Why hello fellow readers or just reader, "Sarah goes anywhere" is making a comeback and we'll be starting with my latest travels moving backwards in time instead of my usuals. If you haven't read about my little rants on accessing my iPhotos on my hard disk, well, short story short, I can't access my older past travels photos and been trying to resolve that but with no luck, I'm still on square one. With that, I'm compromising with blogging my latest travels to give me more time to make other attempts, oh Lord help me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this diarrhoea of words and photos.
Disclaimer: It may not be all that useful because my aims are pretty much to sum up my trip, jot down what I recall and it's mainly for future Sarah to come back to reminisce of my well travelled life (which I have my parents to thank for). In addition to that, you are warned as my photos are not edited in one particular set filter so those with anal ocd on having the same theme or strict aesthetic, you are going to feel all sorts of emotions scrolling through my non-aesthetic aesthetic posts and my excessive use of the word "bomb". May God bless you on your journey. Here we go.
DAY 1
Through my friend, Petra's incredible ability to dig through the interweb for the cheapest and luxurious holidays, she dug up this 4 days 3 nights in a 4-star hotel, Valencia trip that only cost us £189 each which was bomb because that price included flights (from London Stansted Airport). We stayed in Hotel Albufera, roughly under 20 minutes by car and cost us €20-22 for a one way trip from the airport. As for going to city centre, the bus stop is more or less 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel. With very little spanish vocabulary downloaded in our brains, we assume that a single ticket (one way) costs €1.45-€1.50. They may or may not have an all-day or a return ticket, we did not have the ability to translate that to ask (sigh). The hotel's staff were well spoken in English and suuuper helpful (emphasis on the three U's because they were that helpful). The inclusive breakfast every morning served the simple basics like scrambled eggs, bread, fruits, salads, cereal, juice and a platter of cheese, overall cleanliness 10/10, facilities 5/10 and you can tell the hotel was one of the OGs in the past from the ageing surroundings.
Ask and it will be given to you. Matthew 7:7
Lunch in Racó del Turia, seafood paella was bomb.
For pretty much majority of our first day in Valencia, after I was fed, I happily watched Petra undertake some overdue retail therapy. Once fed, I'm pretty much a happy girl so keep in mind if you ever want a favour from me, just feed me a good meal and your wish is my command.
We somehow ended up getting a free bus ride to Ikea (which was 15 minutes walking distance to our hotel) when we were searching for the most convenient way back. Though we didn't speak spanish, the bus driver was kind enough to help us as much as he could to indicate that it was free as long as we sign up for an Ikea Family card (also free) because we kept indicating how much should we pay. Oh bless him. Ending our day with swedish meatballs in the beautiful country of Spain.
DAY 2
For our second day, we signed up (the day before online) for a walking tour in the City Centre. It's the type where it's called free but they do ask to pay as you like at the end of tour in a way like tipping for however much you enjoyed the tour. I was grateful for our tour guide (who used to be a school teacher), she was well spoken in English, extremely enthusiastic and entertaining. Just search "Free Tour Valencia" (linked it for you there) and you'll be able to access the website and book a time slot and day with them. We covered a bunch of places in the duration of 2 hours. I'm not fond on taking out my phone when someone is speaking (excluding uni lectures), so I did not take much photos during the tour, hope what I have is enough. Oh I just remembered that the company (via whatsapp) were so helpful in making sure we made it with the group after Petra and I got slightly lost finding our way to the meeting point, bless them.
Word of advice: The further away from the city centre, the cheaper the postcards and souvenirs are.
Got myself juice and grapes from the popular marketplace
Places we covered in the tour:
Plaza de la Virgen, Water Court, Turia Fountain, Government Palace, Central Market, Silk Exchange, Market Square, a few churches, Cathedral of Valencia and a few other pretty corners of the city.
Facts I remembered from the tour:
Don't drink the tap water, don't eat paella for dinner, Agua de Valencia is a must try, don't pick oranges around town because they're extremely sour, the Water Court judges do not have law degrees and all must be decade-long experienced farmers and finally Valencia/Spain is one of the world's leading supplier for oranges.
DAY 3
Hemisfèric
L'Agora
Museu de Les Ciències Príncipe Filipe
L'Oceanogràfic
L'Umbracle
It cost €31.65 for entry into L'Oceanogràfic and Museu de Les Ciències Príncipe Filipe (purchased online). You can get more offers off the internet or at the airport for entry into more landmarks (some offers includes a week pass of the metro). I don't have much to say about the science museum, architecture was marvellous but the content inside was a mild meh for me. As for my experience in the oceanarium, I now know for sure my heart is not strong enough to tolerate sea and land mammal captivity. I sobbed silently during the dolphin show and my heart was so sad watching the beluga whales and walruses stuck in such a confined space. Although the place did offer far more than I described and though they may be treated with care, I just feel sad that the mammals are still showcased and trained for entertainment and money. I don't feel as much for birds and fishes, maybe because of the fact that I'm taking into account of the size of their brains and inability to share the feelings as most sea and land mammal have in common with mankind. However, upside from my visit, I have a new found love for jellyfishes. What marvellous creatures, so full of life in a lifeless floating contraption.
DAY 4
For our final day in Valencia, I not only decided to sleep in but I also took a nap by the pool after checking out whilst waiting for Petra to come back so we could grab a cab to the airport together. She had a bunch of errands to run in the city and I could not be bothered to go through the hassle of public transportation, hence, my lazy nap. Oh incase you want to know, a return metro ticket cost €2.60. It was a fairly productive trip if you don't count going back to the hotel early evening to tuck into our comfy beds unproductive. My readers should know by now, I don't consume alcohol or go out to clubs on an average rate of someone my age so if you'd like to know about the night life, you're on the wrong blog.
Before I forget, I was going to mention that it's crucial to exchange your currency in the UK beforehand rather than find a money exchange around town. The rates there seems to be a rip off if I were to compare the rate I changed in London with Petra's rate that she got in Valencia. Not only that, it was quite a hassle, the city centre didn't seem to have many money exchangers but one thing for sure, they had a lottery shop at every corner of every street. Also, the locals were friendly and kind when we asked for directions but there was a large language barrier nonetheless, so best case to ask the hotel receptionist everything beforehand. That's all I have, finito.
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