The day started early. Ridiculously early. Okay not really - our train left Alicante at 10:03 but to make sure I'd wake up in time I set 25 alarms, starting at 6:30. I didn't get out of bed until 8am. It's so sad I used to be awake naturally every day at 7:30 but Spain has ruined my sleeping pattern. Anyway, I digress. Met the chicas at about quarter to 10 in the train station and took my first Spanish train journey. Spanish trains are so much nicer than UK trains! The seats are big and comfy and the leg room is ridiculous. On a UK train there'd probably be two rows of seats inside of the leg room. We got to Valencia at around 12pm and dithered about trying to find the bus but eventually after a lil bit of walking and team work we arrived at the Oceanografic.
Valencia has a collection of museums and stuff as part of the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias and all the architecture is modern and futuristics and just amazing. This is just one of the buildings and I think it's so beaut. Some people really love the old fashioned stuff like London/Madrid but I am definitely a fan of modern stuff like this. The glass panelling reminded me of The Sage in Gateshead so maybe that has something to do with it.
We went around the various buildings of the aquarium and they had all sorts, from sealions to flamingos, starfish to sharks, walruses and penguins and what I'd been waiting to see since October, Beluga whales. Honestly, finding out the Oceanografic housed belugas is the entire reason I wanted to go because they're so so cute. However upon reaching them I saw how much bigger they are to what I was expecting, and how small the tank was. I watched Blackfish multiple times last year but naively never thought that what applied to Orcas would also apply to Belugas. The Oceanografic has two belugas but you wouldn't know it - one of them was just still the entire ten minutes I watched them, squished up by the side of the tank by a window. Seeing him clearly vying for freedom was heartbreaking. The other, Kairo, seemed a lot happier at first. She would swim at the top of the tank, then come up to the glass and then swim away upside down. And then repeat it. Again and again. The first few times it just appeared like she was putting on a show for the tourists but seeing her do the same lap for ten minutes showed just how small the tank was. There's a sign next to the tank telling you they were brought to Valencia from Argentina, but they're actually from the Arctic. How is that fair? The sign also tells you not to worry about the "quiet" whale because Kairo really loves visitors!! I read this blog post about a petition to improve their quality of life. It was written back in 2012 so I don't know whether to be gutted that it's the same, or gutted that they were supposedly in worse conditions before now. I didn't want to turn this happy day trip post sad but I can't help it. Seeing them was sad.
Decided to try and lighten the mood by inserting one of my photo collages. I uploaded 27 photos to Instagram so this is just a few. After the whales and the penguins we went for lunch and then headed over to the science museum. It was super interesting and had all sorts of exhibits. My favourites were the interactive ones like the one that played 'She's Like the Wind' by Patrick Swayze over and over, and the ones about weather. Such a geek. However, by the time we traversed all of the floors we were knackered and were ready for home. We decided to get the bus back to the train station and wander around there for a while.
Upon getting kicked off the bus before the train station (still don't know why) we stumbled into a protest for Valencian independence. Standard Spain. We wandered around the city for a while but were all too knackered to talk so just sat in the train station for about two hours! We were entertained by 4 children running around and watching their parents do absolutely nothing. I feel like parenting may be a bit more relaxed over here. We got on the train at about 9pm and it was another two hour journey. That train was even nicer than the first! It had TVs playing Disney's brave and the seats were v comfy. However each carriage had maybe 10 rows max which in comparison to 30 in the UK is probably why the seats were nicer. I spent the journey almost sleeping and not talking. We were all very quiet haha that's what a 12 hour day will do to you. We got back to Alicante and ran for the last tram unnecessarily as we made it with about 3 minutes to spare. Crazy. I got home, had microwave pizza and slept in my bed which had never been more comfortable. Class day.
Much love to Torrie, Sarah, Samira, Georgia and Florence aka las chicas alicantinas, and the city of Valencia, for one of the best days of my year abroad. Definitely would go back. Let's have some more photos to round it off, eh?
Until next time, hasta luego.
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