maravillosa madrid: spring break in valencia ♥

One of the great things about Semana Santa/spring break in Madrid is that we get almost 2 weeks off from school. Most of the people in my program (apparently the rich people) went country hopping, at least according to Facebook. They went from London to Paris to Nice to Rome to Amsterdam to Berlin...the list can go on. Pretty much, pictures have been popping up from different countries, and we're all really jealous. It's kind of cool though because the group I usually hang out with stayed in Madrid. We can't afford to travel around so much because we lack bottomless bank accounts. We're not rich...and we're all the brown people...interesting...

ANYWAYS. Staying in Madrid for 2 weeks can get pretty boring, especially since we've been here for the last 3 months and have done a lot of the things to do here. Plus, many things are closed because it's holy week. A few of my friends decided to take a trip to Valencia and stay there for 2 nights. They got a good deal for the train and the apartment in Valencia, but they needed a 4th person and invited me to come. At first I didn't want to go because I knew that Valencia was a beach town, and I thought to myself, "I didn't come all the way from Santa Barbara to spend money to go to Santa Barbara." But honestly, it was probably one of the best decisions I've made since I've been here.

My friend Ariel can get pretty good deals on stuff, and he was the one that did all the research for this trip. Valencia is located on the east coast of Spain, sort of in the middle. By bus it would take 6 hours to get there, but we ended up getting a deal for the Ave - one of the fastest trains in the world. That's mostly why they needed me. They needed a 4th person to get the discount. I was so glad I went because it only took an hour to an hour and a half to get there. It was a really relaxing ride, and we went up to 302 km/h, which is about 188 mph. We got a table for the 4 of us, and it was like an airplane. We got earphones, could listen to music, and there were flat-screens where they played different TV shows. They had "stewardesses" too. There was a cafe (that was expensive), but it had its own car and had windows all around and you could watch the scenery on each side. It was super nice.

Well we got there and took a cab to our apartment. The owner was out of town, but we were supposed to meet the maid instead. When we got there and Ariel called her, she was sleeping. Actually, she turned out to be the laziest maid I've ever seen in my life. When she finally took us up to the apartment, there weren't any sheets on one of the beds, and she said that she'd take the sheets up later. She didn't. When we got back at 10 or 11 that night, we had to call her again to make her bring sheets for the bed.

Also, we're 4 people right? We had 3 pillows. We called her the next day asking if we could have another pillow.

Her answer? "No."

We asked, "There's not one extra pillow you could bring up? Because we're 4 people."

Her answer? "No." And then she hung up.

LAZY. I don't even know why she's working there. Also, she has the new iPhone. How in the world can she afford the new iPhone if she's working as a maid and all she apparently does is sleep? Frustrating.

ANYWAYS, back to the beginning. On the first day we arrived in the afternoon, and we took a taxi to our apartment. It was AMAZING. It was super spacious, and we had a balcony, full kitchen, 2 full bathrooms, and 2 bedrooms. We didn't feel like doing anything big, so we decided to walk around and explore a bit. We ended up walking down the street where there were restaurants, bars, clothing stores, and supermarkets. We also noticed everything was cheap. YES.

We ate a late lunch at this place that had Spanish and Italian food. It was tiny, and we were their only customers, but the food was pretty good. The menu del dia was 6,50 euros, and with that we get a 1st plate, a 2nd plate, bread, dessert, and a drink. Then guess what? My nose started bleeding again. I went to the bathroom and stood there for another 10 minutes. I felt bad because I kind of got blood everywhere...but the lady owner of the restaurant was so nice!! She was trying to help me, gave me paper towels, and kept checking on me to see if I was okay. We gave her a tip, although technically you don't do that here.

After that, we started walking towards the beach but it started to get dark. Instead we went to the supermarket and bought a few gallons of water for 1 euro (the tap water isn't safe to drink), and stocked up on some food and drinks for the next couple of days. We walked several blocks back to our apartment carrying everything (we didn't know there was a closer supermarket at the time...). Also, we had bought candles because when earlier there was no electricity. THANK GOODNESS there was electricity when we got back. We were all tired so we decided to order pizza and split the cost. Truth is, we needed that night. We sat on the couch (which is probably one of the most comfy couches in the world), ate pizza, had cheese and crackers, and had some wine. (Also, if you're thinking I'm an alcoholic or something *cough* parents *cough*, I'm not. Jesus drank wine. Just saying.) It was really chill and relaxing. Ariel fixed the broken speakers, and we put on some of the music from our "teenhood" and spent the night talking and singing. It was one of the most relaxing nights I've had here. That night Angela and I shared a comfy queen-sized bed, and I'm pretty sure we had a good rest that night.

The next day we woke up at like 8 or 9, and we ate breakfast at the apartment (it came with it). After that, we decided to go to the aquarium. Apparently, it's one of the largest in Europe. The apartment had also come with 2 free bikes, so we tried to figure out how to rent 2 more. The machines weren't taking their cards (I left mine in Madrid - mostly because I didn't want to be tempted to pull out more money), so we took a taxi to the aquarium. Turns out, it was SUPER expensive, so we decided to go to the science museum instead, which would only cost 6 euros, as opposed to 25 euros. We walked to the museum across the street and on the way bought some horchata. It was really good! It's different from the Mexican kind. It's made differently but still tastes really good. It has more of a nutty flavor. Also, another thing about these buildings is that the architecture is INCREDIBLE. I guess the same game that designed the Sydney Opera House designed these buildings, and it's really obvious in the way that they're built. We couldn't stop taking pictures.

We went into the science museum then, and it reminded me a lot of the California Science Center. It had a part that was interactive for the kids, but it had stuff for the older folks too. It was really random though. First we did the interactive part and then went to an exhibit about wood, where they had termites and a part that showed how some wooden things are made (ex: guitars, violins, etc.). Then we went upstairs and they had exhibits about the body, mutated animals, Marvel comics, and soccer. Like I said, it was really random. Still, it was really fun! Definitely worth the 6 euros. I think my favorite part was seeing the newly-born baby chicks, and one was trying to peck it's way out of the egg. Ah life.

Next we started walking in the direction of the beach when we finally found a machine that would take their cards. We rented 2 more bikes, and between those and the 2 free ones we had 4 bikes that cost about 5 euros each for a whole week. Too bad we were only there for 2 days. The nice thing about the bikes is that all over the city there are bike stations. There, you can park your bike and it automatically locks. To check out a bike, you only need to scan your card, and it gives you one. We could only ride the bikes for 30 minutes at a time, but it's nice because before the 30 minutes are up you only need to return the other one, and you could get another right away that you have for another 30 minutes. The system is very organized and really handy since there are literally bike stations on every street. They were pretty much like beach cruisers with 3 different gears. Let me tell you, it was SO NICE getting on a bike again. In UCSB, we ride our bikes every single day. That's how we get to school. It felt so good biking around. Not only did we get to see a lot of the city at our own pace, but we also got fresh air and exercise. Perfect.

We rode our bikes in the beautiful sunshine to the beach. The beach in Valencia is AWESOME. There are restaurants lining the large walkway, along with rows of palm trees. Then there is a large stretch of soft brown sand that goes straight to the water. I couldn't wait to sink my toes into it. First, we had to eat because we were really hungry. We ended up eating at this restaurant that was a little expensive, given that it's right in front of the beach, but it was another menu del dia. As a part of it, we got fresh mussels, calamari, fish, salad, seafood paella, dessert, bread, an espresso, and a free jarra of sangria. It was a good deal because the food was really good, and the seafood was FRESH. We were satisfied. It was nice too because while we were in restaurant, it rained. When we got out, it stopped. Jesus? I think so.

Then we walked down to the water. It was freezing cold and windy (I chose the wrong day to wear a sundress), but it was beautiful. It was nice wading for a bit in the Mediterranean :)

It was super cold, so after taking a few pictures we washed off our feet and rode our bikes to the apartment. We rested for about half an hour in the apartment before heading out on the bikes again to the grocery store. Alim and I are the faster bike riders since we're used to it (UCSB and UC Davis), so we rode to the farther supermarket to return the candles that we never used. While we did that, Angela and Ariel went to the corner store to buy some fruit. We caught up to them, and while Alim and Angela watched over the bikes, Ariel and I finished the shopping at the closer supermarket. We finally bought what we needed. In the end, our breakfast and lunch cost about 6 euros each, so shopping in the market saved us a lot of money. Next, we decided to go to the old part of town in Valencia, where the old buildings and churches are. We took our bikes and went in the direction of the old town. We were heading in the right direction, and we asked a man along the way to point us in the right direction. Turns out, he gave us the WRONG directions. We ended up turning left when we should have turned right, and we ended up on a bridge close to where we started. It was getting dark, so we decided to take a taxi there. He was driving, and we realized that the road we were driving on looked very familiar. Turns out, we were only a couple of blocks away from old town. AWESOME.

We got there finally, and the light was fading, so we were running around trying to take pictures before the sun set. We couldn't get into the church, but we got to walk around and see the beautiful buildings. We saw these towers that used to have a moat around it. The light was PERFECT. The buildings were so beautiful in the twilight, and it was nice just walking along the streets and taking pictures.

After a while we got hungry so we wandered through random alleys and small streets to a hidden restaurant. It was a random night on a weekday, so we were the only customers, but the people were nice and the food was pretty good! We had a lot of choices in our menu del dia, and I got a delicious salad, chicken and potatoes in a peanut sauce, and a brownie. It was good. It was nighttime by then, so we made a quick stop and bought handmade bracelets from these random but really nice Argentinian hippies on the street, and took a taxi home. We decided we'd rather spend the 2 or 3 euro each to go safely home rather than find out way home in the dark on bikes. We got to the apartment did the same thing we did the night before, except we went to bed a little earlier because we were EXHAUSTED.

The next day, Angela and I got up and started to make breakfast when the power went out. Yay. The guys had to take cold showers in the dark with only little candles and the light on their iPhones to give them light.. We had bought egg and bacon and everything, but we couldn't cook it. We ended up bringing everything with us on the Ave back home. We got back at like 2 or 3pm, and by that time Maru had left to Cantabria for the rest of the week. Angela and Ariel came to the house where Nikki was waiting for us, and we made breakfast...and guess what? The power went out AGAIN. We couldn't figure out where her box was, so we had to go to the neighbor downstairs and have her come up and help us look. Turns out, it was hidden behind one of her giant paintings. Finally, we made breakfast and could eat, with the rain pouring outside.

I think it's safe to say, it was one crazy day. So far, this has been my absolute favorite trip that I have taken here. The friends, the relaxation, the sights, the cheap food, getting to ride the Ave and bikes...everything was perfect. This was one of the best spring breaks ever! :)

I have a million pictures to show you, so I'll put some of them up here. I'm including a song that we listened to before we went to bed that kind of became our theme song during the trip, so you can listen while you look. I'm not going to title it because you should know this song. If you don't...well that's just wrong. Sick and wrong.

Enjoy ;)