Barcelo Valencia

... That's crazy talk. Will and I allotted a good few hours one day for lunch to settle in to some Paella Valenciana from El Rall in the Old City. Paella Valenciana is typically made with rabbit and chicken and green veggies like lima beans, artichokes, peppers...etc. This and Paella Mariscos, with shell fish, are the most common.

Of course we did more than simply eat. We explored. Quite a bit actually. And being tourists as we ...

... interested. They have a great complex- The City of Arts and Sciences which you can easily spend two whole days in. There's everything from dolphin shows to films on Egyptology.
Found the city to be a little quiet and not just as impressive as other spainish cities, such as Seville, but def worth a visit- especially if you can join it up with a feista- I would love to go back for La fallas.

... to find our hostel after wondering around the city (translation: we got so lost! The directions on the website were literally, walk through plaza, there will be steps on your right, and cross steps...apparently it's too much to put street names).
Once we actually found our hidden hostel, we were pleasantly surprised. This hostel was more like a hotel. It was incredible! We had ...

... highlights. I found out that this city is one of the most progressive cities in all of Europe for social justice, for example, there are reliefs maps all over the city with directions in braille for people to get around. That made a big impact on me.

After the walking tour, as a group we continued on to a tapas tour. We went to four different restaurants and got tapas and sangria ...

Wednesday was our last day in Valencia; we checked out and headed back into the city – stopping off at the park to see an impressive playground in the shape of Gulliver. Then we sort of wandered around the city seeing the parts we hadn't seen, we checked out the big markets and I was tempted to buy some fresh fruit or something yummy but bought some postcards instead. We then caught the bus down to the seaside and walked along the beach in the beautiful sunshine ...

... to me and I cherish them vastly. Tania, as always it is a pleasure to catch up with you- you fill me with strength and give my a cringe in my face. Chlo, darling, it is so wonderful to have someone that understands were I come from in terms of my present life. You, out of anyone, understands my challenges and frustrations in relation to amazing Liverpool and endearing Valencia. Thank you all!!

... for a short road trip towards south...looking for more sun and seaside. It seems that the local police is after rental cars...as we had the rental car logo on the backside of the car. Anyway we were on our way to Xcativa, a small mountain town, when suddenly the traffic patrol asked us to pull over. So we did. First we, the three girls were asked to step out from the backseat....we didn't wear the seatbelt. Jepikajee!! Each 105€! What a heck... marko got 68 for crossing the line ...

... but also a good deal of them watch American tv shows. They all knew what Lost was, and several of them said they loved Grey's Anatomy and House. I think a big TV show right now, at least for kids around my age is "Los hombres de Paco." Or something like that. Through out the week, I generally had similar conversations with everyone. Language barriers make it difficult to have much variety, plus everyone was shy to use their English ...

... of steps and I messed up the first and simple one. As a result, all the following ones were also wrong. The professor stepped in to help me out, and I retired to the back in disgrace. It was a pretty traumatic experience. Thursday I met up with Fabricia and Sabine, the German girl I had met a little while ago. After lunch Sabine and I ended up having a long talk, in Spanish, about our lives and the differences between them. I think the ...