Allons-y!

Go, go, go! When you're only in a city for 2 full days (or three nights, pick yer poison) that's what you do; you go. Honestly, it's sort of crazy and it's still surreal to me that I'm even here experiencing these things, but that's the way it is. Valencia was two nights, so that was crazy-ish, but not overwhelming. Valencia was a large city, but the historic centre wasn't too large. Just confusingly arranged. 

Guess what I saw in Valencia though. I'd say you'll never guess, but I'm not sure. You might. It's not always typically associated with Spain, and I didn't know I'd be seeing it, if that clears things up (I know it doesn't, don't worry). Alright, so I saw the Holy Grail. You know the one Monty Python's movie is in search of? The one that has countless movies dedicated to a quest for it.? Well, I saw it. Or if not it, exactly, I saw what is accepted as being "it." Yupp. S that's a thing I can add to my resume? 

Other than that, Valencia was a bike tour and a lot of walking and exploring. Cathedrals, markets, museums, etc. Valencia has it all, and I saw a good deal of it, including an international market in the gardens in the riverbed. Valencia was good to me, the hostel was nice, but I didn't sleep much there because one of my roommates had a cold and spent the nights snoring. Oh well, such as happens. 

After Valencia it was off to Madrid for three nights. I'd say three crazy nights, but they weren't mad, the days were. First night in Madrid we got dropped off, I headed to my hostel, and it turned out hostelworld hadn't sent them my reservation, even though I had my confirmation information. There was no bed for me! I talked to the receptionist, she made some calls, I waited, she waited, and eventually she ended up giving me a bed where I was because someone who was supposed to have checked in hours earlier hadn't and didn't return some calls or texts. I felt bad about taking a bed that may've belonged to someone else, but at the same time I was exhausted and ready to put my bags down. I ended up in a private room, with an e suite bathroom, and I took a bath! I'm pretty sure it was just supposed to be a shower with deep sides, but I just wanted a bath so that's what I turned it into. I felt like a million bucks when I went to bed, and even better upon getting up. 

Up early to move hostels, I checked my bags into the new hostel's luggage room, had a fantastic, organic yogurt parfait for breakfast, and went on the free walking tour the hostel was offering. I think the walking or bike tours on my first day in a city a my favourite way to get a bit of a taste for the city. The free ones especially are normally excellent- because we are choosing how much the guide is making, they normally provide excellent tours and a willing to give dining suggestions, etc. After the walking tour we went to lunch, which is apparently the largest meal of the day (it was delicious) and were there for a few hours, so by the time we split to do things it was near four pm. I headed off with some other busabouters and ended up spending a few hours at the Prado museum with a guy named Marino who is here from... Victoria, BC with friends. Small world! Since we'd gotten into the museum for free (it was a Sunday deal), it wasn't as disappointing when we were kicked out around 7 without seeing all of it. 

Back to the hostel we went, and off to do our own things - for me this was checking into the hostel and settling into my room. If you're ever in Madrid, UHostel was gorgeous. It's fairly new, and it showed. Clean, large rooms, nice beds, good sized lockers, fantastic showers, nice common areas, and a really welcoming, comfortable feel in those common areas. There were swings and a water fountain on our floor, too! Anyways, after settling in I went downstairs to meet up with the guide who was taking "us" (me and a group from another hostel) to a flamenco show. I liked flamenco as a kid, and seeing it live in an intimate setting (12 or so of us, the two guitars, singer, and dancer, and the guide in a small basement like area) was excellent. It was passionate, emotional, and thoroughly thrilling. After the flamenco, I walked back to the hostel and was asleep fairly quickly. 

Day two in Madrid-my last day! This day was also action packed, of course, but it started a bit later. I allowed myself a bit of a lie-in, had breakfast, went to the chemist (I've either still got allergies, or a bit of a cold; maybe both), and then headed off with two girls to the Thyssen Museum where we saw art by Picasso, Monet, Degas, Cezanne, and more. For a once private collection, this place was excellent. Two hours covered the museum and it was off to the largest park in Madrid (Rialto?) for a chance to see the Fallen Angel fountain. As something that is pretty rare (depictions of the descent of the angel, or the fallen angel himself are supposedly very rare in statuary), it wasn't as grand as I expected. However, it was still pretty darn impressive. The guys rollerblading around the fountain with their Walkmans and doing some sort of routine were amusing too, haha.

Our theoretical last stop of the day was an Egyptian temple that was given by the Egyptians to Madrid. This was closed, but still. It's and Egyptian temple in Spain. It's also the closest I'm probably going to get to Egypt for a little while, so it was neat to see. The park also afforded a lovely view of the city; added bonus! The reason this was our theoretical last stop is that we weren't planning on going elsewhere after this stop, but we did. We went back to the royal palace, and even though we couldn't get in, we saw the gardens and had a short wander - gorgeous, as expected. Off to the Opera theatre to catch the metro, and back to the hostel to re-pack and prep for tomorrow. 

I was planning on going to dinner alone, so I grabbed my ipad for a book and headed downstairs. Turns out I wasn't dining alone, I ended up getting tapas with the guys from the Island. The place we ended up in was really neat - you ordered a drink and got a plate of tapas with your drink. I ordered a glass of white wine, and I'm not sure what it is with the Spanish, but every time I order a glass of wine I get like, 1/3 of a bottle here. I'm not sure if that's normal, or they just really want to make me drunk? Either way, good wine, nice tapas, and when we rolled out of there we went back to the hostel for free sangria and drinking games. Yupp, the hostel provided sangria and space, and a guy came in to lead drinking games. Basically, for about 90 minutes we played a huge game of King's (Madrid rules, which are basically the same as home?). After the games, we had an option of a pub crawl or not. Because I was getting on the bus in the morning, I opted for no more drinking. Hung out for a bit, and then it was up to bed for bus day!

So, sitting here and writing, it's bus day. I'm en route to San Sebastián, and just left Pamplona. The Basque countryside is gorgeous, and I'm excited for two full days on the north west coast of Spain! :-)

Drop me a line if you want, or a comment, or a hey. I'm with people now, but I know that in just of a week I'll be flying solo again, so I would love to hear from home! Also, I'm missing everyone! 

Love and hugs for all,

Xoxox