While the kids were in France with their grandparents for school holidays, I took the chance to spend a week in Spain. This was my first real taste of travelling on my own through Europe and I absolutely loved it. I learnt a lot about what type of traveler I am as well as how to read a map properly as Wifi is often limited!
During my time in Spain I visited in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona where I managed to use the public transport on my own. I found the language very hard to understand despite it being similar to french. I was very lucky with the weather and spent the whole week in shorts and a singlet with the temperature ranging between 25-30 degrees. The locals were very surprised about the weather for the time of year as it is normally much colder.
Madrid
I spent four days in Madrid with Paul as my guide. We went to the school he was teaching english at earlier in the year and met all the kids. I could tell he was really happy to be back there. We were lucky enough too to have dinner with the family he had lived with. They were very welcoming and cooked us a Traditional Spanish Meal called a Tortilla - a Spanish Omelette with Potatoes.
Paul took me out to try traditional Spanish Tapas. It was great to have someone who spoke the local language and knew what was good to eat and what wasn't! I found it strange that people in Spain have an afternoon nap every day and don't go out for dinner until about 9pm. I was starving by this time!
We explored the city centre of Madrid as well. We saw the turtles in Atocha Train Station who have their own home there. Retiro Park, Gran Via and Puerta del Sol as well as The Bear and the Strawberry Tree Statue, the Official Symbol of Madrid.
Overall I really liked Madrid, but the biggest problem for me was that for the beautiful warm temperatures, it is too far inland from the beach! It was so nice to see where Paul had been spending the first six months of the year and there was no-one better to show me around Madrid then him.
Valencia
Paul had to fly back to London for work so I took a train on my own to Valencia. I was stressing out about being a solo traveller. Apart from in Wales, this was the first time I had travelled on my own, expecially in a place where English wasn't the first language! After a seven hour train ride I even managed to navigate the underground metro system to get to my hostel.
Valencia was a beautiful old city. It is split into two parts, where the new city surrounds the old once walled city and now expands all the way out to the coastline. It was really great to be back at the beach again, especially one with real sand! The water was pretty warm too but I didn’t swim as I wanted to spend the sunlight hours seeing as much as I could of the city.
I did a walking tour of the old city of Valencia and saw the Central Market, Virgin Mary Square, the Basilica Of The Virgin, the Palace of The Generalitat, the Apostles Gate and the Torres de Serranos, one of the only two city gates remaining. Afterwards I climbed up the Cathedral Bell Tower which gave me amazing views of the whole city all the way out to the beach. I timed it well as I managed to watch a beautiful sunset over the city of Valencia.
I walked for miles. There used to be a river running through the city but it has been dried up and turned into a public park. I walked the length of it to see the Art and Science Culture Park. There was giant playground made of the body of Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels in the middle of the park, where you felt like you were in Lilliput as one of the tiny people!
The hostel I was staying at didn't really have much going on and there wasn't a lot of people around so I spent the whole two days by myself, but it was nice to have some alone time. Because of the time of year as well, there weren't so many tourists around which was nice.
Barcelona
After two nights, I took a four hour train to Barcelona where I stayed for another two nights. I took part in the Fat Tyre Biking tour, a four hour bike ride around the city. The tour took me to all the big attractions and taught me a lot of interesting facts about Barcelona. The tour started in the Historic Centre where we saw Placa Sant Jaume, the old city square which has the city hall and the Palace of Generalitat of Catalonia. We also saw the Kings Square, the Cathedral and the Palau de la Musica. Leaving the old town we biked through the Parc de la Ciutadella which has a massive fountain and is home to Barcelona Zoo.
La Sagrada Familia is even more impressive in real life and photos cannot do it justice! It is supposed to be finished in 2026, to commemorate 100 years since Guadi died. I don’t think it will be finished though as they still have to construct a massive statue of Jesus and Mary on the top. This gives me something to go back to one day!
I visited the beach in Barcelona too. I learnt from the biking tour that it was man made for the Olympics back in 1992. The sand was shipped in from the Sahara desert and the palm trees from Hawaii. The sand was very dusty and didn't feel right, but now at least I can say I've been to the Sahara!
I meet some Aussie girls in the hostel I was staying at and we spent one day exploring together. We went to Montjuic where the National Palace sits on.It was a bit of a climb to the top, and we didn't pay to get into the Palace or the Catalonian Art Museum, but the views of the whole city were spectacular.
After a week in the sun I flew back to London and was greeted by rain and temperatures of about five degrees! I was absolutely freezing, but I'm sure it won't take long to get used to the cold again.
The kids spent the week in France where the weather was just as nice for them. We have all caught some kind of bug at different stages and me and Mia have both got a bit of a fever and sore throats at the moment so she is off school and we are resting together while the other two are at school.
"Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all." - Helen Keller
I hope this has inspired you.
LARISSAJODEE x