Exploring Valencia

My alarm went off at 9am after a disturbed night but I didn’t get out of bed until 9.30. I went down to have breakfast – cereal and toast – then headed out. I found the Serrano Tower and walked up that (impressive) then north to the ‘river’ following the corridor all the way to the new funky buildings. I had to cut up some streets to find the America’s Cup port, which was uninteresting, didn’t find anything to eat, so had to get a tram from Neptu to Maritim-Serreria and then the metro back to Xativa. I walked north, getting a little lost and finding the markets too late to go in. I got a foccaccia and gelato from my favourite shop, and went back to the hostel to internet and rest.

I went back out at about 5.30 to get the tram to the beach from Pont de Fusta, which was just over the river. There were no working ticket machines, so I had to get on without a ticket. Some police/inspector guys got on and I thought I was going to get caught, but they weren’t checking tickets. I got off at the beach and found a patch of sand. Quite a few women were topless, and while a lot were gorgeous, some were definitely not. The water was too warm to be refreshing, but nice all the same. A guy came up to me (he actually spoke English) and asked me to mind his bag while he was swimming. I went back in myself as soon as he got back, and the second swim was better. The sun was getting low so I had a shower and left, getting the tram back, again without a ticket. It was almost 9pm, so I had missed the chance to climb the cathedral tower. I had a real shower and went out to get dinner, deciding on pasta on Plaza de la Virgen. I ordered, though no one spoke English. It took ages and finally the woman came out to talk to me, but we had a complete communication breakdown. She found an English speaker from the restaurant next door and sorted it out – they’d make a mistake and thought they’d already brought me my meal, but somehow had it ordered twice or something. They brought me a free drink and the food eventually. It was good. I headed back to the hostel and crashed.