A weekend with "Los Once" (the Eleven)

Wow!  What an awesome weekend!  On Friday at 3, Jenn and I left Toledo and took a bus to Valencia.  We had made arrangements with a family living there to stay with them for the weekend.  I work with a lady in Appleton and her brother and sister and their families are living in Spain for 2 years.  I was able to contact them and they invited us to stay at their house for the weekend J

 After 5 hours and what felt like a million stops in little towns in between, we finally arrived.  Our next big task was to find the Turia Bus #1.  Despite very detailed directions, Jenn and I failed miserably.  We didn’t realize some of the buses ran as metros underground!  So we decided our best option was to get a taxi.  We arrived at Guardia Civil 20 and rang bell #404.  Jenn and I were a bit nervous, we had never met any of these people, but I knew that if they were anything like the lady I work with, it was bound to be a great weekend.  They met us at the gate and we walked up to their apartment.  I seriously felt like I was in the scene from the “Sound of Music” where all the kids come running from different directions to meet Maria.  We were introduced to all 7 of the kids…Kerline, Yana, Maria, Elena, Jolie, Bronson, and Eva.  Before we could even take our shoes off, Amy and Ann (the two moms) were putting out food on the table for dinner for us.  Matthew and Eugene (the two dads) came home shortly after and we all sat down for dinner.  For the first time in 3 weeks I had genuine American food…CHILI!  It was delicious.  We stayed up talking with them and then we crashed.  We were tired from a long day of traveling.

Saturday brought us a SNC reunion.  We got to see Traci (one of my good friends from school)!  She is studying abroad in Valencia for the semester.  Her and her friend Kim showed us around the city for the day.  We took a metro to the beach.  I had been so excited to see the Mediterranean Sea and we probably had the worst weather possible...rain and wind all morning!  We stayed only long enough for a few pictures and just as we got on the bus to go back into town it started pouring!!  Thankfully it was done raining by the time we reached our next destination.  We started at the Plaza de Ayunamiento.  We found a great little sandwich place for lunch.  I had a ham and cheese bocadillo (sandwich) with french fries and a Diet Coke.  There are only a few types of soda in Spain;  Fanta Naranja, Fanta Limon, Coca and Coca Light.  Next we started walking to the Plaza de la Reina and the Plaza de la Virgen.  We walked into the most beautiful Cathedral.  After a few pictures, we paid 2 euro to climb the steps to the top of the tower.  Oh boy! I don’t think we realized how many stairs there actually were to climb.  By the time I got to the top I was more than winded and happy to be off of the winding staircase.  From here we were able to see all of Valencia and it was beautiful.  It was totally worth the calf workout and 2 euro.  

We continued walking and found a few great shopping places AND a little gelato stand.  We gave our feet a break and I enjoyed some delicious “Café” aka Coffee flavored gelato.  Our next destination was the Turia and the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias.  The Turia is a 9 km long park through the middle of the city.  It used to be a river, but when it flooded the city, they put up a dam and turned it into a park.  There are sports courts, walking paths, fountains, and a huge playground.  It is supposed to resemble Gulliver being tied to the ground.  When kids play on it, it is supposed to resemble all the little people from the movie Gulliver’s Travels.  After what felt like a million more miles of walking we arrived at our final destination…La Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias.  This is an area of about 5 buildings.  The architecture of the buildings resembles what the building is all about.  There is an Oceangraphic Museum (the building resembles waves).  The Umbracle is a long garden that looks like a backbone.  The Hemispheric building looks like an eye and it has an IMAX theater inside of it.  There is a bridge that looks like a harp, and also the Science Museum.  There is also a building called the Palau de las Artes, which would be similar to the Performing Arts Center in Appleton. 

We had finally accomplished all we had wanted to see!!  We walked back to the buses and went back to the house we were staying at.  Jenn and I just hung out there for the night.  We hung out with the kids, ate snacks, and learning how to make Spanish tortillas.  It was such an awesome night.  It definitely felt like being home. 

Sunday we left early and walked with Ann for about 45 minutes to the bus station.  After some very sad goodbyes on my part and lots of hugs and a final picture our awesome weekend was over.  We took a bus back to Madrid and from there took a bus back to Toledo.  It was such a great weekend!  Next weekend I am off to Florence, Italy. 

Until then,

Amy