So, after 3 flights, 4 bus rides, an angry Spanish taxi driver, and 34 hours with little sleep, what am I doing in an internet café in Valencia, Spain?
After my frantic job this summer, I caught up on lost social time from university and work. I visited a lot of friends and generally was being a bum in Winnipeg. It was fun going camping, hiking, generally drinking a lot of cold ones (and warm ones if you consider the sake) with music, (new Moses Mayes release…nov 8th at the pyramid!) and quite a few late nights. (Thanks Robin)
Essentially I wasn’t doing a whole lot in Winnipeg, and I decided that after school and work, with no other serous commitments that I should wander around internationally. But why Spain? While I could have went to Poland Australia or New Zealand, I know a few people who are working here and I really didn’t know that much about Spain, especially this region, Valencia. For those of you who thought I just woke up one day and decided Spain, that’s about it!
So after a few weeks of planning I set up my trip Flight wise, Winnipeg to Toronto, (with a six hour stopover) then Toronto to London Heathrow, a transfer to Stansted Airport in the UK, then finally a flight to Valencia.
I started out at 5:00 am Wednesday to get to Winnipeg Airport on time. After a quick check in I left at 7:45. The Flight went well, but 5:00 isn’t quite my normal wake up time. My brain was mud by the time I reached person in Toronto. One of the worst things about airports is that they really don’t have any place to sit down properly, so one could catch a nap. Pearson is no exception. I spent 6 hours looking for a place that I could try and catch an hour of sleep to but no avail, and I couldn’t walk down the street to try and go to an internet café that I knew had decent seats and free internet, without taking a cab. Pearson is like a prison for pedestrians!
So after aimlessly wandering, I caught my flight at 6:45. I had a window seat, a few glasses of wine and met a Cdn military Padre. This flight was also very smooth, and for once I actually got some sleep! We flew over London and I got to see a few of the site, like the space eye, mi5 hq and Buckingham palace, at about 400 mph. Getting around Heathrow was fast, but I got hassled by the passport guy for a while ie where are you going? how much money do you have? Why are you going to Spain ect,. I caught a bus to Stansted going north of London and saw a bit of the English countryside, which looks like most of southern Ontario. I got to Stransted at 9:00 GMT. I really liked Stansted because it seems to have a lot of people my age, and shops geared to that age demographic I’m guessing it’s Because of all the cheap airlines running though it The English really like selling stuff.
The flight out of Stansted was bumpy and filled with drunken aussies, which were apparently going to an autocross race in Valencia. For the first time in my life, I started to feel motion sick in a commercial aircraft. This was because of the movement of the plane, and the severe lack of sleep I had.
Upon landing in Valencia, I caught a cab to Plaza Vincente Iborra to get to my hostel for the night. Spanish drivers are nuts! Over the course of the ride, my driver flipped off two people, and narrowly passed several scooter drivers. The driver dropped me off and I wondered for a few seconds, finding out he dropped me off not at Plaza Vincente Iborra, but Plaza tetuan on the other side of the old city. Once figuring out my baring and cursing the taxi driver, I wondered around Valencia.
The area I was wondering around in the central older part of the city with many Mediterranean style apartments. Although it’s a city of 800 000 it’s relatively compact because most buildings are about 6 stories. It has plenty of tiny shops, plazas and a wicked night life. My wander across old town was actually a blessing.
I found the hostel after a while, and checked in, and of course in my room, was two other canucks! We chatted for a bit, and found out they were from fernie, BC. We went out for a 3 course lunch with beer that cost us 10 euros. (about 12 cdn) then we went to a bar for a free beer paid for by the hostel. The bartender played bongos with the house music, while I almost fell asleep. I went back to the hostel and slept hard!
While in Valencia, I intend to try and keep this blog updated on my adventures, but this is very internet dependent.
ciao for now!
