Those Oranges aren't Good for Eating

Wednesday night we said farewell to Italia and flew off to Valencia, Spain. I had been to Spain twice before this, but never to Valencia, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was also a little worried that there wouldn't be much to do. Well, I was wrong.

 We arrived at night, and took the metro (which was not only clean but also shiny) to our hostel, the Purple Nest Hostel. None of the hostels we had stayed in up to that point were super gross or sketch (ok, I suppose Rome would fall into the dodgy category), but we were super impressed by this one. Hostels aren't what people (in the US) expect them to be--dirty, basic, cavelike, and unsafe. This one was one of the best, and I loved it. Our room was small but comfortable, the bathroom was huge (and had rainfall showers), and the common area had a TV, board games, and a really legit kitchen.

the lovely purple bathroom

so, a little messy, but pretty awesome!

The next day at breakfast Casey spotted a pamphlet for the Oceanographico, Valencia's aquarium. We asked the girl at reception, and learned that it was a fairly easy walk through the old river bed (now gardens, playgrounds, and a general park). On the way we found a rope playground, which essentially consisted of three towers connected by ropes that you could climb to the top of. Being my acrophobic self, I didn't climb up, but all four of my friends did. 

Casey enjoys the view from the top (about 15 feet up)

From there, we continued through the riverbed until we saw a giant...thing...rising out of the ground before us. We had no idea what it was, until we got close enough and realized it was a giant playground made to look like Gulliver after he has been tied down by the Lilliputians. It. Was. Awesome. 

Yes, we did regress to first grade in Valencia, why do you ask?

Gulliver, as seen from the top of his head. 

Not long after finding Gulliver, we happened upon a grove of orange trees. We figured that, since Valencia has the most delicious oranges, we should pick and eat some. So we reached. And we jumped, and I even resorted to swinging my umbrella at the branches. Five minutes later, Casey and I were lifting Andrea, who got just enough altitude to grab a branch and pluck 3 oranges from it. We were jubilant in our victory, until a caretaker came over and told us that although they wouldn't hurt us, the oranges were bitter, and therefore not something we wanted to snack on. So, we gently placed them at the base of the tree and continued on our trek. 

just before we found out they were bad for eating

Andrea decided not to go to the aquarium because of a mysterious foot injury that made her foot swell up and become painful to walk on, so she took the map and a phone and decided to hang out/find the beach while we looked at the fishies for a few hours. 

The aquarium was amazing. Seriously, if you are ever in/around Valencia, go to the City of Arts and Sciences (and area within Valencia) and visit the aquarium. They had so many different kinds of fish, birds, and other sea creatures. We saw dolphins, beluga whales, penguins, sea lions, japanese crabs, sharks, and some...frisky...walruses, among other things. The jellyfish were among my favorites of the creatures. 

I shall call you squishy and you shall be my squishy!

There's a shark above my head!!

By the time we saw all the exhibits, we were hungry and Andrea had texted us, after finding la playa. We followed the directions she sent us and soon found ourselves in, well, the middle of nowhere. We were obviously still within Valencia, but the area was devoid of nearly all life, business, and cars. We asked if she had gone through the ghetto and she responded with a 'yes, keep walking until the road, turn right, then turn left at the boats". Eventually we did find the road, and stopped at a bar for a sandwich and some churros y chocolate. Not the best chocolate I've ever had... it was too thin for Spain, but my sandwich was delicious. 

Refreshed, we kept walking and (about 20 minutes later) arrived at the beach. We quickly located Andrea, who has been chillin' on the sand for a few hours. It was sunny and warm and beautiful; we even went in the ocean (the Mediterranean Sea, actually) up to our knees. Chilly. We even met a nice group of Dutch field hockey players who took our picture for us...with both Casey's camera and theirs. There is now a group picture of us on the beach (see below) somewhere in the Netherlands. 

^ the shadow of the Dutch guy taking our picture

Anyways, we ended up leaving around dinner time because we were hungry and wanted to cook something at the hostel to save money. Christina and I had some 'authentic' Spanish spaghetti. It was delicious, especially accompanied by the liter of KAS naranja I had purchased. (to those of you wondering, KAS is a soda like fanta, made with real juice) After dinner we played some Trivial Pursuit and hit the hay, as we had a train to catch the next morning. 

On to Barcelona...