Valencia, Spain - December 8

We left Barcelona early on Monday, December 8 and rode a bus to Valencia, which is about four hours away. We planned on having just one day in Valencia. Unfortunately, as soon as we arrived in Valencia it started pouring rain. We trudged through it from the bus station to our hostel. We tried to use our umbrellas and ponchos, but they were not very effective. Needless to say, by the time we got to our hostel we were soaked! Rain is a funny thing. When we were living in the States I never really noticed what a problem it is. Since I had a car in the States it was just a matter of running from the entrance of a building to my car and back. Other than those few moments you stay dry. Well, when you are budget travelling rain becomes much more of a problem. You have no car in which to seek shelter and get you from place to place. To go anywhere you have to be walking around in it, standing in it while looking at maps trying to figure out where you are, or trying to avoid having cars spray you with it as they pass you on the street. So, in the hostel we bravely made a plan for seeing some sights. The first stop was going to be a grocery store for some food. We walked for what seemed like hours. My shoes were soaked all the way through and my sopping wet socks were making my feet go numb. We passed dozens of stores, but none of them were open because it was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Tired and hungry we finally decided to splurge and go to McDonald's. Fourteen dollars later we decided that Mother Nature and the national holidays had conspired against us, so we gave up the ambitious sightseeing plans and decided that calling home, going to an Internet cafe, and watching a movie on our iPod was going to be all that was realistic to do. The bottom line is that we are going to need to back to Valencia some day and do it justice. Here are the only three pictures that I took when the rain let up enough for me to not be worried about ruining my camera.