Sometimes one just needs to get away from it all, even if it is for just a few days.
The start could have gone a bit better. An accident on the route into
London caused a huge traffic jam, the bus ended up managing to find another route in to Victoria where we changed for the next bus (the one after we had booked for) to take us to Stansted.
That was the good thing about organising this holiday to stay a night in the
Premier Inn at Stansted Airport. It didn't matter if we arrived late, we would be in the check in queue on time in the morning. And have a good nights rest beforehand too.
If you want to know why this hotel chain can guarantee a good nights sleep, then just ask Olga about their pillows. Yes, they are THAT good. The breakfast is pretty tasty and plentiful too.
So, leaving the cold weather of the UK behind (it was -1 degrees when we woke up), we set off for our home away from home -
Valencia.
Having not been back here for ages (must be a couple of years now) we were eager to meet up with our friends and enjoy some of the lovely sunshine whilst relaxing on the beach. Of course the food was also a part I was particularly looking forward to.
On arriving we made our way to
Silvia's place, where we were being looked after for the duration of our visit. Soon after dropping down our bags, we set off into town with her, meeting up with
Roberto (he was on holiday from
Mainz),
Luca, and later
Jordi.
After sitting down for a beer just behind the
Torres de Serrano, we started catching up on what people are now doing, what has happened since we last met and all the other gossip. To accompany the beer we had a couple of tapas, one of which was a not very brava
Patatas Bravas. This is one of my pet hates, if you call a dish "brave potatoes", then they should not just have mayonaisse on the side.
We then went on to another local to eat, where I am pleased to say the patatas were brave enough for me. Here the beer flowed, the chatting got louder, until eventually we had to go home (well, they had classes and work the next day - we were on holiday).
The next day we set off with
Silvia after breakfast to the beach. The
malvarrosa is one of the beaches of
Valencia with such easy access by public transport, which is why it's our preferred relaxation spot when we come and visit. The water was just warm enough to walk in, but a bit too nippy to submerge oneself further.
Come lunchtime, and it being Sunday, we of course had to eat the local speciality of
paella. And where else better to taste this dish than at the home of
Silvia's parents. Homemade at its best!
We then headed off to the port to meet up with
Gema,
Alejandra and
Claudia,
Fernando, Valeria and
Iker and spent some time catching up whilst watching the kids play.
After all that excitement we returned home to relax a little (and enjoy the novela).
Monday saw us go off to the beach again, to top up the sun, and then we met up with
Luca and
Gloria for a buffet lunch and of course chitchat. On to desserts, and
Juanfran turned up (we hadn't seen him since
Javi's wedding). Once
Gloria had gone back to teach her students,
Olga went for a bit of window shopping whilst the boys stayed behind and had a coffee (del tiempo, naturally).
We then headed off home to relax a little. As it was our last night here, I made sure to go out and meet up one last time with
Jordi. We met at
Benimaclet and went to a local eatery which we had previously enjoyed last time with
Ana and
Miquel (who are now in the outbacks of Texas). Of course there was a nice looking barmaid here, which we didn't complain about.
On Tuesday we said our goodbyes to Silvia, and headed off to the beach one last time. Here we met up with
Roberto, grabbed some lunch at Pans & Company, and then went back to pick up our bags and head off to the airport.
What a relaxing holiday it was, and great to meet up again with old friends.
To see the rest of the photos,
click here.
