weekend adventures

Because I haven't blogged in awhile I'm struggling to decide what to talk about or where to begin.  I had a pretty busy weekend considering I was one of the few people who stayed in Valencia rather than travel elsewhere.  We had no classes on Friday, so I definitely wasn't in "school mode" for my 9 a.m economy class today.    

I received a request for a picture of my school, it isn't too exciting.  Just one building, 5 classrooms, a small auditorium, student "lounge" or cafeteria, a computer room (I can't use these computers without wanting to start hitting them because they are so old and slow & the keyboard is all confusing with the spanish keys) that is always about 90 degrees, and a "library" which is basically a room full of desks, and all of the offices for the professors.

On Friday I went to el museo de la almoina, which I already blogged about.  The rest of the day was spent pretty much at the track.  On Saturday I racked up the walking miles for a grand total of approximately 7-8, there is no place that is too far for me to walk! In the morning I went to el mercado central, which is the 8000 sq. foot indoor market that I mentioned wanting to visit.  The closest comparison that I can think of to relate to what this place looked like would be the Expo Center at State Fair- except instead of live Shazam and Swiffer infomercials it was all fresh produce, seafood, pastries, nuts, olive oil, pretty much whatever is produced in Spain.  

While we were walking around, I asked my friend Chris "where is all of the seafood?" and he said "you'll know when you're by the seafood."  Very true- the smell is so strong they keep all of the fish in a separate part of the building, plus the vendor's tables are different since it all has to be kept cold.  I have no idea how many different types of fish I saw there, but if it previously lived in the ocean it was probably in that room.  Stingrays, squid, octopus, shrimp, lobsters, crab, fish at least 2 or 3 feet long, and they were all staring back at me. 

After lunch, since I hadn't walked enough already that day, I went to el centro comercial Aqua (a mall) with two friends. It is a pretty good looking mall.  Two sides aren't enclosed so there is a constant breeze and very bright sunlight streaming in.  This is good because people insist on smoking everywhere, so at least that isn't an issue as much here. I had previously been there with my intercambio friend so I knew approximately where it was located.  I'm getting pretty good at using my map, it has many highlighted routes on it, along with other random writing from my other excursions.  Running has definitely helped me become more comfortable with this city.  If I can see the río or know which direction it is located, I'm golden.  

La puente de los flores (bridge of the flowers)
My new favorite bridge- you can't even tell there are
cars on the other side of those flowers.