#26 - Driving South for Two Weeks in Valencia

After a fantastic week in Wassenaar, we picked up the rental car at the Schipol airport and packed up all of our suitcases before heading south to Spain.  On the 3-day drive down, we stopped for a Versailles gardens afternoon, overnighted in France, drove through the mountains and valleys of Andorra, spent an afternoon at the beach and walking streets of Barcelona, and finally arrived in Valencia where we have been for the last two weeks.

(Click below right to read more . . . )

Highlights:
 

1. Successfully fitting all the luggage in the car
2. Afternoon in the Gardens of Versailles
3. Driving through Andorra
4. Scratching our heads at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
5. Downtime and Study time and Family time in Valencia
6. Valencia River Gardens and Parks
7. Valencia Aquarium – Oceanographic
8. Classical Music Concerts
9. Summer beach time

 
Lowlights:

1. Missing baptisms at the Paris Temple
2. Parking in Handicapped Parking and a $300 towing fee

Highlights:

1. Successfully fitting all the luggage in the car: After travelling in Central America with a rooftop luggage bag, we decided to bring the same bag along with us to Europe, knowing the cars in Europe are so much smaller than the US from a luggage perspective.  And it’s a good thing we did . . . since we filled the car AND the roof bag. We’re still cramped inside, and we’re not nearly as packed as we were while driving to Central America, but we happily fit everything in as we set out on our two-month Western European road trip.
2. Afternoon in the Gardens of Versailles: I had wonderful memories of visiting the Palace at Versailles in high school; the gardens and expansive lakes with rowboats, and bike rentals and beautiful walks and vistas.  I wanted the kids to have the same garden memories (we had been to Versailles twice with the kids during the winter and none of those summer activities were available) and luckily, it was a beautiful day when we drove through Paris, so we stopped for a few hours to go to the gardens.  We stuck to the public area so we wouldn’t have to pay,  rented a few bikes, rowed out on the lake, and enjoyed some ice cream cones that may or may not have been part of a attitude-check bribe.  A lovely afternoon.
3. Driving through Andorra: We went slightly out of our way, up and over the mountains, in order to drive through Andorra on our way to Spain.  I didn’t realize that it was not much more than a single high valley city in the Pyrenees, with multiple small village ski resorts scattered nearby.  It reminded me a lot of Park City, Utah. For a family who basically ran away from winter this year, the kids really enjoyed the late-May snow that was still on the ground.
4. Scratching our heads at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona: The most famous building in Barcelona is also its most . . . . Unique?  Awful?  Ground-breaking? Ugly?  The Gaudi-designed cathedral is all of these things, in my humble opinion.  We didn’t take the time to go inside, finding enough to overwhelm on the outside.    
5. Downtime and Study time and Family time in Valencia: We pulled into to our Airbnb apartment in Valencia, and breathed a sigh of relief as we unpacked our suitcases.  We would be here for two full weeks, with little on the agenda.  We revamped our family's daily study schedule from Panajachel and started back into our Spanish study, online schooling, art, math, PE, history, poetry, writing, music and research-filled school days.  The kids teamed up and each claimed 2 days a week to handle preparing and cooking all meals and grocery shopping. Best of all, we re-instituted our Family Morning Circle time with daily presentations of sharing projects and other learnings. We had a lot of free evenings to watch movies and documentaries and take walks on the beach.  It was a very relaxing and productive time. 
6. Valencia River Gardens and Parks: Valencia had a massive flood back in the 1950’s and they decided to re-route the river to the other side of the city.  This re-route left them with a unused riverbed which they turned into a delightful city park full of green space and bike paths and museums and concert halls with incredible modern architecture.  It was a beautiful place to bike and walk around.
7. Valencia Aquarium – Oceanographic: The aquarium was top-notch, and as a bonus there was a bottle-nose dolphin show with very impressive and entertaining jumping dolphins in time to the music.  I hadn’t seen a dolphin show in years, and it was every bit as magical as I remember.
8. Classical Music Concerts: We attended two concerts, one symphony and one opera.  I love listening to live classical music and the symphony conductor was an incredible show just by himself.  We got tickets behind the orchestra so we had a full view of the conductor for the entire performance, and it was a real treat.
9. Summer beach time: We were a 10-minute walk from the beach and the beach in Valencia is a beautiful, very well-maintained city beach with fine golden sand and a broad and lively boardwalk. It was great for a morning or evening walk or for playing in the sand and the water.  We also spent an evening playing beach volleyball with the free city-provided gear.

 
Lowlights:

1. Missing baptisms at the Paris Temple: We had hoped to leave the Netherlands in time to make it to the Paris Temple by 1:00pm to do baptisms.  But with a 5-hour drive, we would have had to leave early, and we find that getting out early is a more and more undesirable proposition.  So we made it to the temple and walked around the beautiful grounds, but didn’t make it inside.
2. Parking in Handicapped Parking and a $300 towing fee: When we pulled into Valencia late in the afternoon and found our apartment, the ritual of unpacking the car began. We would need to unload the top carrier bag with our suitcases, then the back of the car with our backpacks, family duffel, food, etc.  But of course, I couldn’t park the car, or even stop the car next to the door for more than 30 seconds because it was a single lane street, not wide enough to allow another car to pass, and our unloading would take 10-15 minutes. So instead, I let everyone out and drove around the block looking for an empty space on the city streets.  Voila, I found one quite near the door and I counted my lucky stars for the easy parking spot. We unloaded and I left the car there for two days, thinking I was parked along with the other cars on the street.  Unfortunately, two days later when Tera and I went outside to go on a date . . . . . We walked to the now empty spot where the car had been, and found a sticker on the ground letting us know the car had been towed.  Only then did I look up to see the “Handicapped Parking Only” sign.  Consequently, my evening activities were redirected to finding my way to the towing lot and then taking the metro over to the police station to pay the fine, then getting myself back to the towing office to pay the towing fee, then driving back to the apartment and finding a LEGAL place to park.  Thank goodness for a friendly neighborhood tienda owner and a city with easy public transportation. But, we were out €300 to get the car back . . .  .Grrrrrrrrr.  This is one of the many "stupidity taxes" that we find ourselves paying, more often than we'd like.