Yes, that headline was written in my head as soon as we decided to include Valencia on the itinerary. Now that it's out of my system, let's get to Valencia.
The drive there from Albarracin was pretty easy. We were able to park right by the VRBO apartment we rented. Instead of staying in center city Valencia, we were less than a half mile walk to Playa del Cabanyal, y'all!
It's definitely a neat neighborhood (also called Cabanyal) that's a mix of working class and gentrifying properties. Since Cabanyal beach is very close, there are good restaurants, a great market, and easy access to public transit.
We met our three night landlords right away. Emilio and Jose live just down the block and came to let us in and show us around the apartment. As sparsely outfitted as the Villalba de la Sierra VRBO was, the Valencia VRBO had everything and more. Not only was it well stocked with paper goods, it had air conditioners in the bedroom and the living room/dining room. And, in letting us into the apartment, Emilio lugged our heavy bag upstairs, in spite of my half-hearted protests!
Emilio and Jose also provided the best host welcome gifts we've ever received at a VRBO! A bottle of Valencian wine would have been thoughtful enough, but they also gave us a large platter of cheese, two beers, a large bottle of Agua con Gas, a large bottle of Agua sin Gas, and a large bottle of Coke Zero (making Carol especially happy).
The entrance is essentially a steep flight of stairs up one level to the whole apartment. And then there is a ladder-esque set of steeper stairs up to the outdoor terrace on top of the building. Jose is a gardener by trade, so the terrace has stunning plants on it. I lost count around 40 or so -- making it absolutely beautiful up top. The last night there we hung out on the terrace, enjoying a bottle of Valencian wine, the last of the cheese, and some tasty strawberries and grapes we bought at the local Cabanyal market.
Btw, Jose and Emilio also provided thank you gifts as well! While we were up on the terrace that last afternoon, Jose dropped off two large single servings of ice cream, some pastries, a Horchata (the local Valencian milk shake), and a lemonade-style lemon drink (there's a name for it, but I forget).
If you are going to Valencia, definitely think about renting that same apartment -- the link is above in the second paragraph.
Back to the narrative. After getting everything upstairs to the apartment, I went back to the illegally parked car and drove to Avis at the Joaquin Sorolla train station to drop off the car. Joking with the man checking me back in, I told him he could tell his fellow employees in Toledo that this American can drive a stick shift (they had expressed concern that I couldn't handle a stick). He laughed.
While I was doing that (and cabbing back), Carol was grocery shopping for breakfasts and a few other essentials.
Then we walked over to the beach, along the beach, and to the port. We found a beach bar and enjoyed the view of the sailboats.
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