Arriving at our Valencia hostel at 6am, and after some conufsion with dates after an email they failed to receive from us, we lucked out on getting into a room and getting a few hours sleep to make up for the lack thereof on the train.

Once we rose again we checked out the large central market and the area around Plaza de Ayuntamiento while also trynig to sort out our next lot of train travel, which proved to be a bit of work. We later took another walk toward Plaza de la Reina and ate dinner at 100 Montaditos, a casual restaurant which has 100 different tapas you can order from.

The following day we went to another market/cafe area in the apparently artsy Ruzafa district before walking along the toward Elle's uncles old neighbourhood where we eventually managed to spot their former apartment building. This end of town also has one of Valencia's more recognisable buldings, Valencia's Opera House. Continuing one of our more epic walking sessions we also went back to the city via Mestalla, home of Valencia CF and Jardines del Real (gardens). We finished the day at the cathedral which had a couple of highlights, one being the dead, shrivelled up 500 year old arm of San Vincente Martir (yes, his actual forearm and hand are on display in a case) and the bell tower, which while you had to pay to go up there, was worth it for the panoramic views of the city. That evening we opted to stay in, and Barry even cooked, a rarity thus far.

Day three we headed toward the beach, first checking out another market, one of the many recommendations we heeded from Elle's uncle. It very much had a local feel to it as we were far removed from the centre of town, and the pastry treats we sampled were great. Unfortunately it wasn't very beachy weather but we had a look at it regardless, then took a tram and train further out of town to sample some of Valencia's more reputable horchata.
That night we found ourselves a feed of Valencian paella which was huge and tasted OK without being great.

The next morning we used the powers of the web to tune in to the Geelong vs Collingwood preliminary final before it was back on the train yet again, to Barcelona.