Sunday, July 10, 2011

Valencia

Sorry for the long delay and update, things have been really busy here. Last Thursday, my sister and dad arrived to Madrid and everyone (and eventually everything) made it here safely. We’ve spent the first week exploring downtown Madrid more in depth, we visited a neat medieval festival in a small town called Hita, and also a local zoo. To cap off the first week, we went to El Saler and Valencia, two towns on the east coast of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea to spend some time at the beach and see another part of Spain.

Valencia was absolutely incredible! The most unique aspect that stuck out to me was the architecture, especially in the part of Valencia called “The City of Arts and Sciences”. Many of the buildings have unique designs related to the marine and sea life just off the coast. I was convinced that one of the buildings looks like a fish, but on the tour we learned it resembles an eye. I still think it looks like a fish. The city seemed to have everything from one of the best zoos in the world, to a world class athletic training facility where many of the best athletes in Europe train to a beautiful cathedral, where legend has it the Holy Grail is located. Two and a half days definitely was not enough time to explore the city, we wish we could have been there for much longer, there was so much to see and do.

El Saler is a town 8 km south of Valencia, and has one of the best beaches in Spain. It was also nice to switch up the running routes for the first time in over a month, it was very refreshing, but I forgot what humidity feels like, it was rough! The sea was very clean and we enjoyed swimming and spending time at the beach. The water felt excellent in the hot weather, however it was hard to relax in the sea as I constantly had to be on the lookout for Jellyfish. Luckily the closest I got to one was walking by one that had washed up on the beach. Another highlight of the trip was authentic Valencian Paella, a traditional dish made with rice, chicken, vegetables, and a variety of beans, it was delicious.

We’re now back in Madrid for the next two days, then it’s off to London!


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