Spain Week 4: Valencia!
This week had a quiet start compared to the rest of the trip so that we could recover from our mini Barcelona trip. We used the time to enjoy Madrid at a slower pace: walking through the parks again, checking different neighborhoods, and doing our best to enjoy the heat. We also started looking at our plan for Valencia where we are headed next! Our only outing for the day was heading to dinner at Taberna la Descubierta which was super yummy! The next day we kept the slower pace and got some churros before our dinner charcuterie board.
On Tuesday evening, we headed to the Mueso de Reina Sofia. We had tickets but accidentally ended up in the line for people without tickets so it took us a bit longer to get inside (oops), but we have a physical ticket for the scrapbook now! We explored the different rooms of the museum before seeing the Guernica. While most of the rooms were not super busy, the area with the Guernica was insanely packed so we made our visit quick.
The next morning we woke up to start our adventure to Valencia! It was a slightly chaotic adventure using the commuter train to head to a different train station, but we luckily made it with a view minutes to spare. We dropped off our bags and the hotel and headed off to see what all we can see: the City Hall building, Mercat Central, Plaza de la Reina, and the Cathedral de Valencia. We stopped to get some sandwiches to fuel up for the rest of our walk and got some Agua de Valencia to go alongside it. We walked around the city a bit more before heading to dinner at La Rentaro where we watched the first half of the Spain semi-final game. We passed quite a few watch parties on our walk back to the hotel at halftime and you could hear the excitement from our balcony when the game ended with a Spain win.
We started Wednesday morning walking down to the Cuidad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias to explore the giant complex. There were so many unique buildings and spaces throughout the area. Unfortunately, it’s still very hot so we didn’t stay for too long before starting our walk back through the city to an air-conditioned lunch. After lunch, we began looking for the Casa dels Gats which is an animal shelter that has little doors along the streets where the cats can hang out. We didn’t get to see any of the residents but the little doors were still cute to see! We had tickets to the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern and spent about an hour and a half exploring the different rooms. After our visit we only had a short time left in Valencia so we headed to grab some snacks and our bags on our way to the train station.
Back in Madrid on Thursday, we headed to Parque del Retiro to hang out for the afternoon and enjoy the sunshine and slightly cooler temperatures before getting more tapas for dinner! It was a busy couple of days for tapas because the next day, we had a full tapas cooking class where we were able to help make 11 different tapa dishes. Steinar helped make the albondigas (meatballs) and I was in charge of the Spanish Omelette. The class was very quick paced so we were able to see so much in a short time frame. Everything was delicious! After our cooking class ended we headed back for a late siesta and a very late dinner.
The weekend was full of fun! To start, our friend Steph was in Madrid! We spent the morning walking around Parque del Oeste and then headed to Gran Via to meet up with her and her sister for a little bit of shopping. With some inside scoop from her sister, we decided to explore the nightlife of the city and had a very eventful evening.
On Sunday the streets were full for the world cup final - Argentina and Spain jerseys and flags were covering the city. We spent the morning looking for options to watch the game and went to the restaurant about 2 hours before the game to hope and get a seat. We lucked out with Steinar’s pick and were able to watch the game one a projector in a restaurant just 5 minutes from Puerta del Sol. The food was delicious and the game was just what we had hoped for! As soon as the game was over, we headed out into the streets and there was cheering, honking, and excitement everywhere. There were police cars honking through the streets waving the spanish flags as we joined what felt like the whole city in heading to the center. We watched the celebrations in Puerta del Sol before walking up and down Gran Via which had been shut down for pedestrian traffic. It was such a unique experience we will never forget! After a bit we headed inside to bed, but the celebrations continued late into the night.
P.S. - The World Cup fun continues into next week as well!
