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

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