~ ANNE! ~

Valencia!

I�m so glad I decided to stop here.

I arrived yesterday - Shannon and Jen didn�t get here until today, but I decided to come down a day early and check it out. I spent the day in Barcelona with Frank, who can�t help being American (hi Frank!) Frank was one of my roommates at the Seapoint hostel. We took the metro up to Parc Gruel, which is the park/living space designed and partially constructed by Gaudi. It was wonderful and I was very impressed, and a full and fawning description will follow when I have more time (and am not on the free computer at the cafe).

Then we lay on the beach for a bit and headed for the train station. I was sort of vaguely planning to catch the 4 pm train, but Frank pointed out that the bus might be cheaper (he was headed for Granada on an all-night bus). We thought maybe we could travel together since we were going the same direction. Turned out we couldn�t take the same bus, so he caught the 5 pm train to Valencia with me with the intention of catching the bus from there.

The train ride was lovely, right along the coast with ocean on one side and barren hills on the other. And Valencia was beautiful right from the start. A much smaller and less touristy town than Barcelona, with a relaxed feel and a million plazas with fountains in them. I felt happy here immediately. (Frank also introduced me to sangria, which helped matters as well!) Of course Frank couldn�t resist it either, and ended up staying the night. This town has that effect.

Jen and Shannon have arrived, and we have an amazing three-bed room with our own balcony. We�ve decided to stay one more day here, because everyone likes it so much. Spain is great! So nice to be far away from home and (more or less) far from all the day-to-day worries. If everything doesn�t sort itself out, at least I will have had this week in the sun.