Ibis Valencia Aeropuerto Manises

... debating whether to put it all on your back or to distribute the contents into a hand held bag as well that will make your arm lose circulation but relieves some back stress. (I know, woe is me, poor little European traveler. No sympathy, I get it.) Anyway, I opted for the 2-pack for this travel day. I knew I was going to be on a long bus ride so I had my computer and books and earphones, etc. in a smaller bag. The hulking backpack that looks like a tightly wrapped ...

... and things. Where I was staying it is a nice area with cobblestone and big square with fountains- the main one Plaza de la virgen with a fountain of Poiseidon. I made great friends here with the austrailan girls, a german, two dutch and a girl from norway and we went out together salsa dancing and also to the beach for the whole day following my arrival. For halloween it was quite a treat to see the whole city full of young kids dressed up. It was different ...

... plus no waiting lines, no choosing or comparing products and prices. And when you return home (or your "campfire in the wild") you can prepare some new amazing dishes with all that you find!

Here a collection of our favorite recipes that we made up during this trip (more to come):

Banana chips
Needed:
Some green more tough bananas called "plantain" (1 or 2 is enough for 2 persons)
Salt
Sun flour oil ...

... viena - salzburg
22sept: salzburg - hallstat - salzburg
23sept: salzburg - zurich tren nocturno
24sept: zürich - winterthur - schaffhaussen - rheinfall (cataratas rhin) - stein am rhein - zürich
25sept: zürich - lucerna - interlaken
26sept: interlaken - grindelwald
27sept: Grindelwald - interlaken - berna
28sept: berna - laussane - montreaux - fribourg
29sept: fribourg - basel - vuelo a alicante

... we were fair game for tomatoes and water. The streets in Spain are pretty much always lined with apartments. Some of the people that live in those apartments participate in the Tomatina by throwing tomatoes into the crowd, pouring buckets of water on them, or spraying them with a hose. Luckily that day it wasn't very hot, but the water still felt really good. We slowly worked our way through the crowd, until we couldn ...

... y las Ciencas to watch an IMAX film called Los Alpes, of course about the Alps. It's about a guy called John Harlin III who grew up in Lausanne in Switzerland. When he was 9, his father John Harlin II fell off an Alp. It's about his journey dealing with his father's death by climbing mountains. With the perfect Queen soundtrack and Michael Gambon narrating, it was an IMAX classic; I would have liked more sweeping ...

... say it is not a church nor a cathedral but I'm sorry there is a big Jesus Christ in the middle of it). I think it would be better to let people donate what they like to do. Still, churches these days has became a real business. Another hightlight would be La Lonja de la Seda, it is one of the UNESCO's heritage, it was built between 1482 and 1533, this group of buildings was originally used for trading in silk (hence its name, the Silk Exchange ...

... on the grass next to the fountain in front of the Town Hall. The fountain and hall were each beautiful by night, lit up by coloured lights, and the sound of the water was incredibly soothing. After a good half hour here, Joe was nearly asleep - he had caught a nightbus the night before. Consequently we called it a night and agreed to meet before 7 the following morning at the train station where we were catching our train to Bunol for La Tomatina!

... spot to spend a few days. The team bases line one side of the purpose built harbour and cafes, restaurants and shops are on the other. Team NZ boasts the biggest flag in the village and the amount of kiwis who had traveled over was great to see. Black shirts were everywhere and the familiar kiwi accent cut through the crowd with ease. Music to our ears. I had booked in a day on a spectator boat to get out on the water and see some sailing action up close ...

... Had a Valencian orange from the market for breakfast which was alright. It was an orange. What more do you say. Then I went to an internet cafe and spent a LONG time posting pictures finally. Didn´t get to do Lisbon and Sevilla but I will soon. Internet is absurdely expensive in this city for some reason. I´ll wait until Barcelona and hope it´s cheaper there. Then I finished reading a ...