¡¡Sagunto!!

Alright! So yesterday, Saturday, 11 Feb., I went on an excursion with the Happy Erasmus agency to a place called Sagunto.  It is a town about 25 km away from Valencia with an old fortress on a hill above the city.  It was really nice getting out of the city for a while to be able to see that there is still some nature around me! I got to see mountains again. As an Idaho girl, that made me very excited. We took a private bus there and started our journey with a lady as our tour guide.  When you are going through museums and places it can be nice to have a tour guide.  They give you lots of information and are extremely useful, but can also be extremely dull, especially when you are in the back of the huge group you are in and can't hear half of the things she is saying anyway.  So the first half of the trip was kind of dragging on.  Once we walked up to the fortress, there was a large amphitheater  where there were some people practicing for a play.  It was interesting to watch them and their mediocre acting. I met some Americans from North Carolina, the same ones plus a few from the other day when I went to sign up for the trip at the Happy Erasmus Office, and some students from Canada as well.  We met 2 German girls, Clara and Caroline, that we got to know as well!  One of the guys from Canada came up and talked to me and we explored the fortress together.  I found out he actually was from Morocco originally, but had moved to Canada a few years back to study.  Now he is in Valencia for a year and will go back to finish school in Canada.  Interesting because we hung out for quite a while and we got along really well, then he told me his girlfriend was here and he should probably find her... well duh! Wow I felt bad for his girlfriend! hahaha whatever. A new friend indeed!
I bought some souvenirs at a little shop that Mom would have loved!! After that, we went and hung out at a cafe waiting for the time to pass until we got on the bus back to Valencia.  We had some tapas and I had a chocolate cake thing that was DIVINE.  I said Spain doesn't do dessert, but this cake made up for it. My gosh, had it not been so rich I would have eaten a whole cake and not just a tiny little piece!! It was still warm and gooey with chocolate in the middle...My mouth is watering just thinking about it again!
We got back on the bus after waiting for forever outside for them to pick us up, and Natacha, Josh, and I tried to get the people on the back of the bus with us to sing songs the whole way back.  :) It was quite the success with some girls! The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Mika, you name it, we probably sang it!
I went back to my dorm and slept some, I was tired, and then went back to my flat and slept!
Today I slept through church again.... :( I feel bad because I really want to go but I get so tired from all the activities I do before so then I am way too tired on weekends! Next week I'll break the cycle though for sure.  I did wake up around 1.... and met up around 3 with Natacha, the German girls, and their Spanish friend Gabriel.  We walked around the towers next to my house and then went and hung out at a little cafe near the mercado central.  Josh was then at the towers so Gabriel came with me to find him since he obviously knows his way around this city.  We found Josh, walked back to the cafe, and then decided to head to the Museo de Bellas Artes.  It's free and there were TONS of beautiful paintings!!! Cortney would have loved going with us!! The others weren't very into the art, but Natacha and I loved it.  I like that no matter where painters are from, many of them paint the same things or paint things revolving around the same theme.  There is a section where you go outside in a little courtyard that is so amazing.  The courtyard is beautiful!
We then walked to a cafe a ways away to watch the Valencia soccer game. (Valencia won 4-0)  We ate some patatas bravas which I absolutely love!! I decided they are kind of Valencia's equivalent to french fries with fry sauce, but the mayonnaise is garlicy and it's not ketchup but a tangy, spicy kind of sauce they put on top of the cut potatoes.  In a sense they are the classy fries of Spain! haha.  I love them.
After the game, I walked home and decided tonight would be my movie night! I only brought a few movies with me, so I have to decide when to watch them wisely so I don't have to watch them all too many times repeatedly. Until tomorrow! :) Luego!