Home of Paella and Orxata

on the terrace of our hostel
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My friend Danielle (we call her Mclaugh) is studying in Valencia so we Davis kids decided to meet there for a mini reunion. Jess and I took the train down on Friday morning to meet up with Max, Alix and Mclaugh. When we first got there we had a little trouble finding the hostel but were surprised once we did. It was really nice and fairly cheap! It was brightly colored with a lounge room, kitchen and terrace! We checked in and met up with Max and Mclaugh to tour the city. We walked through the fountain-decorated and people-filled plazas by the pretty historical (mostly government) buildings as well as the older cobblestone alleys in the older part of town. She took us to the river that runs through Valencia and we stopped at a cafe for some sangria. On our walk back we stopped at a chocolate shop before meeting up with Alix at the hostel. We chatted on the terrace and snacked on cheese, olives and (really cheap) red wine. Mclaugh showed us her favorite bar called New Orleans which had a funky little vibe and the friendliest owner. We waited there until our table was ready at a nice tapas bar known for its mussels. We had our own room for dinner which consisted of mussels, patatas bravas (baked potatoes with a creamy spicy sauce), bread and ensalada ruso (similar to a potato salad but with tuna). It was all really good. We also tried Valencia´s signature drink "agua de Valencia" which is champagne, orange juice and vodka. We hung out chatting at the bar until about 330am and finally went back and straight to bed. Next morning we woke up and headed out without our tour guide (Mclaugh). We went to an open air market full of fresh fruit, veggies, meats and cheeses. We made our way over to the main church and hiked up the 250 skinny, winding stairs to the top of the tower for a full city view. It was quite the workout! We took a rest break outside the church and watched as a wedding party took pictures and set off a bunch of firecrackers! Apparently Valencia is obsessed with fire and uses fireworks for every holiday. We heard them every day! We met up with Mclaugh for lunch where they all had Valencian paella (started here) and I had a burrito (and bites of paella). We stopped for gelato before heading out toward these crazily designed buildings. One is an Imax theater and i dont know what the other two are used for but the designs are quite interesting. One looks like a helmet and another like the back of an armadillo. We saw three more weddings there too! Jess bought Orxata here (which I tried) that was good, but not as tasty as Mexican Orxata. Its a milky drink made with nuts and cinammon that was originally started in Valencia.  We took a long walk back through the park to our hostel, got ready, had wine on the terrace and then took the metro to meet Mclaugh at a bar for dinner. We had tapas again (Spanish tradition) and then to another bar for dancing. We took a taxi home to sleep for about 6 hours before getting up sunday morning and taking the train home! I had such a great time catching up with Alix and Mclaugh (as well as spending it with Max and Jess), but it almost makes it harder to come back to Madrid because it makes me miss them and home even more!