Market, Beach, and a Long Train Ride

10/15 Early in the morning, Bárbara returned to the apartment from her weekend trip to Santander. I introduced her to Liz and Julia, and we went and had breakfast at our usual little cafe below our piso. I was happy that my friends could finally meet my roomie- she is pretty awesome after all! After that, she was off to work at the ISA office. The three of us American ladies then headed into the city center to finish our final day of touring Valencia. We took the 10 minute bus ride to the Plaza de la Reina, and then I led the way down the scenic side streets. Soon, we were at the Mercado Central. This big market is inside a beautiful historic building, and you can buy all the fresh produce, fruit, or even alcohol you could ever want. It is frequented by locals who buy their food fresh every few days, so it is a fun authentic-feeling experience for a tourist. We spent about an hour looking at all the different stalls, gaping at the chopped off pig heads, debating what certain fruits were, and then Julia purchased a small souvenir bottles of sangria. After that, we walked across the street to check out the medieval silk market building, or Lonja de la Seda. Since I have already been inside multiple times, the girls felt bad making me pay admission, and so we just admired it from afar. From outside you can still see the gargoyles and architecture, so the only thing you really miss is the inner courtyard.

Ham, ham everywhere!                                  

 After the girls took their photos of the famous main room of the Lonja, we decided it was time for a break. This was clearly a moment for some cocktails. We sat down at an outdoor stall selling the local signature drink- Agua de Valencia, and the girls have their first taste. Contrary to its name, this drink is not water at all. It is usually made with champagne, orange juice, vodka, and gin. Drinking this before lunch was definitely a good decision

Agua de Valencia!

After taking the bus back to the piso, changing into our swimsuits, and packing snacks we bought at Mercadona, it was finally time to head to the beach! When I initially planned this day for us, it was late September, and the weather was much hotter. I didn’t realize the drastic temperature drop would happen early October, and so it was a bit cold for us to be going. Naturally, none of the locals would be at the beach, and upon seeing us in swimsuits would think we were crazy. Despite this, it was around 70 degrees farenheit, so to us, it was perfect! We waited for the yellow bus that runs in front of my apartment once every hour, and then finally we were on the way to Port Saplaya! Once we arrived, we walked around the adorable and colorful port town. I was excited for them to see all the shops, but to my surprise the place was a ghost town. I guess it was “too cold” for all the beach shops to be open anymore. Cutting out losses, we still admired the buildings, and then headed onto the sand. We laid out our towels and had about 30 minutes of good sun, then the wind hit. The wind made it feel like it was 60 degrees, and so of course we were cold. That did not stop us from taking photos in the ocean, and from climbing the giant rope jungle gym in the sand. Yes, we were the only crazy people on the whole beach, and yes some local guys were pointing and laughing at us, but who cares! We still had a great time, and the girls had their first “swim” in the Mediterranean.

Climbing the rope on the "cold" beach

Julia at Estacion del Nord- Train Station of Valencia

Once we started shivering, we decided it was time to head back into town. We had some dinner and then started packing up our belongings for the 9 day journey ahead of us. With 4 people and several large suitcases in the little piso, things were a bit cramped there for a bit. Once we were all packed, we hung out and watched trash tv- Gandia Shore (MTV Spain’s version of Jersey Shore). Around 10:30pm, we hailed a cab and lugged our suitcases to Estacio Nord. Our overnight Renfe train to Granada (southern Spain) left at midnight. It was the first European train experience for Liz and Julia, so they were pretty pumped about this. They also got to sit together, whereas I somehow ended up alone in a different car and sitting next to a woman who reeked of cigarettes. I did not suffer alone though! We all had our crosses to bare on this train, haha. We all took some Tylenol PM, but thanks to a suspicious looking lady that Julia thought was trying to rob them, and my seat-mate smelling and then being replaced by a large man around 3am, none of us got much rest at all. It was a long, uncomfortable ride and the time did not pass quickly. When we arrived in Granada around 8am, we were cranky, but relieved.

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

La Cucaracha (& Port Saplaya)

Bull Statue on my walk to Class

8/13- Today I had my Spanish Conversation class in the afternoon at the Don Quijote school building. It went really well, and I actually enjoyed it more than my “intensive” classes from last week because in my opinion, speaking the language is what I need to work on the most. My teacher is really cool and we have a good mix of nationalities in the class group this week again. Now, the next day 8/14 I went to class once again, and after a quick stop at the beach Bárbara and I decided to order Domino’s pizza to our apartment for dinner. It was delicious, and all was well, but THEN came the DRAMA! Here is the story:

Our Apartment Building- Site of Attack

I was sitting on our little couch doing something, and Bárbara was in the bathroom. Suddenly, I hear her screaming- the first thought that popped into my head was “Oh my God, the pizza guy is attacking her”, even though that was clearly impossible since he never came into the apartment- but anyways… I ran over to see what was wrong. She flung open the door and bolted to the other side of the room, jumping up and down like crazy screaming “Cucaracha!!! A huge, giant Cockroach!!” These words sent chills through my body, and before I knew it Bárbara was yelling at me to “KILL IT!! KILL IT MICHELLE!!” First instinct, I say “we need a shoe, but not mine because this cockroach is huge and it will ruin my shoe”, Bárbara suggests we use her boyfriend Nathan’s shoe, but we can’t find it. In the hysteria and panic of the moment, I run into the kitchen and grab a big aluminum can of bug spray.  I initially think I will squish it, but then realize that honestly, this cockroach- hairy legs and all- is definitely too big to be squished without grossing me out beyond all reason. Then, the idea dawns upon me- we can asphyxiate it! I approach the evil creature crawling around our bathroom floor, and start spraying it with the can. I held the nozzle down for a good 20 seconds, and stopped. Then, like a ninja, the cockroach disappeared and re-appeared like 2 feet away within a matter of seconds. It was terrifying. We both let out a blood-curdling scream, and Bárbara was yelling at me “KEEP SPRAYING!! KEEP GOING!!!!”

Reaction to the Roach

 So, I spray it again, and then the smell of the spray was starting to get to me and give me a headache (the label says do not spray in small spaces without ventilation, oops), and the damn thing was still alive! I shut the door and despite our panic, we tried to have a logical conversation. Bárbara suggests, “I can call my Dad to come over and kill it?” Since he is a 15 minute drive away, I felt bad, so I said “no, no don’t do that. Umm, do you have any neighbors that you know? Like any boys?” Initially she said no, but then the light bulb went off and she said “Yes, I do actually- I met him yesterday, he is in the apartment next door!” So I say, "well, let’s ask him to kill it"! Even though it was 11:30pm on a work night, we hopped over and knocked on his door. After a few minutes, he finally answered, not looking the most thrilled. Bárbara frantically explained to him our situation, and somehow convinced him to come into our apartment. He brought his broom and dustpan, and then we led him to the crime scene. To our shock, the stupid cockroach was laying on his back, apparently dead. All he had to do was sweep it up. Then he asked us where he should put it- of course the toilet or trash would not be okay, so we demanded him to dump it over our 9^th floor balcony. Thank God, that thing was horrible. Once the dust settled and we were alone again, Bárbara and I realized how pathetic and embarrassing the scene in the apartment was. At the same time though, it was absolutely hilarious. This is one of those stories that we will add flair to and repeatedly tell to our friends for a good laugh now. The only bad part about the story is that I was looking up information on cockroaches online later, and apparently they always play dead. Since they can survive nuclear holocaust, I now don’t think it was actually dead when we thought it was, so THANK GOD we threw it outside.

8/15- Now that we had calmed down from the insanity of the “cockroach event”, Bárbara and I were ready for another fun, relaxing summer day. Because in the month of August almost all Spaniards are off work, I was planning to skip my class today to spend time with Bárbara while she’s not working. Luckily though, today was a Spanish national holiday- the feast of the Assumption, so I didn’t have class anyways! To celebrate our freedom, we had plans with Marissa and Josep. They picked us up and we drove to a beach about 20 minutes outside of the city. This little place is called Port Saplaya, but it’s also known as the “mini Venice of Valencia”. It’s a gigantic apartment complex, but it looks like a postcard from Portofino Italy. We started the day off at the beach, which was beautiful and not as crowded as the one closer to the city. We spent our time swimming, chatting, and eating our bocadillos. The only problem with the day was the crazy wind. It was intense, and all of our belongings and towels kept blowing away, plus the sand was attacking us and it was a bit painful. Sooner than we wanted, we called it quits. That didn’t stop us from walking around and exploring the beautiful interior part of Port Saplaya though. It is definitely very scenic, and I was glad they showed me around. We finished up the day with some frozen yogurt at this cute little place on the beach. It was a great day, a refreshing way to beat the heat, and I had a blast with my new friends. All this, and I’m learning Spanish! J

The Venice of Valencia: Port Saplaya