It seemed like a longer day than it was. We got up in good time, ate breakfast, did the final pack and clean, and walked to the train station. It was raining though, and we got a little wet. Surprisingly, we had a couple of major downpours in Madrid over the week. We had expected hot and dry, but we got rain a few times along with some pretty wicked thunderstorms.
The train to Valencia was fast, clocking well over 200+ km/hr. for most of the trip and when we arrived, it was HOT. No rain in sight, but that would follow us later. We took our time getting to the next airBNB, but the 50 minute walk was nice after being on the train. It’s always a bit interesting and often frustrating getting to a new city. We check out beforehand where we need to go and I have google maps lined up and ready and we always try to get a local area map from the tourist info booth. But once you get outside the train station, you are almost always confronted with which exit are we at and what direction we’re facing. There always seems to be a main street in front of the station, 8 or 9 angled streets leading off from it, and for some reason, they never line up with what is on google maps! So, we spend about 30 minutes getting our bearings, walking a while, checking the maps against the street signs, backtracking, checking the maps.
We were nice and sweaty by the time we got to the airBNB. Ring the bell. No answer. Ring a bunch of times, no answer. Since I have perpetual phone issues, (don’t ask), I start looking around for ‘options’. We spot some guy coming up the street and ask him if he can make a quick phone call for us. We did this in Madrid btw, people are very accommodating. Call the host’s number. No answer. We wander off to find a café/bar/McDonalds/whatever so we can get some WiFi. It’s Monday so of course, everything’s closed. We actually find a bar close by that IS open, grab a table, order 2 beers, and ask to use the WiFi. The bar guy was very nice, got the beers, and gave us free tapas of olives and black rice. I suspect it was squid ink with fishy bits. Teresa doesn’t particularly like the seafood here as apparently it’s ‘fishy’. Whatever. It went down nicely with the beer.
So, we sort things out over the WiFi/airBNB with the host. He say’s the cleaning person is there, just ring the bell and she’ll let us in. He can’t make it but it’s all good. OK. We finish up, thank the bar guy, go back to the apartment and ring the bell. A Few times. No answer. I’m thinking evil thoughts at this point. A delivery guy comes by and delivers a big box to the apartment block. Teresa sneaks in behind him and goes up to the 3rd floor to pound on some doors. The cleaning person is there, and we finally get in. Yeah! She doesn’t speak a lick of English and I change my mind about asking pointedly why the f***k don’t you just answer the doorbell?
Anyway, we are here now for 10 days. The apartment has a great view overlooking the huge greenway park that follows the old river bed running through the city. We are some distance from the downtown core for a change, but the apartment comes with bikes and we like walking. This journey is coming to an end already. Time flies! The weather is nice and the apartment comfy, so we will chill for a while and check out the city at a leisurely pace.
The rain and thunderstorms have finally caught up to us, but we needed groceries (and alcohol) so we headed out anyway. It’s not like we haven’t been drenched today.
Hard to believe your trip is nearly over. Would you do it all over again?
Absolutely Karen. And we will but if we change just one thing, it would be the length of stay. We needed to see the different areas to get an idea of what we like and don’t and now that we have, we would stay longer in the areas we do like. A month or two in one place as opposed to a week. Moving around that frequently can be a pain. It’s gone by too quickly though.