La muerte de la manta

On Saturday we somehow all managed to wake up and get ourselves to the train station by 10:15. Since most of my group of friends here opted out of the Grenada trip, we thought we would do a little day trip of our own. Our destinations was Cullera, which is a touristy-historical town that is a 30 minute train ride South of Valencia. The big selling point is that it is one of the nicest beaches on the east coast of Spain. The train station is pretty cool looking in Valencia; it's located right next to the bull fighting arena. Anyway, we got our tickets, got on our train, and headed out. Once we arrived in Cullera, we took a bus to the beach. We stopped at one of the boardwalk restaurants for lunch; very good decision. Pretty much everyone on the trip was extremely sleep deprived, so it was a task just to get our order put in correctly. We got the special, which was a large salad, bread, a drink, and a main course for 7 euro. For my main course I got the paella de mariscos (seafood paella), and it was absolutely delicious. I cannot wait to learn how to make paella because it is slowly becoming one of my favorite foods, along with the bread they serve with every meal.

After we completely stuffed ourselves, the next task was a nap on the beach. We found a spot and set up camp. I pulled out my iPod, put on the new Jack Johnson album, and dozed off for a while. Afterwards, we got out the snacks we had packed and opened up some wine. Our original plan was to beach it in the afternoon and then head up to the castle at the top of the town to do some sightseeing. However, not long after our snack, the sky turned black and it started pouring. We took refuge in a Burger King, changed, and when the rain let up a bit we headed for a bus stop to take us back to the station. I was kinda ticked because I heard the views from the castle were amazing. Oh well, unseasonable amounts of rain in Spain WOULD happen when I'm over here. It took us a while to get back to Valencia since the bus in Cullera took forever to get us.

When we got home, Mery and Elmira were visiting in the kitchen. I went in and said hello: I looked like walking death thanks to the combination of sleep deprivation, sand, sun, and rain. Accordingly, I took a shower and tried to nap for a bit. Didn't work, never does. Went back out around 9 to meet up with people to get tapas for dinner again. We caught the end of the England vs. USA game in a bar (which was ironically an English/American pub, so it was packed) and then headed over to get some food. There were about 10 of us at a big table in this restaurant; we got pitchers of Sangria for the table and then everyone ordered one or two tapas for themselves. I got the bravas (the fried potatoes with garlic) and albondigas (meatballs). The meatballs were Spanish style and VERY good. We all kinda shared our food, so I got to try some roasted peppers, muscles, and calamari. After dinner we headed back over to the pub for some drinks... everyone was kind of dragging at this point, so we were trying to rally before we went out to the discotecas.

We took a cab to the port, heading back to High Cube. I had told my intercambio that I was gonna be out last night and she told me I should stop at High Cube. Once we got in, I looked around and found her. Her name is Tamara and she is a student here in Valencia who is trying to learn English. The school set me up with her so we could meet up and talk half in English, half in Spanish. Last night was the first time I met her, and it was a little difficult to have a conversation with the music. She introduced me to her friends, we danced a little bit and then we kinda got separated. We are gonna do coffee or lunch a day this week, so I'm excited to get to know her better and to practice Spanish.

Headed home around 4. I literally dozed off in the passenger seat of the cab we were in while my friends were chatting in the back. Once I made it home, I took out my contacts, got in bed, and was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Kinda depressing that this was my last weekend in Valencia. Next weekend I'm going to Barcelona (which is going to be awesome nevertheless) and then the following weekend I fly home... not cool. But I certainly can't complain about all that Valencia had to offer. We are all going to make an effort to see as much of it as we can next week, going places after class and whatnot. The only thing that is kind of dissappointing about having class here is that usually by the time we get out (3PM) most of the points of interests are closed. We are gonna try to find some stuff to do though, plus I have some intersting stuff coming up with the program like cooking classes and the trip to the aquarium.

Pictures are of Cullera, the train station, train ride, and Cullera beach.

Hasta.