After I crashed last night, I woke up as an American again. Meaning that I woke up before 7am. I don’t know that I could get used to the late night lifestyle in Europe. I’m such an early bird at heart that it’s hard to change, even when I’m on vacation.
Since everyone else was snoozing, Todd and I walked across the “street” from the hotel to grab breakfast and coffees. We had a leisurely morning of reflecting, reminiscing, and remembering how fortunate we are. We have been blessed with each other, wonderful family, and good health. What more can we ask for?
After showering and packing up, we staggered out of the hotel and went to the bakery for empanadas, croissants, more coffee, and jugo de naranja which is freshly made from these machines that literally take the whole oranges and squeeze it fresh as you order it. Every bakery has these. And it’s delicious.
And then, we sat. We went back to the hotel and sat in the patio and rested. And talked. We are were pretty exhausted. A quick train to the main station around 2pm left us with some time to kill before our journey to Valencia. We sat and snacked and found this great display.
The trains guys. They are just so easy. Always on time. Smooth ride. USB ports. I mean, you could technically buy a beer or take a nap. I just enjoy not driving which sounds crazy because I love road trips, but driving in another country is a different experience…one we will have in a few days when we switch to the car portion of this trip. You do have to wear masks in public transit here, so there is that.
The sunset from the train was a beautiful sight. We arrived and figured out the bus schedule since the bus was the closest transit to our hotel and Uber was just searching for drivers forever and ever. So this trip has included planes, trains, buses, Ubers, and metros! What’s amazing is smartphones. You type in the destination and it’ll give you bus directions, walking directions, Uber options, etc. I cannot imagine traveling without data on my phone.
It was already passed sunset and we immediately stepped out of the train station and right up to this beautifully lit up former bull ring.
Nine bus stops later we found our hotel and immediately dropped our bags and looked for dinner. It’s New Year’s Eve here sooooo not a lot of options! We’ve had Christmas dinner at McDonald’s in Orlando and we ordered McDonald’s in Pisa. Now we can add València Spain to the list. It was not intentional but sometimes it happens when on vacation during the holidays.
And we noticed not only some additional menu items but they also have a separate area for making the all important espresso. They are serious about that stuff over here.
Did you check out the menu? They have eggs Benedict burgers, wedge fries, and BEER! Say what? When people visit American McDonald’s they must be so disappointed to find that our don’t sell beer.
I only clocked 4,756 steps today and I’m so happy about that. Between the three hour train ride, which showed the new Top Gun movie complete with Spanish subtitles, and a restful morning on the hotel patio, we have given our legs a chance to recuperate.
The kids have a video game hotel room and we have a quiet rest and relax hotel room, and now we plan out the one full day we have in Valencia tomorrow!
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