I arrived in Valencia in the early evening and had pretty much no idea what the city was about or what I was going to do there.  It was obvious to me that there was a really cool park that ran through the middle of the city that used to be a river which would be perfect or some long runs.  So the first thing I did was go for a run along the park because it was right beside my hostel.

After the run I had no idea what to do, so i wandered the streets looking for food.  This town was obviously a bit different than Barcelona because it was getting late and things started to shut down.  I wasn’t really feeling a sit down meal and the grocery stores were all closed.  So when I passed by a sandwich shop that was still open and had a nice little patio with English speaking people chatting on the patio, I decided to sit down and have some food there.

The initial English speakers were actually finishing up but shortly after a group sat down and were speaking a mix of English and Spanish and then on the other side of me two guys were speaking Italian with a little bit of English laced in.  One thing led to another and we ended up all chatting with each other and the one Italian guy (Christopher) was actual the owner of the sandwich shop.  It’s called Toastone and he get’s a local bakery to make these giant pieces of bread which he then makes into a massive sandwich.  The group ended up jiving super well and we ended up closing down the shop, helping him close and then hanging out while the shop was closed for a while.  Where I thought I would be hitting the hay early that night turned into a typical Spain night once again. Amal and Myrium were from Morroco and were both in the Pharmacy program at the local university and Darius was from Italy living in Valencia.

We ended up making plans to go to the beach the next day which was awesome since I had no idea what I was supposed to do in the city.

I decided to get up decently early and take advantage of the good running areas by doing a long run.  It was taxing and I think this is one of the only long runs i ended up doing over 30km in my Athens preparation, but I did it and that’s what counts.

After finishing up the run, I cleaned myself up and then walked to the beach.

It was my Dad’s birthday so I made him a sign.

The beaches here were waaaay better than Barcelona.  Nicer beach, less people and just a way more chill vibe.  We played volleyball, relaxed and enjoyed the day!

After the sun went down and it was time to finish up with beach time, we went to a nearby bar for a drink before heading to a local restaurant that served traditional local tappas.  It was so good and we had a really good time eating food, making fun of each other and just shooting the shit.

I had such a good time in Valencia and just continued the Spanish good times.  I didn’t have a ton of time to spend there so I had to leave to Madrid the next day, but the short time I did spend there was super memorable.  Amal and Meryum were from Morroco so I hit them up when I eventually made it there for any suggestions they had for me.

I really enjoyed writing this post and it made me smile remembering the awesome time I had here.

Time to jump on another bus and meet Marc in Madrid, which was one of the only preplanned things I had on the entire trip.