Where in the world are D2? Pt 3: Valencia

originally posted May 13/11
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WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 3: VALENCIA

THANKS FRIENDS
Jos and I just want to say thanks to all of you who messaged us about
the earthquake in Lorca, Spain. Your two D buddies are alive and
well - except for the sore feet from walking and probable weight gain
from eating and drinking every day! haha! Lorca is south of where we
are and we actually didn't know about this until we received the msgs
from you. We watched a bit of coverage. It's pretty sad to see the
destruction and all the people in the evacuation centres. On to the
adventures...

DRINKS AT THE HOTEL BAR
Last night, Jos and I had a drink at the hotel bar - which was not
surprisingly expensive. Under U.S. drinks/cocktails, they had Canadian
Club listed. Don't they know we are two different countries? Oh well.
Jos had her usual dirty martini and it was quite entertaining seeing
her try to explain to the waitress in English. It's funnier if you ask
her for the story, so I won't put it in here. There was another moment
when the waitress delivered snacks for us to eat with the drinks,
which included Pocky. How Spanish! kekeke

BREKKIE...SO YUMMY

We decided to get some breakfast the next morning. When we were
leaving , there were a commotion, as Barcelona FC was arriving soon.
They had had barriers and people were waiting outside. We searched for
breakfast near the hotel and found a small place to eat. The waitress
was like a mom and so friendly. We had something like torta (omelette
with onions) with a tuna, tomato and pepper tapas. We had to go back
to the hotel to check emails, etc and the crowd was bigger and we had
to show our Westin cards to get in. Too bad we weren't stickin' around
to see the team, but we had things we wanted to do.

CIUDAD DE LAS ARTES Y LAS CIENCIAS

Jos and I visited the City of Arts & Sciences, which include the
Oceanografic (aquarium), Museu de las Ciencas (science museum),
Hemisferic (the Hemisphere - theatre), Palau des les Arts, Agora (for
big functions, like Tennis final). The architecture alone is
beautiful. We bought tickets to see both Oceanografic and the Museu
de las Ciencias. We went to Oceanografic. If you can only visit one of
these places, we recommend the aquarium.

We spent a lot of time there because the creatures are so amazing. At
the same time, we saw a few things that also made us sad for the sea
creatures.
1. The beluga whale who stayed by the barrier staring out of the bars
and not moving from there. It looked so sad.
2. The two manatees who were swimming in opposite directions doing the
perimeter of the small inclosed space they were in. There really
wasn't enough room for them.
3. The penguins - remember that scene in Happy Feet where they show
the penguins in the zoo? That's what it was like except there was this
one penguin sitting under where the ice chips were falling from the
ceiling and he wasn't even moving...it was kind of eerie

Other than those three things, Jos and I really enjoyed our experience
there. There were tons of fish and sea creatures I had never seen
before. We spent 20 mins just on the first fish aquarium. There were
school groups there who were loud and pushy, so we tried to avoid
them. It felt like we were playing Where's Waldo, trying to identify
different fish.

Jos forgot her extra battery and the one she was using ran out so we
went back to get it and quickly charge the dead one. We got bracelets
on our way out so that we could come back. We watched the dolphin show
but I would say my favourite part would be walking through the tunnel
of sharks and other sea life.I think most people would find that the
highlight.

HOW MARVEL-OUS

The Museum of Science was a really interesting interactive museum.
There were lots of hands-on science tests and activities. I would have
to say the highlight of this attraction is the Marvel exhibit! They
used the superheroes powers to explain science in a creative way. They
had blown up comic issue covers and panels, as well as art works.
There were Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and Storm
statues.

DINNNEERR

After that, we walked around the rest of the City of Arts & Sciences.
We headed back to the hotel and then we went for dinner at Raco de la
Turia. This was our high end dinner. Our host/waiter was very friendly
and spoke some English. We had him choose our appetizers. Jos and I do
that a lot - we like surprises. We had grilled squid, the steamed
mussels, fideua (seafood noodle paella) and for dessert, pumpkin creme
caramel. YUMMY!!! We were so full afterwards. We walked around and
headed back home.