Easter in Valencia

Easter in Valencia

by Rebecca Smith

OK so Uyen, (my room mate who replaced Annie) and I woke up at about 3:30 am on Good Friday to catch our flight to Valencia. We took a cab to the airport and got on The World’s Longest Check-in Line (no seriously….I think the Guinness World Book guys were there to document it). After waiting forever and a day to get to the counter, we were awarded with the World’s Stupidest Airline Employee, who tried to convince us that our flight was not for another four days, while we tried to educate her on the difference between departure and return. After a frenzied linguistics lesson, she finally started to check us in, only to stop about 10 minutes later and inform us that we actually did not have our tickets yet, and had to go to the desk across the way to pick them up and to just come right back to her to get checked in. So we go wait on a seemingly short line at the customer service desk. HA, what fools are we for deceiving looks. The short line tricked us into believing it would be quick. No such luck. There were two people working and a couple of tough cookies in front of us who obviously needed nearly a half hour to sort out their respective problems. When we finally reached the counter in search of our modern day grail/tickets, we were again informed we needed to try elsewhere; this time a desk near the arrivals hall. So we dashed up the escalators, knocking down old ladies and tourists in our path, and promptly got lost when we reached the arrivals hall. I mean its Heathrow for God’s sake, we have to find one tiny little desk. So we wander up the length to the right and then back down the left, only to find the desk all the way at the far end of the hall tucked away in a corner. Thankfully she had our tickets for us, and off we went, back to queue jump in front of everyone now inhabiting the World’s Longest Check-in Line. Well, the lady said to come back to her. So we did, she finally checked us in, and off we went to wait our excessively early departure.

Uneventful flight that involved sleeping a lot. Stop over in Munich. Arrive in Valencia, greeted by the most fantastic sight, SUNSHINE!! What’s that you say, sunshine, in April, in Europe?!?! The incredulity in your tone can stop…..yes, sunshine, it happens, well it happens outside of England. I donned my sunglasses, we hopped in a cab and were off to our fantastic centrally located 4 star hotel…..the era of staying in dodgy hostels is over. Hotels for me from now on. I have seen enough hostels for one lifetime. So the first day we basically just walked all over the old town taking pictures, since we arrived in the middle of siesta and it was Good Friday in Spain a devoutly Roman Catholic country, so everything else was closed. Then we found the shopping area and walked around checking out all the shops until we reached the bullfight stadium. Then I was struck by ginormous hunger pangs, and I had to get a bite and then we went back to the hotel to get ready to go out.

We asked at the desk where to go for dinner, and they were about zero help. So we just walked around trying to find a restaurant that was open and did not intimidate us (we went into one tapas bar that was a small place in a back alley, but we just stood there and no one asked if we needed any help and there was nowhere to sit, so we left when it became overbearingly uncomfortable) and we found an Italian place in another back alley square and sat outside despite the chill and ate our pasta and drank our bottle of wine and then sat around chatting (as is the way in Spain) until about midnight and then off we went for a night of fun. Unfortunately, Valencia appears to be a small resort town that doesn’t attract a lot of young people until it gets hot out, or the ones it has go outside of Valencia for their nights out, and it turns out Spanish people don’t start dinner until about 9-10 ish and don’t start going out for the evening until about 3 am. So Uyen and I bar hopped until we found Vic Fox’s and met these two British girls and were talking to them and found out they were staying in our hotel. Uyen started falling asleep in the bar, so I decided we needed to go home and we would go out with the Brit girls the next night, much later, after we napped.

So the next day we were determined to wake up for our free breakfast……didn’t happen. So instead we slept in and watched the Osbournes on MTV Europe ahhhh the luxury of it. Then we called the front desk and had them make us a reservation for a Paella restaurant. We got ready, hopped in a cab and went to La Marcelina, the paella restaurant. We walked in and immediately felt out of place again. It was packed with families who were dressed to the nines. We in our jeans and sneakers, of course were not prepared. Oh well. The head waiter kept seating other people, and finally Uyen tried out her rusty Spanish skills on him and he seated us. We ordered the house special paella. It was soooooooooooo delicious, but so filling, its basically rice, frutti di mare (mixed seafood), and tons and tons of fatty yummy butter. I could not finish my plate, and Uyen shamed me by polishing of hers and helping out with mine. It is just physically impossible to consume that much rice. It expands in your stomach. Oh well. After our insane meal, we had to walk by the beach. Nice, now we were just like the Valencianos except for the frequent photo ops. We walked for a while then took a cab back to town and did a bit of shopping. Then we went to the supermarket to get some lovely snacks. We got the requisite light dinner of bread and cheese……but we also got a bag of mini macaroons (aka crack cocaine), a package of Valencia cakes (which are like a combination angel food and pound cake) and kilo of strawberries, and huge bottles of water. We then proceeded to eat our meal followed by a modest serving of our dessert foods while watching the Osbournes (marathon on MTV Europe that weekend). Then we napped until midnight and then got up and met the Brit girls to go out. We went to a club and arrived at like 1:30 am, and the place looked as empty as if it were 8:30 pm on a Wednesday night. Then around 2:30-3 people started arriving in droves. Uyen and I were walking to the bar when we met Nacho (ha, Not your ordinary Nacho) and his friend who had an Anglo type name that I can’t remember now and had the unfortunate problem of being the only Spanish man in the world with absolutely no charisma/game or dancing skill. I ask you, HOW? I just couldn’t get over that kid’s name being Nacho. Hysterical. So what if I have the sense of humor of a 12 yr old boy. Deal with it. Then the lights came on and we asked the guys where we could go now, and they suggested our hotel. At this point Uyen and I backed away and waved and found our Brit friends and left. Yikes.

But as we were walking back, we stopped at a corner, partly to try and catch a cab and mostly because the most beautiful man in the world was standing across the road. We were all silently debating what to say to him. Finally we all decide to cross the road and as we are walking past, one of the Brit girls says aloud, “Should I ask him?” because thus far, English is not a common language in Valencia, and he goes “Ask me what?” Well, the girls lost their nerve, but I am a brash, loud, obnoxious Jersey girl (you know that), so I of course respond with a “want to come with us?” But we kept walking, and he didn’t follow. So the regrets were rehashed all the way home and even the next day about the beautiful man that we left behind. Oh well. There’s always another night, another country, and hopefully more beautiful men...WHEEEEE!! Perhaps Brad and Jen will break up and I will encounter him on a street corner one night...until then though...

The next day, Uyen and I were wrecked. We got up for the free breakfast this time with the aid of a wake up call. Then we went out to do some sight seeing. We walked to the central mercato, which was lame, because it was Easter Sunday and basically closed. So then we just walked around town and went to the Ceramics museum, which was also pretty much closed, and didn’t have much ceramic on display. So then we went to the central park and walked for like 3 hrs. That was beautiful. Orange groves and fountains, palm trees and grass all over. Gorgeous and it smelled citrusy fresh. So nice. A welcome respite from city life. Then we went back to the hotel. Turned on the Osbournes, pigged out on our remaining junk food, fell asleep, and didn’t leave the hotel again until the morning when we left for the airport. For the reason of the pigging out and lethargic-ness of that weekend, we both vowed to do the South Beach Diet when we got back to London. Valencia was lovely. When we got back, we went shopping for our new diet. I have been on it for a week now, and I would kill for some sugar. Turns out I’m a sugar addict. Oh well. I can handle it.

Then this past weekend, Monica, Neeti, Reeny and I went to Greenwich. And wouldn’t you know it, I was late for Greenwich Mean Time. I missed the close of the time line by 15 minutes. Acccckkkk, I’m always late. But it was a lovely area, and the sun was out for once in Greater London and the park area was all green and nice. A nice day out. Followed by a freezing cold rainy day. This weekend we have to go to Aberdovey, Wales with Mountbatten for an Outward Bound programme. It should be cold, wet, and rainy………SWEET!! And according to popular legend, we are to be staying in tents, with no modern toilet facilities, and fed rations. WHEEEEEE!!! Hopefully, rumors are wrong. Talk to you all in a bit.