I still cant believe it but the meeting finished on time. Even Mr F did not think that it would & had to be summonsed from his sunbathing in the Turia Gardens nearby. After a hasty get away, Ian, Simone & I went off to find our hotels, after a bit of a walk in the hot sun and a bit of going round in circles we were all sorted out. Our Hotel is near the station, a small room compared to the Westin but then again what would'nt be? The Zenit hotel is modern has great aircon & very important for a city hotel soundproofing. Having said that Valencia is one of the quietest cities I have been in.
We all needed something to eat so headed off towards the old city and found a nice restaurant where we had a great mixed paella complete with snails. Even with her hangover Simone still tried one! Mr F had some lager which turned out to be very expensive and I still have not heard the end of it! Simone went off to catch up on some sleep & we traipsed around, sat in the sun, Went back to the hotel to find the sun roof only to find out they did not have one. I am now feeling rather tired & things are in danger of turning nasty if I don't get some rest, but it is too nice to take to my bed so we go out & sit in the sun in one of the squares. 36 degrees is too hot even for me & its not long before I am sitting in the shade but feeling more relaxed. We tour around a bit more, stopping off at Baldo for a beer & cava (which we later found out that we were not charged for, but still does not make up for the daylight robbery earlier). Back to the hotel for a quick shower & change then out to enjoy the nightlife.
We head up to the old city again in the hope of finding a good Tapa bar as we ate quite well at lunch time, we walked & walked until I could hardly stand, my feet were singing. We had some tapa which were fine for me but Mr F not impressed. We had some padron peppers which are small fried green peppers very nice, but one in about 11 will burn your mouth out. thats what makes them exciting to eat its like Spanish roulette! However no hot ones tonight.
We were early to bed due to the lack of sleep for me over the past 2 nights, the aircon was on high & I was hope full of a decent sleep. I remember hearing some slight disturbance & shuffling in the night and put it down to Ian going to the loo. However at 6.30 I am woken up as I am freezing cold, I turn over but cannot get warm, I think If I am cold Ian must be freezing I try to turn down the aircon but the room is pitch black & I cannot see what I am doing. Ian then wakes up so I turn on the light. He is wrapped up in a t shirt, the small bed cover from the foot of the bed and some towels from the bathroom. After finding him some blankets which he piled on top of him he went back to sleep for a couple of hours. later on he told me that in the dark he had put on one of my tops in error and pulled the frame work of the wardrobe off the wall. Me I never heard a thing, but might have been a bit worried if I had woken up to find him wearing my clothes.
At 7.30 I woke up as it was raining - great. By 8.30 it was bright sunshine and we got up a set off for another day sightseeing.
1st stop was the market, which was bustling. very fresh produce and very cheap, the fish was so fresh & so much to choose from. I think that you could buy almost anything to cook there it was quite inspirational.
We wanted to go to a restaurant that we had read up about. Legendary for its authentic food and difficulty to find. We walked and walked up & down all the streets looking, about 2 hours later I had located the correct area but still could not find it. Just turned on our heels to give up when Ian looked back & saw it out of the corner of his eye. It was still quite early to eat in Spanish terms so we decided to have a drink to allow our feel to cool down a bit. The place lived up to both legends very authentic, food cooked by a mama & patronised by locals. We had seafood paella to start then Ian had mixed fish, I had the lamb de casa. A bottle of the cool house white went down very well. Mr F had some semolina type pud. The bill €35 - the wine was only €5 but very good ( Still does not make up for the rip off beer !!)
We then walked up to the Turia gardens, along to the Torres de Serranos and back into the main city. Stopping along the way to take photos, visit churches, see 2 weddings and one Mass and I am sure lots of other things that I have forgotten.
Quick change then back out, a glass of cava to start the evening at Baldo then a bit of a tour to find some where to eat. We settle on a place and then fear its going to be rip of time but no worries. We had a great plate of Serrano ham & cheese followed by seafood fidua. Lovely. Late to bed to night 12.30 well we had to make the most of it & it is so warm shame to go indoors. I forgot to say that earlier walking up a street I noticed a digital clock - they are all over the city. It said it was 3.30, after a few minutes I noticed another one that also said 3.30 strange. Until I realised that it was 33 degrees and 15.45!!
I was woken up the next morning by Ian, it was very dark until Ian drew back the curtains and the blazing sun poured into the room it was 9.00am. I had slept all night.
Torres de Serranos.
A quick cafe con leche and tostada a bit of a walk in the sun then onto the metro to the airport.
The metro was right by the hotel, it took 25 minutes to get to the airport & cost €4.80 for the 2 of us compared to the €26 for a taxi. It is easy to get to & from the airport straight tube lines & Easy Jet was very good. Recomendado the whole thing!
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