Emily's Adventures

we got into valencia at midday. jess had just begun to get a swollen face and wasnt feeling 100% so her and katene decided to spend the afternoon chilling out in the hostel and catching up on some sleep. steph and i had slept the whole way on the bus so when we got settled into our room decided to go hit the shops. it was another beautiful day and we wandered down the main streets looking for some jandals to replace stephs beloved ones that had been with her for the past 7 years..and sadly decided to call it quits while in barcelona- although she couldnt bring herself to part with them just yet so the broken jandal was packed and brought to valencia. we walked the streets until 6pm and then went back to the hostel to collect katene and jess so that we could go to the supermarket to get picnic food. valenca used to have a river that ran through it but it kept flooding so they decided to redivert the river and turned the old riverbed into a park that goes for several kilometers. by the time we got to the supermarket and decided on what to buy it was nearly 8pm. katene decided he would stay back at the hostel and ordered kfc delivered- apparently you can get anything delivered in valencia. us girls found a nice spot in the park and enjoyed watching the sunset. it was so pretty- the sky turned pink and looked amazing through all the trees and there are a few churches around the park and these looked cool lit up by the sunset. the park had soo many people going for runs, biking and walking their dogs. they also have fitness parks- which are like childrens playgrounds but only have gym equipment so they were busy too, and free. the next morning jess face was far more swollen than the previous day so she decided to go to the hospital with katene. steph and I hired some bikes for the day and biked through the park down to the science museum and then on to the beach. they have amazing cycle footpaths here that are listed on the city map and they are colour coded so once you are on the right route it is so easy to get where you are going. the beach wasnt wow like we were expecting. there is a good couple of hundred of meters of flat grey sand from the boardwalk to where the sea is. Most of the time it was just steph and I biking along the boardwalk so there wasnt the atmosphere of barcelona with heaps of people around enjoying the sunshine. even the restaurants along the boardwalk were quiet. wegot some lunch as it was nearly 2pm then walked across the sand to find a spot near the water. beacuseit was just me and steph we had to go swimming in the Medeterraininan by ourselves so that we could watch each others bags. as with every other beach in eurpoe thereare always people walking around trying to sell sunglasses and massages. the sea was warm and therewere good waves but it would have been more fun to be able to be in the water with someone else. after we took turns swimmming we slept on the beach. i thought i was getting burn so much to stephanies amusement I covered my whole body with my sarong and my face with my hat. apparently i looked like a mummy haha. when we realised how late in the afternoon it was we walked back up to the boardwalk and collected the bikes- which were thankfully still there with all the wheels and seats- its not uncommon for bikes to be stolen even locked up. we took another bike route home which was more direct and this took about 30mins. jess hadbeen back from the hospital for a while but was sleeping as the medication had taken it out of her. she had a salvitory gland infection- so it was good she got it sorted. that nighta friend of katenes from chch was staying at the hostel so we got some happy hour sangria .75l for 2 euro and then went to a night club down at the science museum. it took us 30mins to walk there so we didnt get there til nearly 2am- but this is when people start going out in spain. the night club was amazing. it was outdoor but had this big sail like structure over it to give the impression that you were inside. therewe palm tress lining either side of the club with flash seating areas lit up with neon pink lamps and big plastic balls. down staris there was another club that was indoors. we started there first then when we got over the music we went back upstairs. we left at 5am after a good boogie. it was the first nightclub any of us had been to in a very long time. we couldnt get a taxi to take us home as there were five of us so a guy in a bmw gave us a ride. dont worry mum, katene was with us to protect us :). the next day was sooo hot. we walked to a different park of town which ended up being where the cathedril was and was really pretty and had a look around, then we had to be back for our bus to madrid which left at 1.30pm. as the bus was pulling out the wedding being held across the road from the hostel at a church had just come out and they light fire works to celebrate.though their fireworks are more about the sound than the lights. it sounded like gunfire.  that was cool to see.