Valencia; Friday, 18 January, 2019

Having had a work function the previous evening, and a late night dash down to the airport, I woke up just before 5am not particularly refreshed, but at least at an airport hotel so I was able to quickly shower, dress and head down to checkin.

A smooth journey through the airport was replicated through to the flight and over to Valencia, with the plane landing half an hour early. With my bags coming round almost straight away when I got to the baggage belt, I was already leaving the airport before the original scheduled arrival time of the flight.

I’d picked up a Valencia card at the tourist information centre in the airport so I was able to hop straight onto the Metro which promptly left and whisked me to the city, it wasn’t even midday by the time I got to the hotel, so they didn’t have a room available, but they were able to hold my bags so I could then head on into town.

I wandered up through the old town to the Plaça de a Reina where I arrived just in time to catch the open-top tour bus of the city, about to head off on a tour round the historic parts of Valencia. I did the full tour back round to the square and by then it was time to head back t the hotel and checkin.

Checked in and refreshed I had a bit more of a wander around the old town before heading back to the tour bus stop in time to take their other route – round Maritime Valencia. I did the full tour back to the city centre, by which time the sun was already setting and the bus was preparing to head out one final time as the night tour of Maritime Valencia, so as I’d managed t grab the front seat I stayed on a did the tour, taking in Eastern Valencia and the harbour at night.

Back in the city centre I was starting to feel the effects of not having had much to eat since breakfast many hours earlier. I was a little concerned that as this was Spain 8pm might have meant a couple more hours of hunger, but it appeared that a lot of the restaurants were already open and serving.

I found a very nice restaurant near the main square and had one of the best paella’s I’ve ever eaten.

Fully sated, I headed back through the old town to my hotel and a well earned sleep.