Valencia - With Dave, Bats, and Boats

We're back from vacation! We had a great time and I'll post all about it, but first I want to go back to my trip to Valencia:

Thursday, May 24

After I moved to another hotel in downtown Valencia, I learned that my friend and colleague from the Detroit office was staying just a few blocks away. So that night Vincent and I had dinner together and took a walk around the city. It was his first visit to Valencia, so I tried to give him the same nickel tour that I had received only three weeks before from Rolando.

It was great to see Vincent again, to see pictures of his family and get all the news from the Detroit office. It was so nice to have the comfort of a friend while being so far from home. I wished Dave had been there to see him too.

Friday, May 25

Work really wasn't interesting, but suffice to say that everything was going according to plan and I was right on schedule. I should have known better, because as one of my French colleagues says, "If everything is under control, you aren't going fast enough". I think he got the quote from a Formula One driver.

Before I left for the weekend, no less than four different people asked me if I had their phone numbers so I could call them if we had any problems. Two guys offered me itineraries, and one spent a good hour making a careful map of everything Dave and I should visit. How nice they all are!

Unfortunately, Dave's flight was delayed and I had to wait two anxious hours at the airport before he landed. You can imagine how unhappy he was. Fortunately, the Spanish eat dinner late and we had no problem finding an open restaurant at midnight. We ate outside on a terrace, and during the course of the meal we saw fireworks in the distance.

I later learned that there is a fireworks company (or factory) in Valencia and that they're frequently testing. Every night during this trip I saw fireworks. How magical.

Saturday, May 26

Saturday morning we walked to the America's Cup port. We were pretty excited to see a good race, but it turned out that the next race wasn't for another week. So we walked around the bases looking for the racing boats and admiring the yachts in port.

Next we went to the beach just next to the port. It was a bit windy, but the beach was beautiful. We snagged an umbrella and a few lounge chairs that we were probably supposed to pay for and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. I bought slices of coconut from a guy on the beach and took a quick chilly swim but Dave stayed out of the water.

After a while we went to a beach bar for drinks (sangria) and a late lunch. We went back to the hotel, changed, and found our way to the old part of town, which was the original Valencia from many years ago. In old Valencia the streets are narrower and the neighborhoods more quaint than the bustling, modern part of the city. We walked past an ancient cathedral (I've forgotten the age) and noticed the many bats flying around its steeple.

Valencia's mascot is the bat, and upon closer inspection I saw them everywhere:

Sunday, May 27

Based on the recommendation of my Valencian colleagues, we decided to drive south of the city to a freshwater (the Spanish call it "sweet water"- like the opposite of "salt water") lake. I guess it's supposed to be very beautiful, surrounded by rice fields and quite romantic, but for us it was windy and the water choppy. So we drove a bit further to another beach on the ocean, a quieter, more private beach than the day before, and sat under a tree reading.

After a few hours we drove to the airport and had lunch together before Dave's flight back to Paris. I was ready to go home with him, but had a few more days of work to get done. I can never complain about spending a few more days in Valencia, though.

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking in Valencia and lying around the river. Some years ago there was a big river running through the center of Valencia, but in 1957 it seriously flooded and crippled the city for months. So a few years later they decided to divert the river and turn the bed into a big park with fountains, flower beds, orange trees, and foot paths. I lied on a bank of grass and watched children in a water fight and bicyclists and runners.

For dinner I met with a colleague I had met during my last visit, a French guy who was determined to prove that not all French people are unfriendly. We took a bus into the center of Valencia and had drinks at an outdoor terrace followed by a shared dinner (so Spanish) in the old town.

Monday, May 28

At work things were still going well and I finished the day with only a few loose ends to tie up the next morning.

After I left the office I found the tiny pool on the roof of the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun with a view of the sea. At eight I met up with the French guy again, Vincent (not to by confused with Vincent Louchet from the previous week), and his friend Alban, who is another French guy living in Valencia. Alban is an engineer for the American boat for the America's Cup. He said he does "all the stuff under the water". Rudder, keel, etc. I really know nothing about boats.

We went for sushi, which was fantastic, then to a local bar for a lively conversation about the differences between the French, Spanish, and Kiwis, who apparently Alban works with.

Here's a photo of Alban and an ad for "his" boat, which is sponsored by BMW (sorry it's dark). American boat, New Zealand and French team, German sponsor. I guess it's a pretty international boat.

Tuesday, May 29

Alban had invited me to visit the base on the America's Cup port for a small tour and I had every intention of going (my brother was going to be sooo jealous). However, I was hit with three big issues in rapid succession at the office and was frantically working until the last possible minute before leaving for my flight. As a result, all of my carefully laid plans for my first solo business trip to be successful were down the tubes and I was left calling my colleagues in Meru from the airport minutes before boarding to relay what still had to be done. I was furious.

Anyway, the only silver lining I can find is that hopefully my boss will see what a mess the Valencia situation is and that they'll have to send me back to fix it.