City Cycle

After a sleep in and a call to the family regarding the sale of my car, it was time to celebrate the good news. She had FINALLY sold. As such, I headed to find some Paella. Valencia is the alleged birthplace of the dish, and so I had to hunt down somewhere authentic. I had been given a list of places during my walking tour that is supposed to be the best, but most of these places were expensive or required two people for the dish. This is a similar problem with the tappas that I really want to try. It's difficult to get a good share when you're on your own. But I found a restaurant where there were a bunch of people wearing headsets and speaking English. This likely meant that a walking tour sent their group to this restaurant for paella, meaning it must be pretty decent. Even better, they sold individual dishes. Although slightly expensive, it was my best option, and it was amazing. It's the only time I've eaten it, but it was great, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got the standard, original dish that comes with chicken, rabbit, beans, and rice. Didn't mind spending the 15 euros for how good it was and how substantial of a feed it turned out to be. This was enough fuel to get me through my long bike ride. Although the beach was to the East, I began by going West to try and find the connection from the old river to the new river. This was underwhelming as I rode as far as I could right to the spot it was supposed to deviate, but there was nothing but a highway, I think i would have had to find an alternate route over or under the highway, but I decided it probably wasn't worth it and headed back along the old river ride. Having ridden from East to West, I was shocked at how nice it was. I mentioned yesterday that there were playgrounds, football pitches, and rugby pitches, but that barely scraped the surface. There was running tracks, athletic fields, a small zoo, fountains, skate parks, many other sports fields, musical theatres, gardens, art gallery's, museums, restaurants, cafes, and even aquariums. I mean, given its 10km long, you can expect there to be a lot, but I was stunned. To the East, near the beach is where the main attractions of the city are placed. These are: Queen Sofia Palace of Arts (arts museum), Hemisfèric (movie theatre), Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (museum), CaixaForum València - Àgora (cultural centre), and the L'Oceanogràfic (aquarium). Construction of these finished in 2200 because they all looked like they were from the future. The shapes reminded me of space ships. They were completely white or completely glass, they were surrounded by a huge water Fountain, and they contained bridges that appeared to float. It was so cool to see. And you could ride your bike all the way through. I decided not to stop at any of the monuments because I had to get to the beach, and wasn't that fussed on spending more money. I also figured it would take quite a while, and I was running out of time in the day.

Eventually, I made it to the end and accessed the beach. The beaches were slightly disappointing, the bike ride along the esplanade was nice, but the beaches themselves were average. Lots of sand. It was a solid hike to get to the water, and then the water wasn't that clear, like it has been in Europe so far. Given that there are no waves, I normally hope for some clear water, but I got neither today. Shit happens. I stuck around for a while but was still stressed about leaving my belongings on the beach, so it was a short swim, a nice lay on the beach, and a long bike ride home. Although I followed the same way home, I enjoyed it just as much as the way there. But right at the end, the joints between my femur and my hips began to hurt, so I'm glad it wasn't even a km longer than it was. I was done. After all this exercise, I was hungry for a big feed. I've discovered that the best way to ensure you get a meal that will DEFINITELY fill you is to get a pizza. Even if it's shit, it will always fill you, and you always get the same size. Buying other dishes, you aren't sure how much you will get. I followed a recommendation and headed to an Italian place for a pizza. To my surprise, it was one of the best pizzas I had eaten in a very long time. Most likely months - since my first stint in Italy. After this, I headed to a bar to try some agua de valencia, which translates to the water of Valencia. Water is one way to put it, given this alcoholic concoction is essentially a time machine that will teleport you to a hospital in -1 seconds. It is essentially an alcoholics mimosa. Champagne and orange juice, but the valencians figured, why stop there? And decided to add vodka and gin to this drink and make it jetfuel. Finally, they make it so you can only buy it in share glasses, so I was forced to drink 2 people's worth (4 cups) and get home asap before I blacked out in some random street. But in the end, I made it, slightly drunk and very full. It's the perfect combination to have a great sleep.Read more