Valencia

After our stay in Madrid, we took a 2-hour train ride to Valencia, which is located on the eastern coast of Spain.  This city is more of a relaxing vacation place rather than a tourist attraction site.  There seemed to be fewer foreigners here, but the people here were probably the friendliest people we encountered on the whole trip.

We only stayed 3 days in Valencia, which was the perfect amount of time for this city.  Below were my top 3 places to visit while there:

1)  El Saler

El Saler is about a 30-minute bus ride south of Valencia's city center.  There is a more frequented city beach called La Malvarrosa, but I much prefer taking the trip out to El Saler.  It is a lot cleaner and quieter, and a perfect place to spend hours on the beach lying under an umbrella.  (I'm not too keen on tanning since I don't want to increase the risk of getting skin cancer or burned.)

We forgot our camera/batteries the day we went to El Saler, so this is actually a picture of La Malvarrosa.  It was a little overcast, but it's prettier on a sunny day.

El Saler

http://www.spaincenter.org/turismo-spain/comunidad-valenciana/valencia/el-saler.htm

2)  City of Arts and Sciences / Turia River Bed Gardens

I group these two sites together because the Turia River Bed Gardens leads right to the City of Arts and Sciences. The Turia was an old river that dried up, and the city has revitalized it to make it into a 7 km long park.  Each section has it's own theme, and there are a lot of people just running or biking along it.  We only walked 1/3 to 1/2 of the garden towards the south end because there wasn't much to see in the other half.

The City of Arts and Sciences is cool to walk around.  The futuristic looking architecture was unique, and I think it would fun to go there for New Year's or outdoor concerts.  It was pretty expensive to go into the aquarium and museum, and we weren't too interested in going to the planetarium, so we just took pictures from the outside.

3)  Walking Tour

We did a walking tour of La Lonja, Mercado Central, Cathedral and Miguelete, Plaza de la Virgen, and the Torres de Serranos one of the days.  I hit most of the top sites listed on this website, which I think was 

La Lonja - Old Silk Exchange

Cathedral and Miguelete

Plaza de la Virgen - I loved the marble tiles outdoors.  It gave the city extra finesse.

Torres de Serranos - Climbed the towers for €1.25 student price

The Real Madrid

One of my favorite shows that I used to watch in high school was Globe Trekker.  I always liked hearing that boingy noise at the beginning of every episode, and my favorite traveler was Megan McCormick.  That would be a pretty sweet job to have.  No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain would also be a cool job to have, but I digress.

The first stop of my 20-day Eurotrip was Madrid.  My friend X and I did a lot, but my top 5 places to visit were as follows:

1)  Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid)

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but the artwork and grandness were stunning.  It's unlike any place I've ever seen in the US, and there is a lot of culture and history behind the site.

2)  Toledo / Cathedral of Toledo

Toledo is a World Heritage City that is a 30 minute train ride away from Madrid.  It was the old capital of Spain before Madrid.  The quaint old city is built so closely together that you can walk the winding streets and visit most of the sites within a day.

My favorite site in Toledo was the Cathedral of Toledo.  Of all of the churches I visited in Spain and Paris, this Cathedral was at the top of that list, too.  Don't be deceived by the picture of the outside of the building.  Inside is huge!  The altar is ornate, and sometimes you just don't know where to look because there are so many things going on with all the decorations.  It is truly a site to see.


3)  Real Madrid C.F.'s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

I'm not a big futbol fan, which is probably akin to saying someone doesn't like puppies (How can you NOT like puppies?  They're so cute).  However, we visited Santiago Bernabéu, and I thought the self-guided tour was great.  Seeing the field, taking pictures with pictures of players, pretending to be sitting in club seats...it's pretty cool.

4)  Museo Reina Sophia

Aside from the Reina Sophia, there is the Prado Museum which is the largest and most famous art museum in Spain.  I chose to list the Reina Sophia here, though, because I enjoyed the collections and exhibits on display  more than the ones I saw at the Prado.  My opinion may differ next time I go.  People should try to visit both museums if possible.

 

5)  Retiro Park

This park sits to the east of the center of the city and it is huge.  There are not many flowers in this park, but the water areas are nice to look at.  We rested our feet for at least an hour in front of fountain because it was so peaceful.  There is also a glass house structure that has a slide inside of it.  We didn't try it out, but if I had not been wearing a dress, I might have.

Other Notable Sites

• Plaza Mayor
• Templo de Debod (Egyptian Ruins)
• Bull Fight
• Puerta del Sol - Street performances at night

X and I spent 5 days in Madrid, including the day trip to Toledo, which I think was long enough to do everything we wanted to do.  What struck me about the city was that the streets were so clean, the metro system is extremely well-kept (the nicest I've seen so far) and fast, and most of the dogs were off their leashes and were well-behaved.  Although many people visit Madrid, it doesn't feel overrun with tourists.  Madrid is very culturally rich, the people are pretty friendly, and it's a city I would recommend for others to visit if they ever find themselves in Europe.

A Teardrop

How many emotions are stored in a single teardrop?  The love for a person.  The heartache for missing someone.  The hope that that person is in a happier place.  Ba Noi, today, your children and grandchildren say goodbye to you.  I pray that you are smiling down in Heaven with Ong Noi at your side once again, and I send my love to you.

http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/gallery/tags/visa/

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!

So much has happened this past month.  As a quick update, I came back last week after a 3 week vacation to Spain and France, and I just started a new job this week.  It's been pretty busy, and I've been tired from adjusting to my new schedule.  Hopefully, I'll get into a routine soon.

For this next month, I plan to blog about my trip to Europe and travel related thoughts.  This next week is going to be hectic, so my posts will be sporadic.  But it's nice to be back!

As always, here is a video that I just can't get enough of: