This didn’t exactly work out as smoothly as we would have wanted, but we ended up getting the job done anyway. We went to the train station at 10PM using public transportation to get the tickets in case anything went wrong with the reservation. With tickets in hand we went back to the bus stop and realized after 15 minutes of waiting that the buses stopped running and that we would have to find another way back. It was about 3 kilometers from our hostel to the bus station so, while this isn’t that bad of a walk in the daytime, we were not very happy to do that and cut into our sleeping time so we got a taxi for only about 5 euros.
After getting back we packed and got everything organized to leave at 2AM from the hostel and then grabbed about 90 minutes of sleep. We then woke up, headed downstairs, checked out, and hailed another cab which got us to the station in plenty of time.
The bus took off without a hitch and unlike our last bus which had a snack, water, a movie, spacious seats with trays, and even, miraculously, free wifi, this bus was somewhat more utilitarian. By utilitarian I mean, of course, seedy and when we boarded at 2:45AM we were met with a wash of hot air filled with body odor. We certainly couldn’t take back our tickets so we resolved to make the best of the traveling situation and try to pass out for a few hours. I slept for about 3.5 hours straight but Brian kept waking up because of the heat and the hourly stops and microphone announcements of where we were. We then dozed some more and got some blog posts written and after what seemed like forever we finally arrived in Valencia.
Thankfully the bus station was close to our hostel (less than 2km) so we got there very quickly, checked in, paid, and took a nice siesta for about three hours. We were very tired from the long bus ride and lack of sleep so I think it was nice for us to be able to just chill out.
Later that night we decided to just take it easy and stroll around the city to see some of the architecture that was close to us. There is a lot to do in Valencia but it struck me as a bit different from the other cities which we had been to thus far. In Sevilla, for example, there is a very well-defined area where people go to see sights and it is very central and easy to find. In Valencia, however, the sights are spread out a bit more and are less-advertised. I think this may be because Valencia is more of a modern city than the others which we had visited so far so we were experiencing a bit of urban sprawl in our tourism. Also, the presence of the local dialect, Valenciano, was a bit unnerving for me since street signs are almost all written in it, so I was feeling a bit like I was in a foreign country. The people did speak Spanish so I had no trouble getting around and doing things that I needed to do, but it was very interesting to have entered the community where another language had such strength.
We really didn’t do much that night, as I said, so here are some photos of the sights we saw to give a bit of perspective.
All of this walking made us very hungry and we decided to stop and get some Kebab from one of the many local kebab restaurants. The lamb was very delicious and we got a great value for our money with a full salad plate, French fries, lamb, and sauces for only 6 euros. We figured that the proximity to the Mediterranean and North Africa would make the kebabs better than home and we were right.
We turned in early for bed and tomorrow we are planning to go to the beach for the first time in Spain!
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