The end.

I kept thinking that leaving Valencia would be easier than it was. I think once I could start counting down the days left I had on my 2 hands it really started to hit me. This is the last time I'm going to take the bus to the university. This is the last time I'll walk through this park. This is the last time I'll eat at this restaurant. This is the last time I'll walk to my apartment. Things that didn't seem like a big deal really became a big deal to me. I wanted to make sure to see and experience as much as possible. Almost just like my first week in Valencia. I wanted to remember every single little detail.
My last week in Valencia was not as eventful as I had planned. I had planned to do so many things, but I had found out while vacationing with my parents that I had not passed a class the first time I took the exam for it, so I figured I'd better take the exam again during the second exam period. I talked to my professor and he was going to let me take it at the end of the week since I would not be in Spain still for when the exam was scheduled. So for the majority of the week I spent my time slaving away and studying. I met up with Natacha a few times and we would go buy a lunch at Mercadona and then eat and study at the library. Sometimes it was nice to get out of my room. Ana and I did a few more things together. I wish we had been able to do more while I was there, but it was hard for us because she was extremely busy finishing up her law degree. Ana, Natalia and I went to a little restaurant near our flat called "El Gato" one night. It was a bit expensive, but had really nice, traditional tapas. Natacha and I finally went to the Arab/Middle Ages Valencian restaurant I had wanted to go to for forever. (Restaurante Balansiya) It was super traditional and the owner had made all of the decor and plates and music traditional from Valencia in the Middle Ages. We had received a deal online for a 12 course meal split by 2 people with drinks, tea, and dessert included, was 15 Euros. Do you understand how cheap that is??!!? Oh my gosh it was such good food. It was far away. Near my old apartment, but it was so worth it. It's kinda hidden, I think that's why not many people know about it. You name the middle eastern food, we got it. hummus, falafel, tagine, salad, pita bread, kebab, etc. so freaking good. I wish I had known about it the whole time I was in Valencia!!
Natacha and I also went to a little carnival they had in the Turia. We decided to ride the huge ferris wheel, but immediately regretted it when we got sick! I bought some cotton candy and I was so excited, but it literally MELTED before I could eat it because the weather was so humid and hot in Valencia. So sad :( we also made sure to go to Umbracle and Las Animas as well. Her friend Jose from Puerto Rico paid for us to get in! how nice! so we chilled with him and his friends.

It really was the hardest thing saying goodbye to people you saw on a daily or weekly basis. People you almost don't realize. The guy who worked at the bike shop next to my place, or the waitress at my favorite restaurant, or the guy who owned the fruit/vegetable stand I always went to, and the lady who worked at the nearest Mercadona to my apartment. I had some fond little memories about those people and it was hard thinking I wouldn't see them again. The guy at the fruit/vegetable store always remembered that I was the foreign girl and insisted on calling me "chiquita" he even gave me free produce sometimes or would just charge me a flat amount. He was a nice guy. And the bike shop guy helped me with my garbage once, which Ana said he would never do for her or Natalia. He also always had his dog hanging out in our alleyway he was so cute. I it was necessary to be sure to say goodbye to all those people.

The final for the Eurocup was on the 1 of July. We went to a bar/cafe to watch it, Silje, Karla, Jenna, Natacha, and I. It was so packed and so crazy. The people went nuts whenever they thought it was possible to cheer. Whenever Spain made a goal against Italy, the crowd went insane. I had never seen anything like it. The Superbowl doesn't even compare with how insane the fans are when it come to Futbol in Spain. And lo and behold, Spain lived up to their infamous title of being some of the best soccer players in the world, beating Italy 4-0. :) What a way to end my time in Spain, by going out and watching an epic game with the locals.

Jonas and I spent a whole day just chilling. He was leaving before I was and we ended up trying to go shopping for trinkets and gifts for family. We seriously went to just about every shop in the city center that day. We ate at Cien Montaditos since it's super cheap and the olives are divine. Then it got so hot we went to an ice cream shop he knew about and got shakes and sat next to the Xátiva metro station entrance and drank them. We then walked around for a while until all the shops were closed and then sat and talked at a little Plaza off Calle Caballeros. And I went and bought a whole jar of olives for myself from a Chinese store that was still open at 11 at night. That was the last time I saw Jonas until I was going up to see him in Denmark!

I became obsessed with two things before leaving. Green olives and horchata. Oh my gosh. I would go to Mercadona and buy a liter of horchata and drink it all within a day. I think it was mostly because I knew I wouldn't be able to get that kind of delicious stuff once I got back to the U.S. 

 I went to my favorite restaurant 2 times that week, La Rentaora. I went with Ana and her friends before I met up with Natacha to ride our Valenbicis to the Carnival and on my last night there with Ana, Natacha, Silje, and Talitha.

On my last day, I wanted to see everything. I did. I woke up early and went to eat breakfast with Ana at a little place right around the corner from our place next to the Torres de Serrano, I went shopping for any extra trinkets, and then got a ride from Ana to the university to use their internet to print out things, I then rode a bus to pick up a bus ticket for later down to Alicante once I got back from Paris, and then walked back home along the Turia. I wish I had gone down there more. It is so nice. I wish every city had one. I then decided to be touristy and climb up the micalet tower to see Valencia from above. It was amazing, and I was so glad I did it even if it was by myself in the end. I then got back to my apartment and took a short nap, only to wake up and go to the beach with my friend Silje from Norway. :) I waited for her at las Arenas and made sure to find a horchata stand. Obsessed with that stuff! I wish I had figured out my passion for it months before. When she arrived, we found a nice spot by the water but because of all the fires going on in Spain, the ocean was very dirty with lots of debris and soot. She gave me a coin from Norway so I could wear it on a necklace to remember Norway and to have a little piece of it with me all the time. I wish we could have gotten to know each other a little better before, I really liked Silje and felt like we got along really well. We'll have to meet up sometime in the future and going on a traveling adventure or something. :)

I got home and had to change to get ready to go eat at La Rentaora. We all got ready and waited for a bit under the Torres for Silje and Talitha because they were late, which was fine, we just had to get to the restaurant in time to eat dinner. I had a lot of clothes that I had to throw away because I didn't have any room in my backpack, so we grabbed them and Ana and I were going to go donate them at the homeless shelter, but it wasn't even open, so, we chose the next best option. That was to put them near a dumpster and have people raid it and take what they wanted. We ate the brie with violet jam and bread, chorizo, salad of tomatoes and mozarella, pate on bread, and a chocolate lava cake. Delicious.

I said my goodbyes to Silje and Talitha and went back to finish packing. I gave Ana a pack of the glow sticks Mom had sent me and she had never seen them before!!!! I didn't know that was possible!!! wow. So we took pictures with them and talked for a while. It was around 3 and she went to bed. It was hard saying goodbye to Ana. She was always there for me, and I saw her every day. She is such a sweet girl and has so much going for her. I hope to see her again soon. I decided it wasn't a good idea to sleep at all since I had to leave about an hour after Ana fell asleep. When the time finally came, I said goodbye to my room and my house that I'll never see again and went off to the metro station. I walked to Plaza de la Reina until I could find a Valenbisi and rode to Xativa. My last Valenbisi ride. :( I waited for the metro for a little while.and then met up with Natacha on it to go to the airport to leave for our trip to Paris.

Once we were up in the air, I looked down at the city I had called home for the past 6 months. I was almost sick to my stomach thinking about not coming back. I took a picture of the city from the air with my crappy iPod. If anyone else looked at the picture I took, they wouldn't know what they were looking at. But I can look at that photo, and tell you exactly where I lived and the places I walked past everyday. And that is what matters most to me. I want to remember that connection I have with Valencia for the rest of my life.

I'm in Barcelona!

So things are going to go a little out of order. I went to Barcelona with my parents as well. Eh. what the heck. I'll just talk about it all right now.

Barcelona. First day was a chill day. We layed around for a good portion of the morning in Montserrat on June 21 (Thursday). Then we went to go see the monastery in the mountains there. You have to drive up a windy road to get there. It was neat, there was a lot of things up there to see. It didn't seem as old as I thought it would be. Still neat. We just hung out there and waited until later on to watch the boys choir sing. So we sat there and all the monks came out and sang too. It was strange being in their big cathedral while it was all going on. I had no idea what to do. But it was neat. My dad absolutely enjoyed it. He said it was the highlight of the whole trip. We then got back to the hostel and ate dinner there. It was pretty tasty for the price it was. Pasta and sausages and such.

Next day, we woke up suuuuuper early to go into Barcelona and see all the sights. We got up and left by 6 to catch the train into town. Holy crap. So we first went to La Sagrada Familia, the huge cathedral that is the most iconic part of Barcelona. Gaudi, the guy who created the whole thing, left specific instructions for it's completion. Specific patterns for the stained glass windows and everything in there. It was amazing. Probably my favorite cathedral of any I've ever seen and been into. It's so unique. So modern and unlike anything ever created before. It has so many things modeled on nature, with lizard and frog gargoyles to the inside looking like a forest of trees as the pillars. So neat. Definitely worth the money to get into. It'll take another 20 years or so to be fully finished. After that, we went to see some of the other buildings that Gaudi created. Pretty neat, but we didn't want to pay the ridiculous price to go inside...so we walked down to the street called "las Ramblas" there are lots of little booths to buy souvenirs and one of their main markets is in the center to go get food. We then walked down to the port and ate a hot dog. I didn't feel like dealing with eating tapas. So Mom and I had one and a lemon slush while looking at the water and boats. After that we went to the Picasso museum. It doesn't have many of his really famous works there, but there are hundreds of his early work and sketches and lots of prime examples of the evolution of his art. Pretty neat. We thought we would need a lot more time in Barcelona to see everything, but we then went and ate dinner on Las Ramblas and then took a taxi back to the train station. Mom and Dad seemed amazed at the ease I had taking the train back. They were worried we weren't on the right train. Oh mother. ;) So then we got back and crashed because we had to get up for another early day.

We had to get the car back on Saturday in Valencia by 11 a.m. so we got up early and left. Got the car back in time and then took a taxi to my apartment. It was nice to be home. for a week. We didn't spend a long time hanging out though. We packed some of my stuff then headed out to shop a little before going to see the formula 1 race cars Dad was so excited to see. After trying to see the cars for Dad down by the port, we took a taxi to the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencia and explored around there for a little while. The taxi driver back to my apartment was so friendly and nice. I like being able to speak with the locals, that's where the real heart of Valencia is. Once we got back to my apartment, we went to eat. We went to Cien Montaditos and got some little sandwiches and olives. That's the only place I feel like you can get a decently huge size drink for your money's worth. We went shopping for presents after that and then did some packing. That night we went to La Rentaora to eat since it's my absolute favorite restaurant. Also, since not many people know about it, it's tucked away close to my apartment and usually you can find a table there. Ana and Natalia came later so we chatted with them for a while. We planned to go to el dia de San Juan later that night. It was a huge bonfire on the beach and at midnight you were suppose to run into the water and jump over 3 waves and make a wish. Mom and Dad had to leave early the next morning, so they opted to sleep and I went with Ana and Natalia to the beach. We were late, but got there and had some fun chatting and everything with friends. I met Natacha there so we could chill since I hadn't seen her in weeks! It took at least a half hour to get the tram to leave after though because there was so much traffic.

Awesome trip. Awesome family. Awesome friends. Awesome times. :) Definitely and unforgettable trip.