Dancing with Sharks
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2006
1
2
11
Trip End
Jul 09, 2006
Loading Map
Valencia,
Spain
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Welcome to Spain.
It's been awhile since I've seen the sun come up, and as I struggled out of bed I remembered why. It hurts. But then again when else can you get in free as a VIP to Valencia's hottest disco tech, La Indiana, and actually witness the rare and ever-so-embarassing sight of Nick breaking out his white-boy trademarked dance moves? And no, I was not tripping on some form of bad Spanish acid, there were really sharks swimming around in an aquarium encircling the dance floor (or at least one level of one of the dance floors).
But let's back up and start at the beginning. Clearly you don't just step off a plane and find yourself with a cigarette in hand dancing like a wannabe local. No, first you must get a sense of your surroundings. Then you drink. And finally, somehow, you convince yourself you are one of them.
The day was spent exploring Valencia City with Scott. What I like about Valencia is that it is a large city (Spain's third largest), yet it is manageable. The old part of the city is full of little streets and plazas that force you to become lost in the scene. We saw such sites as the bull ring, the old town gate, park, towers, cathedral, post office (which is much more than a cranky old man behind a counter)and plaza where the Pope will be in several weeks. What's interesting about the already-decorated plaza for the Pope is that there is a large statue of Jesus and next to him is a cartoonish looking turtle, dragon, and demon beast.
1 Valencia
Must be new biblical characters in the new book by that ever crazy Judas. After exploring the city, we returned home for some siesta time before getting ready to head out to celebrate Marta's birthday. For dinner we enjoyed some tapas, including shrimp, squid, patatas bravas and lots of meat on sticks. What's great about Spanish culture is nobody starts doing anything, including eating, until at least 10pm. After dinner we did some Irish bar hopping (which verified my belief that the Irish are taking over the world through pubs and Guiness). At one pub Kara decided to announce that she was a goddess at the limbo and so was challenged to put her money where her mouth was; leading to an impromptu limbo contest between Kara and, well, Kara.
The night concluded with us getting VIP passes into La Indiana, Valencia's "hottest" disco tech, thanks to Scott's friend Owen. Typcially costing thirty Euro, we were able to walk right in and start dancing. And being in the intoxicated state I was in, that sounded like a great idea. Which explains how I found myself on a dance floor, with a cigarette, dancing with sharks. Unfortunately there are no pictures of me dancing, so you will just have to take my word for it: Watch out K-Fed, I tore it up.
A night like that can only ensure a slow moving subsequent day, getting up around one and shuffling around like a zombie for awhile, writing off drinking forever. So needless to say we took it easy on Sunday, enjoying a walk along the sea, exploring the canals of the harbor, relaxing at a cafe, and going for a stroll through the park before enjoying our last day at the amazingly futuristic science museum and oceanarium.
Klenske, Ink.
