When we arrived, the station seemed completely filled with young folks (mostly tourists by the look of it, and Australians at that) armed with backpacks and other such things. We went to the tourist info place, got a map and inquired how to get to our hotel. They told us to get to the metro and travel down to a certain stop.
Well, it was a long ride and took us to the outermost zone of the metro system, well out of Valencia itself. When we got there we realised that we were in the middle of suburbia. Emma tried to call the hotel but they were extremely unhelpful, telling us that we should get a taxi. We said we would walk the 40 min to the place but they refused to give us directions down the street because they claimed it was too complex (it was really just down the one street).
We looked all flustered and all, and a lady passing by noticed and stopped to help us. She was Spanish but said how she had also travelled and knew what we were going through. She offered to call us a cab, but one passed by and she stopped it and told the driver where we needed to go. Isn´t it awesome when people are just so nice and friendly and helpful?
We got to the place and checked in. It was a hotel (three stars). Looked nice enough, moreso since we got it at hostel prices. We freshened up and then headed out to the bus stop to make our way back in town for the day. The reception gave us a bus timetable.
The timetable was anything but correct. The timetable at the stop was completely different. The bus was immensely late, and it was very hot in the afternoon. It did finally come and we caught it into Valencia. When we got off we made our way to the station area and the mall streets around it.
We looked around and saw buildings and things, and basically just wandered. We spent most of the afternoon shopping for Tomatina clothes (tops, shorts, shoes) that could be wrecked and thrown away after the day. We were mostly successful, and by the end we were tired and stopped for a frappe sort of coffee.
We then went to meet up with a friend of Dani and Emma´s, and his friends. Most of the day we had seen Aussies in yellow shirts; part of some tour program. They all seemed loud and annoying. I was a bit embarrassed to be an Australian seeing how they acted. Bins were overturned, stupid things were shouted through the afternoon air.
We met up with the friend and stopped in to a small bar, and had some pints. It was pretty nice and relaxed, although it was so damn hot. We had to catch the last bus back, so we quickly made our way to the bus stop.
Unfortunately, we didn´t quite make it there in time. Plus there was a bit of confusion as to the location of the place the bus stopped at. So, we decided to catch the metro to the place, and get off a stop earlier which was apparently closer to our place.
We got the metro and got off at the one stop. It seemed to stop in the middle of suburbia and there were no maps at the station to help people find their way out. So, we called the hotel to see if they could get a taxi for us. They were unhelpful and even condescending, mocking us that we were even attempting to try find a taxi at that hour.
So, we walked through Spanish suburbia for nearly an hour, trying to find a main street. We eventually got a taxi (somehow!) and tried to explain where we wanted to go. An hour later...
Well, he spoke no English. We spoke close to no Spanish. The address of our place was either wrong or inherently misleading, having two suburbs. We eventually made it there, back to San Antonio (apparently, that´s where we were staying). It was all a bit nightmarish, really.
Happily, I climbed into bed, needing to get up early for Tomatina the next morning.
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