Valencia

So, we just finished the first semester of summer classes at Univerisdad de Alcalá and we start number 2 on the 2nd of July. We did not have class this past week June 28-July 1 so Whit, Meg, Jeremy and I decided to hit the beaches of Valencia during the off period. Our flight was Friday (the 25th) morning at 7...yes 7 a.m. There is no airport in Alcalá so our flight was out of Madrid, which is usually not a hard trip. But because the train from Alcalá to Madrid stops running at midnight we had to arrive by other means. We ended up leaving at 3 a.m. from Alcalá on a night bus to Madrid. It was about an hour bus ride to the stop we needed. From there we took another bus to the airport which took about another hour. We ended up getting to the airport with about an hour to spare until boarding so we hit up the Euro Menu at McDonalds and then got on board with our $50 roundtrip boarding passes. One of the reasons we chose Valencia is because the flights there were so cheap this particular weekend. We arrived at our first hostal about 30 minutes before our check in time and very tired from not sleeping the previous night. The man running it said there were still people in our room and we would have to come back in about 3 hours or so. We were pretty angry about it but tried not to let it get us down so we headed to the beach for what proved to be a pretty good nap. We eventually came back to our hostal and everything was ready so we took another nap. We woke up around 9 and went out for supper, walked around the town a little bit (very pretty city) and came back and went straight to sleep again. For the next four nights we had reservations at a different place much closer to the beach so when we woke up we headed there and were once again about 20 minutes early and they said come back in about 2 to 3 hours. I dont know what the deal is with timing and reservations in this country, but I have a feeling that my uncle John could live here and prosper. (those of you who know him will understand) This place was well worth the wait though. The owner was the nicest lady and she spoke English which is always a big relief. On top of that she would cook supper for you for 10 euros a piece and it was worth every penny and then some. Her meals were by far the best Spanish food I´ve had since I have been here. They consisted of an appetizer (usually some kind of soup or fried calamari etc.), a massive pan of some kind of paella, and a dessert. Not to mention your choice of a bottle of wine or a large jar of sangria. Needless to say, we took advantage of this hospitality and ate supper with her three out of the four nights and became very good friends with her and her husband. Most of our time was spent on the beach relaxing, which was the goal of the trip, except for the day when we went to the aquarium, which is the biggest in Spain. It alone was worth the trip I think. Overall, I think our trip to Valencia was a huge success and we are talking about going back for one weekend coming up when James Taylor is putting on a free concert there. Hopefully we will make it happen. Hasta luego.