John's Valencia Experience

Matador Kills the Bull. Ole!

The much-anticipated day had finally arrived! My boyfriend John was here in Spain! I woke up early and took the long metro ride out to the Valencia airport to pick him up. As soon as I saw him, we locked eyes, and I ran through the airport and jumped into his arms. He spun me around and it was so romantic—Just kidding, that is not how it happened at all. Actually, his luggage was lost so I found him in a long line, and helped him speak Spanish. Once that crisis was somewhat averted (no thanks to Air Europa), we took the long metro ride back towards the University district where I live. I got off the wrong exit at my stop though so he got an accidental tour of the streets near my piso. Oops. Anyways, once he dropped off his backpack and got to meet Bárbara and see our lovely piso, we were ready to begin the day and commence his Spanish tourism! First things first, we walked to a little restaurant close by called Taberna de Jaen so that John could have his first “typical Spanish meal”. Bárbara came with us, and we ate a ton of food and had a great time. Poor John, we kept forcing him to talk to our waiter in Spanish since it entertained us to see him get embarrassed. Despite this, he got to have his first paella, jamón Serrano, patatas bravas, and Valencian seafood- all in his first meal. While we were eating, our waiter (who could somehow tell we were foreigners) invited us to check out the “back room” where they keep their bullfighting souvenirs. We agreed, and before we knew what was happening we were all in costumes. John was a matador, I was a flamenco dancer, and Bárbara was a bull. Of course we took tons of silly photos acting out our roles. It was one of those unplanned, random travel moments that turned out to be hilarious and made for some awesome pictures. Maybe it played up stereotypes that tourists to Spain might have, but whatever, it was fun!

The couple at the CAC

Our next stop was the City of Arts and Sciences. I didn’t care if John was tired from his trans-atlantic flight, we were going to beat his jet-lag by not letting him stop moving until night. We walked towards the River Turia area, and got to enjoy the gardens, fountains and little riverwalk along the way to the CAC. It took us about an hour, and once we got there, we spent time wandering around and exploring the place. The architecture always makes for great photos, and I was happy for John to get to see one of the “gems” of Valencia. It was a beautiful day, a bit hot, but the lighting was perfect for my pictures. I was just so happy John was there with me, I’d been talking up the city to him for years, so I was just pumped he could finally see it all in person. Once we’d had our fill of the CAC, we started walking back towards the center. Realizing how tired we were, we gave up and took a cab to the beach area.

As everyone knows, I absolutely LOVE the beach. So I forced John to come see it with me. We started out near the Las Arenas hotel, and did a stroll in the sand. We shopped for a swimsuit for him at the little stalls on the walkway, but for some reason this did not make him want to go swimming. He’s not a big fan of sun or beaches. I guess I had anticipated this, because I wasn’t that upset about not getting to lay out and swim. So, once we walked around and saw the sights, we went to the America’s Cup Port area. This place was lively and hopping back in 2007 when it was hosting the world’s largest sailing competition, but now it’s a bit like a ghost town. All the cool buildings are still there, but a bit dingy and void of activity. The only good part about exploring the port area was that an old ship that looked like a traditional 

Spanish armada boat or pirate ship was there. It also happened to be sunset, so we got to have the beautiful views of the water at twilight. To wrap up his first day in Spain, we ate a quick dinner near my piso, and got ready to face the next day!

L'Umbracle at the City of Arts & Sciences

View of Playa Malvarosa in Valencia

Red-Beard the Pirate by his Ship