Valencian Wine Country!

Vineyard of Hoya de Cadenas

It was our first day back in Spain after the crazy trip to Marrakech, and we weren’t wasting any time. We started the day out early- Bárbara, Nathan, John, and I were on the metro to the airport by 7:30am. Once there, we picked up our rental car for the day. Luckily, they honored John’s American driver license, because he was the only one of us who knew how to drive a manual! I was also surprised at how inexpensive it was to rent a car- it only cost about 40 euros for the whole day, so just 10 a person. We found it through www.europcar.com, I’d definitely recommend using them if you ever need to! After a quick breakfast, we met up with Marissa and Josep, and our car followed Josep’s car out of the city and on the way to the Valencian pueblo of Utiel. It was about an hour drive outside of the city, and there were of course some interesting sights along the way. Finally, we arrived at the vineyard called “Hoya de Cadenas”, and had our introduction to the Spanish wine country. This vineyard offered a guided tour for 8 euros each (with a reservation), and the best part was that we got to ride a little train through the vineyard! We got to see the grapes growing of course, and we stopped at an old casa from the mid 1800’s where the original wine-making family lived. We got to explore a bit, and also got to see these barrels creatively decorated by local artists. The informational part of the tour was given only in Spanish, so we had to translate for John, but he still got the general idea. It was a beautiful day out and we got really lucky with that, the whole area was just so sunny and pretty, I loved it!

The wine train = Best train ever!

Barbara loves the artsy barrel

Once our wine train ride ended, we got to go down to the cellar where they kept the wine aging in the oak barrels. There, we also got to sample a few of the different house wines. Right before our train ride had started, my eye had been bothering me- at this point though, it was having a full on spasm, and all my makeup had come off. My one eye was so little and red that I think I was scaring people, so I had to wear my sunglasses the rest of the day: Even inside a dark basement. Yes, my life is awesome like that. Anyways, after that delicious wine tasting and of course impromptu group photo shoot, we went up to their gift shop. John got a few bottles and they wrapped them up for him in a cool travel box so he could safely fly them back to Kentucky. By this time it was about 11:30am, and we were ready for the next destination on our “Wineyard Tour 2012”!

Ladies loving Life at Pago de Tharsys

We got back into our awesome little European car, and rode through some quaint little Spanish pueblos, passing old ruins and falling-apart farmhouses on the way. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the next town called Requena. This town is probably the most famous in the region for its wine, and has the most vineyards as well. We had a reservation for a group tour at noon at a place called “Pago de Tharsys”, where Marissa and Josep had been before and loved. Once there, we could see why! It was a lot smaller than the last place, but it’s a family run business and they handpick all of their grapes. We got to walk through a little grape vine tunnel, and got to see the 200 year old wine cellar. Of course the grape vine tunnel made for a perfect photo op! Next up, we got to sample some of their house wines in the main gift shop. I wasn’t a huge fan of any one in particular, but I didn’t dislike any either. The guys in the group bought some Spanish sausage and jamon serrano from the shop, and once we took the final photos of our wine tasting, we were ready for lunch. We drove into the main plaza of town, parked on a side street, and started wondering around. Since it was a Sunday, many places were closed, and it took us a while to find a place with good prices that was open and that we all agreed on. During this time though, we passed by the castle of Requena. I love how in Spain you see castles everywhere just like you’d see Walmarts in the US. Obviously, one is a lot cooler though. We finally picked a place, and sat down outside. The weather was nice, but then an insane wind kicked in. During the course of our mass amount of tapas and drinks, a few of the drinks blew over from the wind. Also, a bird pooped in Marissa’s wine glass. We were there for a few hours, taking our time and enjoying the day. Once were feeling stuffed and tired, we all got back into our cars and headed towards the city.

Marissa picking a grape

Castillo de Requena

Marissa and Josep went back to their apartment, but Nathan, Bárbara and I decided to stop first at Port Saplaya so that John could see that part of Valencia as well. We walked around the picturesque canals, and just relaxed and took in the views. I wanted him to see this little area of the city so he could get a better idea of all that Valencia has to offer! It was getting really hot by this point in the day, and also crazy humid, so we swung by a frozen yogurt place for a little bit. After that we walked along the beach walk, and of course took more photos. Since we were all really tired, we took the rental car back to the airport, and took the metro back home. John started packing his stuff for his flight to the US tomorrow, and I was glad that he was able to see and do so much in Valencia during his brief time here.

Port Saplaya, Always beautiful.

Random building on the country drive

Beach at Port Saplaya

Shopping, Bars, and Birthdays

Blue Moon in Valencia

8/30 In the aftermath of the Tomatina, I spent the next day going to my conversation class at Don Quijote and then cleaning our piso from top to bottom. To treat myself, that night I went shopping with Bárbara at the Las Arenas mall in the Benimaclet neighborhood. My best purchase was some fake clip-on hair from Claire’s. I tried it on as a joke but it amazingly matched my hair color perfectly, so I bought it, why not. On Friday (8/31) I went to my last class of the week and enjoyed the 30 minute walk in the blazing heat... I then made one of my tri-weekly stops at the grocery store under our piso (Mercadona), and then I had a girls night with Whitney! I took the tram and we met up near the beach for some tapas, and to enjoy the ocean breeze. Finally the heat wasn’t unbearable! After we ate we took a stroll on the beach, and it was extra beautiful because it was the night of a blue moon. The reflection of the sky on the water was perfect, and of course very photogenic.

El Carmen District

To get the weekend really going, on Saturday (9/1) Bárbara and I went shopping at the “rich people” mall downtown by the City of Arts and Sciences called Aqua Mall. We didn’t buy anything but it’s still nice to look! For dinner we were invited to Marissa and Josep’s apartment, and Marissa cooked us a delicious meal of tortilla soup. Rachel and Ruben were there, as well as their friends Pablo and Miguel. It was a good group and we had a lot of fun playing this drinking game called 21. It was hilarious and I laughed the hardest I had in a while. After the pre-game was done, we headed out to the bars in the El Carmen district of the city. These bars are smaller but still crowded, and thanks to the bar employees who walk around handing out promotional coupons like free entries or drinks, we got into the bar we wanted for free. A highlight of the evening included Marissa and Bárbara shot-gunning a beer in an alleyway, and the Spanish guys hanging around who had never seen this before (apparently it’s just an American thing) being amazed and making them do it again. For some reason we also decided to lie about where we were from, and so people thought that shot-gunning was a German tradition. They also thought Bárbara was American and that Marissa was Russian. Not sure why, but it’s fun to make up your nationality and then successfully convince people it’s true. Also Bárbara bonded with a random Indian guy who was selling 1 euro beers on the street. You know, the usual. To finish up a great night out, we had some greasy pizza from a store that was still open at 5:30am when we left the bars. Pablo drove Bárbara and I home, and we called it a night. The next morning (9/2) poor Bárbara woke up way too early (considering how late we went to bed) to set the piso up for her Mom’s birthday celebration. Her parents came over in the afternoon and we all shared a nice lunch of paella and tortilla. Bárbara made her mom a really cute card and then we had some cake as well. After that we just hung out and chatted, and once we had wished her mom Nuria a Feliz Cumpleaños, they headed home. 

Me and the Gasquet Family

Montanejos & New Friends

Our little set-up at the beach!

8/16- Today I was invited to go with Bárbara and her parents to the beach near Port Saplaya. The main difference about this beach is that dogs are allowed- so that added a bit of fun for sure. The weather was perfect all day and we spent the entire morning, afternoon, and evening laying out and soaking up the hot August sun. I finished an entire book and got a nice tan too, can’t complain! Also Bárbara’s parents brought along all of the typical “beach supplies” that I’d been deprived of thus far like a chair, umbrella, floaties, etc. so I was pumped about that. We had a pretty decent set-up going, our own little chiringuito on the beach. Plus her Dad also made us his famous tortilla de patata for lunch, which was delicious. Despite a sand coated puppy attacking our towel, I had a great day and was excited to be welcomed as “part of the family”. Can’t complain about another awesome day swimming in the Mediterranean!  The only potential downfall of the day was that while I was swimming, I felt something bite me near my collarbone. There was just some redness, but I’m still not sure if it was a jellyfish or what.

They were everywhere!

8/17- To celebrate the fact that it was a Friday in August, today we had the perfect getaway planned! Bárbara and I were picked up that morning by Marissa and her Spanish friend named Marta. Also in the car with us was Marta’s former study-abroad roommate named Tamara. To add to the “what a small world” feeling I always get, Tamara is from Lucerne, Switzerland- where I just was last month with my mom and sister. Crazy! Anyways, we all piled into Marta’s car and began the two hour drive to the hot springs in the city of Montanejos. I know I just went there a few weeks ago, but trust me I was not upset about getting the chance to go again! All of us had been before except Marissa and Tamara, but everyone was still excited for the chance to swim in the extremely refreshing natural springs/former Arab baths. It was much more crowded today than the last time I came, but we could still swim around to our heart’s content. This time I brought goggles to look at the fish, and we also explored the little cave. We also swam back to the waterfall, and then we saw these little boys jumping off a super tall rock into the water. I’m honestly amazed it was deep enough that they didn’t die- but apparently it was, so Marissa decided to be a daredevil and she did “the jump” into the springs. After the mandatory girl-talk, we spent some time lying out in the sun and reading, and then our stomachs drove us to pack up and find some food. 

Marta, Me, Marissa, Tamara & Barbara

Since Bárbara and I had both been on the same “hot springs tour” before, we decided to go back to the same restaurant they took us to. In the central plaza of the small pueblo of Montanejos, it was easy to find. Surprisingly though, the service this time around was not quite so friendly and hospitable- probably because the owner Sebastian didn’t view us as “tourists” and figured he wasn’t going to get a tip no matter what. So, the service was slow, but we girls still had a great time. We shared several tapas and sandwiches, and of course a pitcher of sangria (and water, it was SO hot again). We were speaking in English at the table since Tamara doesn’t speak Spanish (just English, French, German and Italian- what a slacker!), and when the server heard us he asked where we were from. It was a bit funny because when we said “America” he said, “oh wow there has been so many Americans here lately, I just met some a few weeks ago!” I tried to hide behind my sunglasses so there wouldn’t be an awkward moment of recognition, haha.  The drive back to Valencia was a windy road, but the time passed quickly. This group of girls is a very fun and hilarious mix, I will say. Highlights included Bárbara revealing to us her hidden talent of being able to sing opera very well, but in a man’s voice- and we all were laughing so hard that Marissa and I started crying.

The ladies + Whitney at Dinner!

That evening the ladies made plans to meet up at a restaurant near the Aqua shopping center in the new part of town. Marta’s Uncle owned the restaurant, so we had a nice little table outside waiting for us. It was the same group as yesterday, but Whitney was able to come this time too! We had a pretty tasty meal, a few of us got mini burgers, and of course had some hilarious conversations and wine as well. After dinner, we split up in two groups and wereall  headed over to Marta’s apartment to “pre-game” or “botellon”. When Tamara and Bárbara got to Marta’s car they noticed that it smelled very strongly of gas. She called her Uncle over and basically, her car was out for the night. While this was going on, Marissa, Whitney and I had already hailed a cab and were waiting outside Marta’s apartment. We didn’t have a key obviously, so once we heard that we had to wait a half hour for the other girls to get there, we decided to find someplace to hang out. Standing on a very dark street corner in a questionable part of town late at night didn’t seem like the best idea, so we sought shelter at the first “public” location we could find. This ended up being a random karaoke bar with Bolivian flags everywhere and filled with Bolivians.  We ordered some drinks, listened to a girl sing a Selena song, and before the drinks were done the other girls we back.

My new friend from Switzerland :)

Nua the Puppy!

 We all headed into Marta’s adorable apartment, and got to spend quality time with one of the world’s cutest dogs. She just got a mini-chihuahua puppy named Nua. It is white and one of the tiniest and cutest things in the world. After we got the oohing an aahing out of our systems, we made a few mixed drinks and gathered around the family room couch. We were debating on whether to go out to the bars or not, but while trying to decide this Marissa and I decided to teach the ladies how to play the drinking game called “Kings”. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a good time. This group of girls just meshed very well. We were listening to Britney Spears and Spice Girls the whole night, and then around 3am Whitney, Barbara and I decided to head home. The other ladies ended up meeting Josep and his friends at the bars, but I just couldn’t stay up that late. Overall, this was an amazing fun filled day, and I am so glad I got to meet Marta and Tamara- and of course Nua the puppy! The rest of our weekend  (8/18 and 8/19) was definitely low key- us roomies relaxed, got lots of sleep, ate junk food, and spent far too much time on Pinterest. We may have been a bit sunburned, but it was totally worth it. Oh, and on a final note, the bite I got at the beach was slowly getting worse, and by Sunday it was bad enough that we decided to go to the pharmacy. He took a look at it and I got a roll-on medicine for it- we’ll see if it works. I hope so, because it’s itchy and super gross. 

Mystery Bite