of more paella

Valencia is BEAUTIFUL. I sure wish we had done two days here instead of just one. The city is modern on the outside, but the center is old, and well kept like Madrid's. Our hotel is another AC, like the one where we stayed yesterday. The people here, however, did not mess up and really did give us a triple room with a bed for a real adult. 

We went for a ride around the city, saw the beach, the city center, and the city of the sciences and the arts, designed by Calatrava. We are tired. It was Sunday and when we were ready for food, everything was closed. Most restaurants by the pier close on Sunday nights. We talked to the front desk, and all they could get us was something at 830 pm, so we took it. We napped, watched a movie and I face timed with my sister for about an hour. At 815, we walked down the street to Francia 19, a restaurant that IS open on Sunday nights and that DOES serve paella valenciana. 

We had sangria, croquetas de Jamon con aioli, alcachofitas con huevo y parmesano, and then paella de Mariscos. My mom was thoroughly pleased to eat paella and we stuffed ourselves, after only having one meal earlier that day. Our server was Venezuelan!!! She happened to be from the same state that we lived in, Zulia, but she has been here for over fifteen years. It is funny to me that we have met so many Latin Americans, so many Hispanics out there. I always knew there were a lot, but they are everywhere!!!

After the paella, my dad proceeded to snore like no other that night. It did not matter that I had an adult bed, I kept waking up to his ridiculous snoring. He was sleeping very soundly, while my mom and I woke him up throughout the night. So freaking annoying. Note to self - spaniard husband MAY NOT snore. 

We decided to skip the very expensive AC hotel breakfast and went to Carrefour this morning. I have gotten to know every fucking supermarket since we got here. They all look the same. My dad is obsessed. 

Anyway... We went to Carrefour, and got a few things. I took advantage of the time spent there and bought a cel phone for the time here. It was a lot cheaper than I expected. For abut 50 bucks I got the phone and a 20 euro credit. It's cheap for me, at least. We had some coffee, and my mom and I wondered at the amazing Latin American products that they carry here, but we can't find anywhere in Denver. Arepa dough, alfajores, yuca frita, platanitos... It is extremely annoying and sad to think of how much time we spend looking for these items back in Colorado and they are everywhere here (like us Hispanics in Spain)

After Carrefour, it was about midday, we headed out to Barcelona. Tomtom discovered that the toll road saved us TWO hours on the road. It went from 5 hours to less than 3 to get to Barcelona from Valencia. My dad, super against toll roads at the beginning, decided that it was worth it. Man was it worth it, we drove parallel to the Mediterranean the entire way to Barcelona. Tons of beautiful towns, sights, trees... I wanted to get off at every small turn, because everything was just so pretty!!! I also took a couple of naps, trying to make up for my dads snoring the previous night. 

We arrived to Barcelona at around 4 pm. One of the small advantages of being at the same chain of hotels for four days is that we now know the system for parking the HUGE car hertz gave my parents. We parked the car and checked in. The hotel is beautiful, but we are pretty far from everything. The front desk girl convinced my dad to take the train/metro everywhere. He seemed excited, and I thanked the stars about my travels to New York City this spring break, because otherwise the metro would have killed us. 

We literally threw our stuff in the room and walked to the train station. We are two train stops away for the nearest metro station, and four metro stations away from the city center. We could have never walked. Those for stops drop you off at the very beginning of the pedestrian road in La Rambla. Oh, Barcelona, how I love thee. We walked the entire Rambla, all the way to the sea. We walked the maremagnum mall area, I bought Starbucks, and watched the ferry come in. We could see the Sagrada Familia from afar on the third floor of the mall. It is the tallest tower. The prettiest tower. My dad really wanted some sangria, and even though I recommended against eating on the Rambla, we sat down and ordered. We were having a great time... And then the bill came. We paid FIFTY euros for three sangrias and a small plate of roasted vegetables. FIFTY EUROS? My parents' smile quickly disappeared, it is just now coming back. My dad used the words "I feel raped."  Welcome to Barcelona?

Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to visit the Sagrada Familia. Our appointment to go up to the Passio tower is at 10 am. It is bound to be great fun, and it sure is a moment I have been waiting for since we got to Spain. 

Ole!!!

Xoxo,

bee