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Riding the bus along the coast from Valencia to Alicante reminded me of the Baja peninsula near Cabo. Rocky terrain with little white washed beach homes set along the hills and the bright blue sea alongside it all.
We pulled into the train station and my dear friend Robbie used his Lets Go! book to navigate us to a recommended doner kebap place. The last one recommended in his book was the amazing Bocadilla Buraka in Granada. However, one hugely disappointing falafel later left me not wanting to change into my swimsuit. But I did! The beach was so beautiful, how could I not? We laid out until it started to get cold, and headed back to our hotel.
That night, Ben and I had a dinner just the two of us at this nice place overlooking the ocean. We met up later with Chelsea, Caitlin, Caris, Robbie and Benjamin. We quickly ran in to a jolly group of chaps from England who were out for their friends bachelor party. Benjamin made a comment that it was more difficult to understand the drunk Brits than it was to understand Spaniards. Chelsea, Caris and I were exhausted and headed home while the other three went for a drink with the crazy bachelors.
The next day, we were met with cloud cover, so we decided to take a trip up to the Castilla Santa Barbara before we headed to the airport to catch our plane home to Madrid. This impressive fortress situated on top of a rocky hill is accessible by elevator or via winding hiking paths. Due to lack of time, we took the lift. While there are few interior rooms, there were incredible views from various outlooks all over the grounds. (see photos) Once occupied by Muslims during the height of their reign in Spain, this castilla was taken by Alfonso X, but later abandoned. It was restored during the 18th century, I believe. Ben and I had fun translating the information brochure from French and Spanish (respectively) while Chelsea corrected us with the English copy. :)
Our quick one hour Ryan Air flight home left us just enough time for a shower and a tour of the Reina Sofia modern art museum. So far, it is my favorite. While I love Las Meninas and all the Goya at the Prado, nothing beats Picasso's famous Guernica (a abstract depiction of the Spanish Civil War in the Basque Country), a boat load of Dalí and other surrealist and modern artists.
As per Ben, the meatetarian's request, we went to Maoz vegetarian falafel for our last meal and headed home for a good night's sleep before the big goodbye.
The next morning, I could barely hold back my tears on the metro ride to the airport. After they checked into their flight, Chelsea's waterworks started and I broke down in her arms. We sobbed. I turned to Ben and he grabbed me and held me tight. I didn't want to ever let go. But they would have missed their flight otherwise. Several hugs and kisses later, I was crying my way back to the metro. I got home, crawled into bed and didn't get out until Monday morning for class. Pathetic? I know.
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