Hola everyone! Glad to hear all the comments and motivation. It is nice knowing that people are listening. :) My apologies for not writing for the past few days, our days are usually jam packed, and when we are home we are exhausted. Thursday and Saturday were holidays here in Valencia, so we were unable to continue our apartment shopping then. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were spent walking miles and miles within Valencia looking at a variety of different styles and types of apartments. By Friday we had narrowed our decision down to 2 apartments.

Apartment #1 is located in Rassafa, a region that is extremely close to the center of the city. It is at the beginning of a shopping strip, high end stores and restaurants. The apartment is very nice and up to date. It has two cons- it has little character, no spanish touch, and it is about 15-20 minutes walking from the "river." The River is a large park that wraps around the city. It is perfect for Vinny and I to run in. Althrough 15-20 minutes seems like no big deal, with a dog who is easily distracted it can be a nightmare. The streets are always packed so it might make it difficult in the afternoon and evenings to take him out.

Apartment #2 is located in the center of the city right next to the cathedral and the Virgin Plaza. It is less than 5 minutes from the park, has a ton of character and beauty to it. Its cons though include its location and price. Every year between March 12 and March 19 (yes my birthday), 3-4 million people crowd the streets for Las Fallas. Las Fallas is a festival within Valencia where each major intersection or plaza gets a 5-story paper/wood "Ninots", which are large figurines. On the last day all but one ninots are burned. When that week comes I will blog more details, but for now lets get back to the subject. During this week, the 2nd apartment is virtually unliveable for 7 days. The celebrations on the street below us are non-stop, 24 hours a day for the entire 7 days. The street is completely crowded, to the point that walking is not an option, you just stand. We would either be confined to our apartment for a week or we would need to go to a hotel or another city. The other problem is that the plaza's that we are next to are major tourists attractions, so any time a festival of any kind occurs, and during the entire summer, our street will be packed with people. Wee hours of the morning will be jammed with tourists and drunk people at 4 in the morning. The final con is that it is about 100 Euros more expensive. Not a huge ordeal, but in a year that could be a trip back to see the family.

Hector and I love both places, but I find the Apartment #1 to be better for us in the future. The apartment #2 would be ok for a few months, but I am sure we would be annoyed with the tourism soon thereafter. Hector's favorite is the authentic, center of the craziness, close to the park apartment (#2). My favorite is the quieter, farther away from the park apartment (#1). We will hopefully make a decision within the next day or two.