5 Days In Valencia, Spain

2016-06-30 Barcelona to Valencia
Today we arrived at Valencia by train. The hosts of the house we were renting from gave us a tour of the city, and showed us amazing restaurants and markets. The city is beautiful. There are old buildings everywhere! I noticed that street artists created beautiful street art on plain metal garage doors instead of ruining buildings.

We saw Europe’s narrowest building (and they used ladders to move between levels)

and visited the Llotja de la Seda, an old merchant exchange place.

I ate a long glazed croissant called Farton that goes with a drink called horchata, some churros, and orange juice. The churros were the best tasting churros I ever tasted. I think it is because the churros were freshly made. The orange juice was squeezed right there from Valencia Oranges. I think I want to have them again! (And so I did. . .)

2016-07-01 Valencia
We went to check out the post office, city hall, and the bullfighting arena.

We first went to the city hall. The city hall was very grand.
There is a big room with stadium like circled seating except the benches and seats were cushioned. There was a stage on the front with a microphone, I think that it is for presentations. There were many seats, private boxes, and a center place that looked like it was for some important person. Some of the seats had buttons, I don’t know if it is for comfort or if it’s for some sort of rating system.

We then walked across the square to the post office. The post office had a stained glass dome ceiling with the Valencian coat of arms, we weren’t allowed to go anywhere so there wasn’t much else to see. It was very grand compared to the Post Office we have in my town. Our post office is pretty much just a box.

We then went to the Bullfighting Arena, which resembled the exterior of the Colosseum. We went in to find Matadors themselves! The bullfighters were practicing for a bullfight in two weeks! I couldn’t imagine being on the dusty arena, face-to-face with a mad bull. I bet that the when it is a Matador’s first time, they are super scared during their first performance. Fortunately, now days they don’t hurt the bulls any more, they just perform. I bet that accidents happen all the time. A Matador can easily die from just one hard blow from those lethal horns.

We then went to one of the largest markets in Europe, called Mercat Central, to buy lunch.
We bought some Pollicipes. The pollicipes squirted out the hard end when you bit into them. We also bought some crayfish, clams, and tiny clams. My mom’s cooking is the best!! She made the best meal I had ever had. While we ate, we just talked about the food, nothing else.

2016-07-02 Valencia
Today we biked in the sunken river park and visited the City of Arts and Science.

The City of Arts and Science is amazing. One of the buildings reminded me of a stingray from one angle, while another suggested a shark! I also saw a building that looked almost like a long worm with spines on both sides. There were many beautiful shimmering ponds, and made me feel like I was in what possibly may be the future.

After the City, we biked over to a skate park to check it out. I rode ahead of our gang. After a while, wondering where the rest went, I rode back. I met my dad. We both simultaneously said, “Where’s mom?!”

Suddenly, I was very afraid, and thought “Just 2 stops into our world trip, and we already lost someone?” I bit my lip. This couldn’t be. We backtracked a bit, and found my mom and her bike. I was relieved. Though, I was agonized that the wheels of my Mom’s bike were stuck and wouldn’t move. We were pretty far away from home, too far to walk. A second thought occurred to me, “Are we stuck here, and have to WALK all the way home?!!”

I was very rejoiced to see two nice guys help us called our rental. They arrived to the rescue with a new and ready bike.

As we now joyously biked home, people appeared in traditional Spanish clothing. I wondered what they were doing, maybe a festival dance? We stayed there longer. We learned that this was an annual event in the park.

It got dark quickly, we rushed home, and had a quick dinner. That night was I very content, for it felt good to bike again even after just two stops away from home.