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Vinaros:
Valencia:
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My 2nd weekend in Spain was to travel to Valencia and Vinaros, very excited! Alberto worked that week and it takes him a couple hours or so to travel to Valencia, so the plan was for me to bus to Valencia and he would pick me up from there. Easier and less driving! I purchased my Valencia bus ticket a couple days prior, so Friday (day of travel) I was up early and rode the subway to catch the bus to Valencia. BTW, I rode the subway...otherwise called the Metro...everywhere! Not to brag, but I'm quite the expert now!
The bus ride was about 3-4 hours from Madrid to Valencia, by this point I was so used to traveling for hours around Spain, so it was no problem! I was equipped with my journal, IPOD, and Barnes & Noble Ereader....girl was set and then some! Mainly I would write in my journal and listen to my IPOD, I haven't kept a journal in years and I figured there was no better time then my hiatus to bring the journal writing back in effect.
There are 2 albums that I listened to non stop, 1 in particular spoke to me while I wandered around cities by myself and had countless hours to think and just "be". Its Miranda Lambert's "Revolution" CD....heart this CD in so many ways....so many songs really spoke to me and it really made my journey even more memorable. People always can find meaning in songs, and the meanings vary depending on your stage in life....so this stage of my life and her music really was healing for me.
The 2nd CD was Adele's "21" album...well...what to say about her besides the fact that she just rocks! Like Miranda's CD, some songs really just spoke to me! I know whenever I listen to these CD's now it will forever remind me of Spain and the many memorable moments I had.
I finally arrived in Valencia, checked in to my hotel, and quickly headed out to explore! Our first stop was the Palau de les Arts and L'hemisferic. It consisted of an Opera house and performing arts center, IMAX theatre, Planetarium, Gardens, and a Science Museo. Didn't enter any of them, mainly just walked around and was amazed by the buildings designed by Santiago Calatrava....amazing! My first view of these amazing buildings was around 6pm, still light outside....so we decided after eating later we would come back in hopes the whole area would be lit up and amazing. Side note, surrounding these buildings were pools of water about a couple feet deep....not for swimming...but to make the architecture look even more amazing!
As you can see...totally went back at night to capture the top left photo! :) Side note, that photo was taken by Alberto with my archaic camera.....he took some amazing pics himself, so when he gets done with the editing I will show you what he captured!
I referred to our feet constantly as "Jesus feet", mainly because we wore sandals and our feet were constantly dirty from all the miles we put on them! My little toes don't appear swollen in the picture, but I assure you they were very, very swollen! So swollen I couldn't even bend my toes it hurt so bad! Dang humidity! Who knew I'd swell up so much!?! Valencia also had a lot of amazing buildings, we walked all around, consumed more heladeria, and visited a local market where we had some fresh melon juice! I wish our grocery stores were more like the ones in Spain...fresh, fresh, fresh, and fresh some more! Jealous!
My overall thoughts on Valencia? Very cute! It isn't my favorite place in Spain, but they have beautiful beaches, an amazing market, and of course amazing historical buildings. I definitely would recommend Valencia as a must see if you visit Spain!! Be prepared to take no mercy on your feet while you are there!! Really, when you are traveling to such a beautiful place, you are constantly on the move...visiting amazing museos, churches, markets, beaches and more! I know at least for me the blisters were completely worth it! After spending some time in Valencia we headed back and piled back into Alberto's car and started the travel to Vinaros, where we would be staying at a super cute B & B called Casa Amamos. It is ran by a super nice couple from the Netherlands, and for once on my travels I got to do most of the talking during the accommodation experiences. Since Alberto is from Spain, and well speaks fluent Spanish, he would handle all the conversations at the hotels....but not this time...it was my turn to be able to "handle" things. When you can't handle things on your own as smoothly as you are used to, finally being able to is actually amazing! LOL! Awe the little things!! This location was picked because it was almost half way from Valencia and Barcelona, which I would be heading to on Sunday.
By far the Paella in Vinaros....DIVINE!! The best I had yet on my travels in Spain....and trust me....I tried a lot of paella in Madrid! Vinaros is a super small town, but super cute! (Definitely a hidden treasure town!) When you first get there it looks a little run down, but once you go further in the town you find that the locals are extremely friendly and the restaurants and shops are super cute! Plus they were on the coast so of course that meant lounging on the beach while we were there! Putting the bikini to some good use!
More on the B & B....so my room was the "ocean room"...I'm assuming that is the official name because it had sea shells everywhere! Not gonna lie, I was totally laughing about it, but really it was super adorable! They were very accommodating and so friendly, they also had about 6 chihuahuas in their home....very cute and very funny....made me miss my boys some! Alberto and I went out at night, walked around, passed street vendors all the while listening to DJ's playing music everywhere! (There were a couple spots along the water where DJ's were set up playing music for everyone to enjoy...uh...awesome! They weren't too shabby either!)
After some sangria and cervezas later, we headed back to our super cute B & B and called it a night....we needed to get up early the next day to make the most of the day before heading 3 hours to Barcelona. (give or take) The beach in Vinaros the next day was really nice....well maybe I should clarify that...the sunshine and the ocean was fabulous, the rocky beach not so much! Honestly, I could get past the rocky beach, I just imagined I was getting a hot stone massage and it made the experience so much better! Lol!
I loved just relaxing on the beach, with the amount of walking my feet had seen the last 9 days they were in need of a break! (BTW, my feet are still healing from the horrible blisters they obtained during my travels! garrr!) Sunbathing, swimming, and relaxing were my middle name for several hours and it was fabulous! I actually managed to get a tan on my travels, which for me is unheard of! Side thought, pretty much all the beaches in Spain are "topless" optional, and select beaches are full nude beaches. I wasn't brave enough to go topless, but if one of my girls fell out while changing sunbathing positions from front to back, I didn't really care! Normally I'm super careful to make sure my girls are in place before a position change is executed...but knowing that there were many woman around me (of many sizes and shapes) and they were letting their own girls hang out, makes you really not self conscious about such things! And for me to be relaxed about such a thing is a big deal...because you know me...I'm Miss conservative when it comes to my girls. You gotta at least buy me a cosmo before you get a sneak peek! Heehee totally kidding! It's actually 2 cosmos! :P
After roasting for several hours on the beach, we piled once again into the car and headed to my next stop: Barcelona! I would be in Barcelona completely by myself till Wednesday! After Barcelona, I would hop on a bus to visit Zaragoza till Friday! I know, I know...it's only a couple days away but a girl gets lonely in a big city! I need people to socialize and experience things with! I can manage quite well by myself, getting out and seeing the town, but I prefer some peeps with me! Even with that said, I think everyone at some point in their life needs to do a such a trip....it's just healthy for the soul!!
The drive went way too fast and before I knew it we had made it to Barcelona! Did you know Barcelona taxes the heck out of everything? No joke, just driving to Barcelona we had to pay at least 4 different toll spots! (Ranging from $4 euros to $14 euros) Sometimes those toll areas were maybe 20 minutes apart! Pure craziness I tell you! Really, Barcelona is an expensive city because they tax, tax, and tax some more! Finally arriving in Barcelona, we stopped to have lunch (Spain lunch = 4pm....I had almost eaten my arm off by then, I was hungry!) then Alberto had to leave me again to head back to Zaragoza where he had to work...boo work! He is such a good friend for me ... sniffle...sniffle...so to see him leaving me again was suuuupppperrrr sad! Dang jobs! Don't they always just get in the way!
Next post: Barcelona! Stayed tuned!!
Besos! Go.Be.Love
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