O Valencia

Hi!! I know it's again been quite a while, but in my defense, at first there wasn't anything to say (it would have been boring) and then I was really busy. So there. But it's now March! It's going so fast, and I'm both sad that my year is this far along and enjoying being in the city with so much experience, knowing my way around and such. It's still pretty rainy and cold, but yesterday we had an absolutely gorgeous day and my new roommate Caroline and I went to a beautiful park to study. I didn't make it out running yesterday and instead went today in the drizzle, which was actually nice, since I've not run since before Christmas, I think, lol.

Well, about a month ago the new students for the spring semester arrived, and everything's been pretty hectic since. Caroline was stuck in London for a few days with about 40 other students from our program when London had it's "epic" snow (like 2 inches, and they closed the airports), but finally arrived a day and a half late, and then we had a week of orientation followed by my second "welcome" trip to Assisi and Perugia. We then had a week of intensive Italian, followed by the first week of classes! My schedule's a little hectic, at least for me, as I have early class every morning. I'm going to have problems in the real world, lol. But I'm compensated, I feel, by having Fridays off, allowing me to travel more easily and to just have a longer break each week. I really enjoy it; I slept all day Friday and felt so relaxed Thursday night! It was kind of crazy last week because I had a lot of reading and was choosing classes to register for next semester at Mizzou (which, when your advisor doesn't want to be helpful, gets pretty frustrating), but it felt amazing Thursday evening to know I had an extra day to just relax.

So, last weekend I went to Valencia, Spain. This was kind of a random decision; in December when I got back from Sicily I was looking at plane tickets for the spring, thinking about where I wanted to go, and I found a cheap flight to Valencia. I don't really know anything about it (or about Spain in general), but I thought, why not? and booked it! It was kind of crazy, since I left Thursday evening after my first week of classes, but the city was absolutely beautiful and the weather was amazing. It was such a great getaway from the crazy (and cold and wet) city. I only did two days, arriving Thursday evening and leaving Saturday evening, but with its size I feel like that was perfect. Valencia was lovely, with flower vendors in the main square and beautiful old buildings. There are art museums everywhere and I was able to visit a few with discounts (student!) or even free. In the main cathedral there is the only recognized (albeit tentatively) actual Holy Grail. The church is amazing and huge, and I've really developed a great respect for Spanish art. Valencia is very old, as well, having been a Roman settlement, so there's a lot of history concerning Europe's development that I'd never heard about. And it was cheap (bonus!), especially where the hostel and transportation were concerned. When I was tired of wandering around the sites, as well, I went and hung out in a park. There's one that stretches, king of like a river, all through the city. And it's beautifully well-kept, and there are museums and recreational areas built within it. After my visit, I'm twice as excited to go to Barcelona in two weeks! (after Poland, next weekend. But hopefully I'll just write about that next week)

Vendors in the main square, Plaza del Ayuntamiento

The cathedral of Valencia

The Holy Grail!! It looks fancy, but the base and handles were added later. I'm still not sure, though.

One of the museums in the park (far image) and an indoor garden. I don't really know what's up with the futuristic architecture, but it is pretty cool. There are several structures, built together, and they're actually pretty mind-blowing. These buildings, of course, were the exception. I haven't seen anything like this anywhere before.

Oh, the title of this entry is from a song by the Decemberists. It's kind of part of the reason I decided to go, lol. Good song!