My Week in Spain: Part 2
Trip Start
Sep 25, 2008
1
11
36
Trip End
Ongoing
Valencia,
Valencian Country,
Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween! They do not do much for it at all in Europe, although it does exist. I woke up on Friday feeling sick to my stomach. I ended up throwing up in the morning. We had plans to go to the art museum, and I really wanted to go, so I sucked it up and we made our way there. The museum wasn't too big, but it was mainly full of religious art, which doesn't really interest me. The whole time I was dragging though. I still felt sick and was really tired. I lay down on a bench and got yelled at by a guard. We left the museum and I still wasn't feeling well. I ended up throwing up in the street, pretty much on the art museum. Afterwards I felt much better, and we headed to the Barrio Carmen to look around some more. Anne and Merima were hungry, but my stomach bug came back, and they ate while I sat there. We went back to Sunny's and I took a long nap, hoping to feel better to go out for Halloween, but unfortunately that did not happen. Sunny's stomach was also bothering her, but she rose above it and still went out for Halloween.
Since we had went out for dinner every night before we decided to make dinner to save some money. I was able to eat a little of it, but I was in my pajamas for the rest of the night. All of Sunny's friends came over to drink before going out. Sunny dressed up as a fairy, 2 guys were dressed up as women, some of the other girls were hippies, etc. It didn't really seem as important as at home to be dressed up to go out. So everyone left at about midnight and Sunny and the girls got back at about 5 in the morning. I felt sick all night, but I was better in the morning. Sunny had a turn for the worse though. She was sick the whole rest of the weekend.
Day 6, Saturday November 1st
We went out without Sunny because she was still sick. For the weekend Valencia had a medieval faire going on in the bull fighting ring. We went there and it was pretty cool to see the inside of the stadium. They were selling a lot of funky medieval foods, and we got falafel for lunch. All of the people in the booths were wearing costumes, so it was amusing. Most of the stands were selling the same things, jewelry, incense, or wooden toys, but it was a cool experience. It was pretty packed. I ended up getting a few small things there. When we got out of the medieval faire it was raining, but we still wanted to do some shopping since there is nothing in Laon. I got a shirt and Merima bought a jacket. We didn't go around too much because of the weather. We decided to return either Sunday or Monday. We got back to Sunny's and made dinner again to save some money. We had planned on going to a soccer game on Sunday and had just bought the tickets before dinner. At this point in time it was pouring rain. We were watching a soccer game on TV, then at about 10 a soccer game came on, and Valencia was playing. It seemed like they were playing the same team we were supposed to see. Plus it was raining heavily. We kept going back and forth, are they really playing now, or is it a replay? The tickets we bought had no date or time on them. Since the stadium is only a block from Sunny's apartment, Merima and I went to go check it out. It turned out they were playing. We rushed back upstairs to get the tickets, throw on some more clothes, and grab some plastic bags. We made it there during half time and watched the game in the pouring rain. It was really fun though. The people are so into the game. There are dedicated cheering sections, and everyone is watching. It is very different from going to an American sporting event. At home it seems like people are there for pure entertainment, while in Spain, people were there for the sport. There were pretty much no concession stands and nobody gets up when the game in going on. It was quite an interesting experience. I can't wait to go to a soccer game in France. Unfortunately Valencia lost, 2 to 4, but it was still a really cool event. We went to bed after the game was over so we could finally get an earlier start.
Day 6, Sunday November 2nd
We finally were able to get up early. We wanted to go to the beach, even though it would be too cold to go swimming. Sunny was still recovering, so we took the metro to get there. It was beautiful but very windy. It felt so good to have sand between my toes and smell the sea air. It was packed too. People were out walking, playing soccer, flying kites, etc. It was nice to see so many people out and about. After the beach it was lunch time. Paella is supposedly king on Sunday, so we set out to find somewhere to get it again. We wandered around for awhile in Barrio Carmen. We finally settled on a little restaurant. It was good, but not as good as the first time. Afterwards we wanted to go shopping again, but apparently, as in France, everything is closed on Sunday. We wandered around, looking for something open, but alas there was nothing. There were tons of people out though, apparently just walking. It just doesn't seem to make good business sense to close on Sunday. When I went to the one store in Laon that is open on Sunday it was packed. It just seems like these stores our losing out on so much money, but anyway. On the walk back we took a stroll through the river park. It was really peaceful and pretty. There were of course lots of fountains. There also were a lot of orange trees, and suprisingly they still had fruit on them, but the oranges were still green.
When we got back to Sunny's we started packing our stuff back up. I had had a good time, but I was feeling ready to go back to France. We went out to dinner at the same tapas restaurant we went to for our first dinner. It was really good, and we didn't want to risk going somewhere mediocre. Plus it made our trip go full circle; we had paella and tapas on our first day in Spain and on our last day. Sunny was feeling better so we were all able to eat together. We believe it must have been some food poisoning. At the pizza place she had some weird pasta. I had tried some of it, and I was sick all day Friday, and she ate most of it, and she was sick all weekend. I guess we'll never know for sure though.
Day 7, Monday November 3rd
The Last Day
We once again were able to get an early start. We decided to finish up our shopping that got interrupted by the rain on Saturday. We didn't find much, but it was nice to be surrounded by stores. We got a gift for Sunny, a bottle on Tequila and a Valencia shot glass. We got to go to the Central Market too. We had gone numerous times during the week, but it was always closed. It is basically a giant food market, full of sights and smells. It was pretty cool to see. Anne had to catch the train, so we had to be back at Sunny's at 1:30. She packed up and was gone by two. Our flight was at 6, so we went to the grocery store and got some snacks before we had to leave. At 3:30 we said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. Of course the weather was beautiful the day we left. Such is life. Our plane left at about 6, and we got to Beauvais around 8. We were stuck in Beauvais for the night because no trains were available to take us back to Laon. We stayed in a foyer, which is a kind of dormitory for young workers, with an English assistant in Beauvais. It was cool getting to know her, and hearing about things in England. Her room was pretty small though, and cold. It was not a very comfortable night, but we were able to save the money from a hotel, so that was a plus. I spent more money than I planned on in Spain, but I figured I won't be coming back, so it was fine. Plus I got paid while on vacation, so I was able to purchase things without thinking of the conversion. It was great. So the night was over, we caught the train back to Laon at 10:30 and finally arrived back in Laon at 1:40. It was very comforting to be somewhere where I could understand the language and knew the routine. It was still weird hearing French after hearing only Spanish for a week. So overall it was a great vacation, despite a few downfalls, and I'd like to thank Sunny for having us and being a great host.
