I’ve just found out on my train today from Valencia to
Seville, that there are phone and computer etc chargers available, which is brilliant, as I can now
write on the train. I’m not sure if these chargers were always on the train and
I never saw them, or if it just this train. Probably option 1. My computer dies
as soon as I unplug it from the charger, but best I try and figure that one out
when I’m back home.
I really love getting the trains around Spain. I was used to getting cramped buses without
toilets in Lithuania. The train, in contrast, is really quite a luxury. I don’t
even mind when the train rides are 7 hours long. I have lots of space, a toilet
and even a café! I often watch some of the Spanish movies that are on, then nod
off, then wake up to an amazing view outside of a city, or the sea, the
mountains or farm land.
I had a really nice time in Valencia. Valencia reminds me a
bit of a Spanish version of Canberra (although Valencia still has 700,000
people). It was nice for a change to be
in a smaller city.
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| Antiguo Cauce del Rio Turia park. |
I went for my first run in a long time, which was a little
difficult through the streets but well appreciated by the Spanish men. When I
overtook a teenage boy, I noticed that
his pace then picked up dramatically, from a slow jog to sprinting so that he
could overtake me again. :P
I made friends with the hostel staff at the Red Nest Hostel
in Valencia, they were very kind. I also hung out with another German girl
‘Leonie’ who is an ‘Erasmus’ program exchange student who has been studying in Grenada for 5 months, then
travelling and making her way back to Germany. I’m really impressed by how many
wise, independent and mature young female travelers that I have met year
between ages 20-22 who are traveling on their own. I cannot remember being
that mature at that age.
In our first
night in Valencia, Leonie and I went out for dinner at a local café and watched
the European football league. I ordered Paella, as it originates from Valencia.
I actually found that the Paella in Barcelona was more tasty. However, it might
have been the restaurant that we went to that did not serve amazing Paella. Or
it may have been he fact that food that originates from a particular place
usually tastes very different to where it is sold in other cities of countries.
For instance, I love Mexican food that is sold in Australia, and I love
authentic Mexican food from Mexico, but they are two completely different
things. Leonie and I watched an episode of ‘Californication’ on my laptop
together after dinner, squished in her single dorm bed which was fun. It was a
bit of a luxury that night, I paid for a 12 bed dorm but as it was quiet, I was
upgraded to a 6 bed dorm and that first night. Leonie and I were the only
people there, and Leonie doesn’t snore, wins all round.
The next day
in Valencia, Leonie and I rented some bikes, rode through the Antiguo Cauce del Rio Turia park (number one attraction in Valencia) and headed to the Science Museum in the Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias. This might be the only time that I say something like this in a travel
blog, but I actually felt that the contents of ‘Questacon’ in Canberra were
better than this museum. The building, however, was architecturally beautiful.
My favourite exhibition was seeing the baby chick and eggs in an incubator. One
chick was slowly making his way out of the egg. It is a long, difficult and
painful process for the chicks,when they finally make their way out of the
shell, you can see blood in the shell, as evidence of their tiny soft bodies
pushing through the hard shell. I have never seen this before, and it was
mesmerizing.
In contrast,
and with no great segue to go from talking about the miracle of life with cute
little chickens;Leonie was an exhibit of taxidermy animals that when alive,
were born mutated. I am sad I missed this exhibit!
Leonie and I
did not think to make a back up plan in case if we lost each other in the
Museum, and we lost each other quickly. We both spent a lot of time searching
for each other and ended up waiting for each other at two separate places for
about an hour and a half (I was at the bikes and Leonie at the entrance of the
museum, both places being about 200 metres from each other).
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| The Science Museum in the Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias. |
We then rode
to the Miguelete Cathedral. My legs turned to jelly as I made my way up the
steep and never ending 207 step spiral staircase to the top of the Cathedral. The view was spectatcular. Of course I felt a
bit of vertigo as I was leaning over the edge of the barricade taking photos,
but that is half the excitement.
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| Miguelete Cathedral |
 |
| Miguelete Cathedral |
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| 207 steps later up Miguelete Cathedral. |
Leonie, the
European, who knows how to dress appropriately, asked me at the start of the
day, if I wanted to bring more clothes. I however was so happy just to see sun
in Spain after Lithuania, that I didn’t wear much and came back from our day
out as a bit of an icicle.
That evening,
Leonie and I had tappas in one more, headed to another café to have second
dinner then headed to ‘Radio City’ , the only club around in a very quiet,
shady looking alley way. I thought if I was to get mugged at all when
traveling, then this would be the time, but all was good and well.
Radio City
had a very popular conversation group where people can practice their English
and Spanish (and any other languages). I felt that more people are keen in
practicing their English with me, as I am a native English speaker, and I am happy to be a practice partner. And of
course, again I met some great people from all over the world, with very
different stories.
I’ve actually
found that my best practice in Spanish here, is speaking with people who speak
no English, no suprises there. :P
After the
conversation group, they had open mic night, where I saw an older Spanish guy
singing the most fantastic songs with his guitar. Spanish night life, literally
starts at midnight (or even 3am in clubs) . I would have loved to stay all
night at Radio City but I had to be up at 6am for my train, and my body clock
is definitely not programmed like a Spanish person! I feel tired even now,
coming home at 1230 last night. I don’t know how these guys do it.
Thank you
Valencia for a great time, and here comes Seville.
Hasta pronto,
Xo
Rasa
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