Sand, Sun & Not Much Else - Valencia, Spain (June 2009)

SAND, SUN & NOT MUCH ELSE

I hit the beach sola today as Diana had hit the wall as far as getting out of bed was concerned. This bothered me none as I like to take photo’s a lot and this can get quite annoying. It was a scorcher and the beach was packed, minus the wind thank goodness, perfect for my last day in Valencia. And I’m afraid I don’t have much more to report as all I did was lie in the sun and swim – exactly what I went there to do! This was also evident from the red raw patches of skin on my stomach, legs and back. And yes, I was wearing sun cream. But as my Mother and Diana had said, after almost two years in Winter conditions my skin was no longer used to sun. Note to self: plan more beach holidays.

At 4pm I head into the city to buy presents for various people only to find it deserted. I should have known better in a Catholic country on a Sunday – there was not one shop open nor a soul in sight. However this did provide for supreme and eerie photo taking conditions, so after a few snaps I jumped the Metro back to Diana’s, finished off the last of our awesome take away feast, said my goodbyes and walked myself back to the airport. So there you have it – my first trip off the island in 499 days – and there’s many more to come…

To Space or not to Space? Valencia, Spain (June 2009)

TO SPACE OR NOT TO SPACE?

After a well-earned lie in Diana and I set about hiring a car. We’d found a flyer advertising Space, a club from Ibiza, playing that night just out of Valencia City. With said flyer the ticket was only 12 Euro, plus you got a bracelet that got you into Space Ibiza for FREE for the rest of the year. Considering a ticket to Space Ibiza for one night is usually between 60-80 Euro this was more than worth hiring a car (plus public transport was not an option). So with Diana’s cabin crew discount card in hand we went to the airport to get us some wheels. One hour and four very long queues later we still had no car. Everyone was either out of cars or too expensive, and when we finally stumbled upon one that was reasonably priced they required a credit card, an evil neither of us had yet succumbed to. Defeated we hopped the Metro to the beach.

Arriving to the promenade around 3:30pm we were hard pressed to find lunch as it was siesta time, but as luck would have it one place was open and it was serving Paella! Chicken and seafood paella with tinto con limon on a hot sunny Spanish afternoon – life is hard sometimes. After our late lunch we parked ourselves on the beach but lasted only an hour or so until gale force winds forced us off the sand. En route back to the Metro we witnessed a snapshot of the Spanish Climbing Cup taking place on the beach. We had devised various plans throughout the day to get ourselves to Space without a car and without spending a fortune, but the closer we got to home the sicker Diana became. After buying her some medicine to stave off out-right illness it was almost 11pm by the time we made it home.

On the basis of health and funds we decided to ditch Space for a night on the couch with trashy Spanish TV and probably the best take away I’ve ever had. Fried calamari, Spanish omelette, Paella, salad – all home made from a late night tienda comida next door. Beats a kebab or a curry any day I say!