La Aventura en Espana

I think it's been almost two weeks since I've last written here- a longer pause than I ever intended. I think I'll start catching up with some travels in Espana.

Two weekends ago, I finally got to fly to Valencia (note entry below). Third largest city in Spain and right on the Mediterranean coast, this is a prime vacation spot for Spaniards, and appropriately I heard almost zero English the entire time. Such a lack of English is completely normal for me- but this was the first time I could honestly say I had no idea what was going on in conversations, being outside of Deutschland. The language barrier was tough and very frustrating at times- it took me about ten minutes of negotiating to figure out how to order a single serving of paella, Valencia's delicious signature rice dish. All the same, I found the Spaniards all really friendly, and next time I visit (which is definitely now a future plan) I'll come prepared with some Espanol of my own.

Valencia's combination of rustic elegance and great beach more than made up for the language barrier. Centuries of monarchies and feudalism in this blissful climate spawned shady palm-tree-lined plazas with with marble fountains, rose marble sidewalks, extravagant gilded and white sandstone architecture and a several-kilometer-long garden running through a former river bed, which is crossed by historic bridges and dotted with orange groves and Romanesque facades. At the end of said garden, near the coast, rises one of the most strange and beautiful architectural works I've ever seen- Cuitat de las Artes y las Ciencies, or the City of Arts and Sciences, (check it out- http://www.cac.es/home?languageId=1) .
Almost completely white and surrounded by a reflecting pool of azure water, it resembles some resurfaced part of Atlantis, with unbelievable organic lines and vaguely sea creature-like profiles enclosing a science museum, an aquarium, a concert hall and an art musem, among other things. I was impressed with the science museum and aquarium's exhibits- especially the huge exhibitions of genetics, the biology, psychology and politics of the female life (strange in what is traditionally portrayed as a masochistic society) and the aquarium's many underwater glass tunnels- but the buildings themselves are the real thing to see here.

Of course, I took some time to lay on the beach, swim in the warm Mediterranean and talk to some locals, the latter of which was mostly unsuccessful but always interesting. Also strange was the fact that I kept running into Germans everywhere- two of the girls who worked the front desk at my hostel were German expats, and I hung out with a group from Munich for the two nights I was there. Great people, but personally I was disappointed in my lack of skills in connecting with any locals, something I'll try to fix next time around. Also, I will order a full paella this time- its so good!

By the way, while I was in Valencia Germany managed to miraculously beat Portugal 3-2 in their quarterfinal Europameisterschaft match. It was easily their best-played game of the EM... although by now you may know that they lost the whole thing to Spain in the final. But that's for another post.