Isaac's Visit

A lot has happened this week! Isaac came to visit and it was so wonderful to have him here. On his first night it was Entierro de la Sardina which is the final day of the spring festival of Murcia. We went out for tapas with some of my friends and then to see the parade. During this parade there were several floats and the people on the floats gave away hundreds of thousands of toys to the people watching. It was so much fun trying to get toys, but also a little scary. There were a few times when I had to dodge a flying soccer ball or puzzle because it was coming straight for my face. I caught a princess jewelry kit and Isaac caught a soccer ball. At the end of the parade they burn a giant statue of a Sardine to celebrate the coming of Spring and a successful Holy week. It was really cool!
The Sardine being burned. It was more like 3 sardines.

Me and Isaac during the parade. Happy to finally be with each other!

On Wednesday and Thursday Isaac and I went to Valencia. It was his birthday on Tuesday so the trip was my birthday gift to him. We got to the city on Wednesday afternoon and after checking in to the hostel we walked around the historic area of the city. We saw the Cathedral, the towers that used to form the city gates, and the art museum. We also saw part of the Turia gardens which are gardens that go through the center of the city and across its whole length. I think its a feature almost every city should have!

This fountain is in the main plaza of the historic district of Valencia. The pigeons love it.

On Thursday we checked out of the hostel and walked from there through the Turia gardens all the way across the city to the Ciudad des Artes y Ciencias (city of arts and sciences.) This is a modern park that was constructed to show the new strength of Valencia. The complex holds several unique and really cool looking buildings and they are all related to the arts and sciences in some way. My favorite building was the opera house, which looks like some sort of galactic space helmet. There is also an Imaxx movie theatre, a Science museum, and an Aquarium. We went to the science museum and the aquarium and it was all great.

The building on the left is the Science museum, and the diagonal lines in the background are part of a really cool bridge. To the left is the bus station and Umbrical, and the Blue building in the background is just a statue as far as we could tell.

We left the Ciudad des Artes y Ciencias and went to grab dinner before catching an evening bus home to Murcia.

On Friday Isaac, Lara, and I went to visit El Santuario de la Fuensanta; the white church in the mountains which I visited before. We hiked around a lot and had coffee at the little cafe by the church. Afterwards we went to a really great restaurant and got salad, fried calamari, patatas bravas, paella, dessert, drinks, and shots of Baileys for only 10 euro each. What a find! I am really learning that places like that which have set menus are a good way to save money.

Lara and Isaac in the ruins of a house in the mountain behind the church.

On Saturday Isaac and I just relaxed and walked around Murcia a bit before we got ready for him to leave this morning. I had a great week, and I feel so lucky that Isaac was able to come visit. It was a much needed taste of home and now I feel more ready to conquer this last two months before I head back to the states. Next adventure? Sitges Swing fest in a few weeks! Until then I'm going to try to focus on school and learning to cook as many Spanish recipes as I can.