Joined a Biker Gang in Valencia... like a month ago

HI!!! Guess who's back!!

I have one more itty bitty essay for my application to UW, but otherwise I'm done with PhD apps!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR UPDATES AND SONGS!!!!! You really got me through it. I am also halfway through writing my Belgium post so you will get updates on everyone else from there.

So here I am catching up on all my travels. This post is about my trip to Valencia, on a whim one weekend with my friends from Alicante, Hanna, and two dudes with mullets who were friends of friends of friends but are now just friends :)

Those of you who know me well know that I actually absolutely hate biking in most cases. I much prefer running as a mode of getting around quickly, or walking or obvi horses but my friends apparently looooove biking so we had to rent bikes in Valencia which is the closest big city to us (we are in Valencia province here). So I was skeptical about this from the start, but it ended up being great!

Valencia:

Somehow I missed my train on the way up while sitting at the station like a dumb ass because I confused my Spanish and English so oops. But it was fine in the end I went to Tim Horton's and got on the next train
Met the girls (Hanna, Hanna Z, Gemma and Sophia) first at a cafe and then went to Konsum which is basically Waitrose or Wholefoods but Spanish so love that.
Bikes are tricky at first but honestly fun
Lots of super cool architecture
- opera house and museum of the future
- cool water features
- nice gardens/parks
- a playground that was literally a giant Gulliver from Gulliver's travels for people to climb on and slide off that was so cool
Oranges and orange trees everywhere!!! So cool!!
We had a gorgeous fancy airbnb that the girls found I don't know how it was so cool
First day went to the museum and saw cool science stuff
- baby chickens hatching!!
  - is this ethical? mmm maybe not...
- space simulator was fun
- cool stuff about the ESA and their Mars programs/rovers
- also awesome exhibit on the human genome!
- too much virology/covid stuff though... too soon...
Had a stressful time finding a cafe in which to talk to an old grad student friend for feedback on my essays
Accidentally told a waiter "Just a water NOW" instead of "Just a water, for now" and felt like a terrible human being when I saw his face
Met the guys! Hanna Z's friends from Montana/Colorado/Idaho
- very goofy mullet-sporting midwesterners that added a wonderful silly mood to the whole trip
- they had been backpacking around Europe and Asia for a few months before they met us
I think the first night was when we went out for sushi and got really drunk on sake
The rest of the gang went out dancing but I was tired and sick so Gemma and I stayed home and went to sleep in the big bed (first to sleep = best bed choice)
We woke up and had a yummy breakfast on the roof of our very fancy Airbnb
We went to the market and got delicious foods, I had Moroccan food (foreshadowing!) that was so so yummy
We hiked around to the beach and hung out there for a while
Took a giant five person nap
Gemma, the chef, made us a delicious dinner of pasta with fresh tomatoes and a yummy yummy salad
We went out dancing!
Got turned away from a club for being too young??
- Apparently they catered specifically to an older crowd and we were not welcome
Ended up at a cute bar with an elevated surface on which we all danced
Got too ambitious and left the bar, ended up not finding anything better
I went home and slept on the recliner chair which oh my god that was comfortable best night of sleep I got that week
Woke up, another terrace breakfast and a very yummy coffee I made with the super expensive espresso machine
Walked/biked around the park
I bought a cute hat which I love and makes me look very french
Played cards in the grass and shared a bottle of champagne
Tried to do headstands
Ate an orange off the Valèncian orange tree in the park it was terrible
Got burritos from a burrito shop!
- Don't ask me why we ate every cuisine but Spanish because I'm just the vegan along for the ride
Caught the train home with no issues :)