Things in the Sky

Parts:

1. Introduction/BOS-CDG
2. CDG-BCN and First Day in Barcelona
3. Figueres and Girona (and Some Barcelona)
4. Barcelona
5. Montserrat and Valencia
6. Valencia and Madrid
7. Madrid
8. Segovia, El Escorial, and Madrid
9. MAD-CDG and CDG-BOS

I awoke in my Barcelona hotel room for the last time, sadly. I was excited to go to a new place, of course, but this meant we were almost half done with our trip, which was well…disappointing. So, we all head breakfast at the hotel and then hopped on the bus.

The bus ride to Montserrat took about only an hour, and was actually pretty interesting as we got closer because the terrain became more and more mountainous.

Cool wind farm.

Finally, we arrived, and we first toured the church (there is a Benedictine monastery as well), and then it was time to explore. I found some of the views to just be absolutely breathtaking.

Yours truly.

Then, it was time to leave for the bus ride to Valencia, which would take a few hours. To pass the time, the was a game of Battle of the Sexes. I helped lead to men to victory as I knew that HRT stood for hormone replacement therapy and that Chanel No. 5 was the famous fragrance, though I’m not entirely sure if this is  something to be proud of. We stopped at a rest stop along the way to get some food, and many of us obtained superballs (more on this in the next installment).

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, the Petit Palace Germanias. During our stays in Barcelona and Madrid, I shared a double with my friend Matt, but in Valencia I was in a quad with my friends Jay, Ryan, and Trevor. Getting up the rooms took awhile for everyone since the elevator was tiny, but it wasn’t a big deal. When I arrived in our room, I was very impressed. Heck, we even had two balconies! My only complaint was the bathroom – which had a door that didn’t lock, which would potentially lead to some…er…awkward situations.

After getting settled in the hotel some of us walked around and I purchased a couple of souvenirs.

The bullring.

After that it was time for dinner, which was great. If I recall correctly, my Spanish teacher lived with a family in Spain during her college years, and one of her friends now owns a restaurant. We had the restaurant to ourselves that night and the family made us some absolutely delicious paella. So, if you’re ever in Valencia, I would highly recommend La Tortuga Boba.

Mmmmm.

After that, it was back to the hotel (via Train) for our one-night stay in Valencia.