Buenas!
While it nice to be at home to see friends, family, eat lots of foods I can’t source in Spain and celebrate some birthdays, it is without doubt AMAZING to be back in Valencia as the UK was ridiculously cold. The day we left Valencia, it was 26 degrees but many locals were still wearing thick winter jumpers and perhaps even a scarf or hat. Upon arrival at Bristol (after a somewhat bumpy landing, the pilot obviously thought he’d have some fun...,) snow was falling and the temperature was hovering around 0 degrees. Everyone in the UK matched the Spanish I had encountered a mere few hours earlier – dressed in jumpers, coats, scarves and hats. I could understand the mentality of the British much more than that of the Spanish. Seeing as all of my winter clothes were at home, however, I had a somewhat cold journey from the airport to home in nothing more than a t-shirt and denim jacket combo. It felt as if we were returning home for Christmas rather than Easter.
While it nice to be at home to see friends, family, eat lots of foods I can’t source in Spain and celebrate some birthdays, it is without doubt AMAZING to be back in Valencia as the UK was ridiculously cold. The day we left Valencia, it was 26 degrees but many locals were still wearing thick winter jumpers and perhaps even a scarf or hat. Upon arrival at Bristol (after a somewhat bumpy landing, the pilot obviously thought he’d have some fun...,) snow was falling and the temperature was hovering around 0 degrees. Everyone in the UK matched the Spanish I had encountered a mere few hours earlier – dressed in jumpers, coats, scarves and hats. I could understand the mentality of the British much more than that of the Spanish. Seeing as all of my winter clothes were at home, however, I had a somewhat cold journey from the airport to home in nothing more than a t-shirt and denim jacket combo. It felt as if we were returning home for Christmas rather than Easter.
Plane!
Despite the cold, it was great to be at home for all of
the aforementioned reasons. On the first Saturday, I travelled up to Shrewsbury
for Alex’s next (and final!) birthday celebration. Lots of people from Cardiff
who I hadn’t seen in a long time had made the journey too and it was great to
catch up with them, as did Charles who was home from Chambéry at the time.
Equally, I also had the opportunity to meet some of Alex’s friends from home
who I had heard lots about. As I seem to be the one who takes the majority of
photos on our Year Abroad, I often receive notifications on Facebook saying, ‘XXXX
(friends with Alex Hine) liked your photo,’ and so it was nice to be able to put
a face to a name. I’ve heard so much about some of them that I felt like I
already knew them! Everyone dressed up and Alex’s parents had organised a beautiful
event with some delicious food, an amazing cake and some truly touching
speeches from Alex’s mum (or mom as she prefers to say..?!,) dad and her best
friend Jaz. Perhaps of MOST importance was the fact that the DJ played PLENTY
of One Direction, which certainly kept Hannah and Alex happy for the entire
night! When we arrived at 7.30 (the time it was due to start,) there were very
few people and I worried that Alex would be disappointed if people didn’t show
up as I saw how much effort she and her parents had put in. However by 9pm, the
place was completely full of people and Alex was genuinely moved and
overwhelmed that all these people had turned out and made the effort to
celebrate her birthday – It was lovely to see her so happy J
Dressed & Ready!
Charles & Anya
Saloni, AK & I
With Charles, Alex, Hannah & Ceri
BIRTHDAY GIRL!
Cake!
The rest of my time was split between Cardiff and home,
seeing friends and having a good time. On perhaps the one sunny day of my
period there, Rachel, Beth and I drove down to Tenby, a little seaside town in
West Wales for the day. It was freezing cold but beautifully picturesque and we
had plenty to catch-up on. One evening I went out with some of my work
colleagues to celebrate Laura’s birthday and the night before flying back to
Valencia, I went out with Rachel and Beth – Good times all around!
Sunny Tenby!
Kelly & I
Rach & I
Beth, Rach & Laura
With Laura & Dave
Last Sunday at the airport as I waited for Anya and Alex
to arrive, I realised that if I leave Valencia at the end of June (I haven’t
decided yet when I’m going to leave,) I had just over 11 weeks left. It feels
like I’ve only just arrived and I know 11 weeks will pass by so quickly. I am
speaking lots more Spanish than I did French in Chambéry, which is always good
but I really would like to travel, north to Barcelona and Madrid, south to
Sevilla, Cordoba or Granada for example. Despite this, Valencia is huge and I
feel there is SO much more I need to do and see here before I can even think
about going off to other parts of Spain – there is just not enough time in life
right now!! We’ll see what happens on that front, anyway...
The Monday back was some sort of back holiday and there
was a huge food and wine festival at Turia, the gardens in the old riverbed.
The sun was shining, the wine was flowing and it was good to be back in Valencia!
Heather & I
Hannah & Wine
Some of the many stalls
Sam J celebrated his 21st birthday this week
and naturally, there were celebrations. Wednesday evening, Sam, Anya, Heather,
Hannah, Alex and I had dinner in a beautiful Japanese Tepanyaki restaurant. For
a set price, we picked what we wanted from the menu and it was then freshly
prepared and cooked to order, and we could order as much as we wanted –
delicious! That evening we had drinks at Han’s/Heath’s before a night out at
Rumbo, one of the smaller clubs in Valencia but I like it as it’s impossible to
really lose anyone! Chris had been home earlier this week and so when he was
back on Friday evening, along with Heather’s brother and his friends visiting,
it seemed like a good enough reason to celebrate again and so we did by going
to Mya, a huge nightclub which is situated at the City of Arts & Sciences –
such a cool location but a bit annoying to get to!
Alex & I
Stefan & I
Anya & I
With Alex, Han & Anya
Alex, Stefan & Hannah
Amy & Alex
Now that April has arrived, the temperature has both
soared and maintained its level compared to February and March and I have seen
low 30s a few times on the temperature/advert signs which I can see from my window.
As a result, some Spaniards are now wearing shorts and if they are, I will too!
Even more exciting, yesterday we had our first afternoon at the beach, which
was surprisingly busy seeing as some people are still rather wrapped up (Hannah
saw a lady in a fur coat a few days ago...) The temperature was just right for
my liking. Alex and I even ventured into the sea, albeit briefly as it was
awfully cold but refreshing at the same time – The sun still needs to work a
little harder to warm it up, evidently!
Beach!
Tanning
Anya enjoying the sun
Makeshift volleyball court
Hannah and Alex also have rooftop terraces which we used
for a few hours on Thursday and so on the days when it seems like too much
effort to go to the beach/you want to tan without getting sand everywhere, this
will be an obvious option!
Next week will no doubt be filled with more beach-time
activities as the warmth looks likely to stay. The other night it was 21
degrees when I returned from a night out, crazy! Otherwise, I’m hoping to plan
a little trip somewhere on the weekend with my Spanish tandem Rebeca to try and
make the most of the cultural aspects here – There’s only so much lying on a
beach I can do before I get bored.
Here comes the tan :)!
Hasta
Luego
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