks. We then needed to take the metro back to the bus station that would get us back to Segovia. We made the 8 o'clock bus just in time and we were all happy because we would make it home for dinner.

Overall, I had a great time in Valencia. Today here in Segovia it's a frigid 40 degrees (according to my father) but feels so much colder as I cannot seem to warm up. I am looking forward to the end of the week as it is supposed to warm up! I hear that it is very snowy back home and I would welcome any visitors that would like to escape the Minnesota snow for a trip to Spain, let me know! Until then though, stay warm!