A Spanish Quasi Holiday.

So much going on the past few days, there just hasn’t been time to blog. On Aug 5th I took the red eye over to JFK to work a flight over to Valencia, Spain on the 6th. There was a lovely 50 hour layover that followed. Then back to JFK on the 9th and Seattle after there. I got back to Seattle at 8pm on the 9th, meaning I’d been up almost 24 hours. Then there was one day off and a call to go to Asia on an eight day trip which is where this post is coming from. At the moment I am careening down the highway in Osaka, Japan on the way to the airport to go over to Guam. I’m pretty excited as it’s my first layover in Guam. Plus a fellow Seattle FA is going to be there as well. So it should be a fun layover. Speaking of first time layovers I have to tell you all about Valencia. If you have been reading my blog, or know me personally you will know that I have an obsession with Spain. I love it there, want to live there one day, ect. ect. This was my first time in Valencia though.
A little back ground on Valencia:
It’s located on the Mediterranean, on the eastern coast of the country. It is the 3rd biggest city in Spain. It’s a little industrial. They speak Valencian in addition to Castellano. They are known for paella, a seafood and rice dish.

The flight over there was a nightmare. Not because of passengers really, but because the plane that we take over there is falling apart. It really is a miracle that we stay in the air. Everything was broken: video screens, audio for the movie, lavs, seats. We didn’t have enough meals, people were sick. It was just a rough flight. But then we landed and were in Spain (cue heavenly sounding music here). Everything was great in an instant. After a 5 hour ‘nap’ I hit the beach with some fellow FA’s. August is vacation month in Spain and the beach was packed. As beaches go its wasn’t spectacular. The water was kinda brown with sea stuff in it, ie, seaweed, sticks, pieces of unidentifiable things. Not like the clear waters of Cozumel. But what the water lacked the people watching made up for.
Spanish boys are fine fine fine.


The next day was spent sightseeing. Valencia seemed very spread out to me. Where we stay at is across the street from the Ciudad de las Bellas Artes. Which is a very cool museum complex that has an IMAX theater, a science museum, an Aquarium and a . I walked around the outside, but didn’t go into any of the museums. I had to save my Euros. From the Ciudad there is a great stretch of park that wraps around the east part of the city. This is an excellent place to go for a run, a bike ride, or just enjoy being outside for awhile. Once in the city center Valencia might remind you of any other Spanish city with its plazas and windy, crooked streets that you can get lost in. Stroll past the bullring that is next door to the north train station.


Visit the Mercado Central which has everything from meats to fruits and veggies to breads. A popular item was fresh squeezed juices. Yum, mango and melon. Delish. I was able to help a lady out who was struggling to communicate with a woman at the bread shop. She didn’t speak Spanish and the woman didn’t speak English, or French, as it turned out the lady was from France. That was a cool experience, translating for the French lady.

If you are in most any Spanish city you have the chance to go to a cathedral. I’m kind of a ‘once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all’ type people. But I was told the cathedral in Valencia was a little special. It claims to have the actual Holy Grail. Eric Idle and Dan Brown would be disappointed.



So I thought I’d check it out. Yep, just like any other cathedrals, except there was a gold cup on display. But I was glad to go up the tower there as it had marvelous 360 degree views of the city. That was way worth the 2 Euros to check out. Also in Valencia is the Lonja de la Seda, an UNESCO world heritage site. With its twisty inter columns and checkered board floors it’s worth a stop on your way to the market.

By this point in the day my feet were barely working any more and it was time from some dinner. Sadly, I got back to my room and realized I only had 4 Euros left so it was leftovers from the night before and off to bed.
As a city Valencia didn’t impress me too much. Malaga, as a southern coast city, is at the top of my list still. But, my heart still belongs to Santiago in the northwest. Te quiero a ti Santiago.

Alas, my hour long ride to the airport in Osaka is about to come to a close. More on my 8 day adventure in Asia later. Have a lovely weekend all! Get out there and go somewhere!