Day 4: Seeing the Sea
A big part of how we chose Valencia from all the amazing places in Spain (seriously, everyone here feels like where they live is THE BEST) was its place along the Mediterranean Sea. “On the water” was one of the three major requirements for us and was my number one. I wanted to live within a mile (1.6 km) of the water so that, like in Evanston, I could easily make it to and from the beach on a run. It’s all about *seeing* the water, not so much being *in* the water — I don’t think I’ve touched the water of Lake Michigan in years, possibly decades.
The Hobbit House isn’t on or particularly near the water. I chose it because it was available, affordable, and would let us bring Mitzie. I also figured that starting out somewhere I didn’t think we’d want to be long-term would push us to explore the rest of the city.
We did leave our neighborhood on Day 3 and, to be honest, I much prefer the neighborhood we’re in over the neighborhood (or neighborhoods? I guess we saw a few) we discovered on that adventure. The Hobbit House is in a primarily tourist-free zone (except, I suppose, from us at the moment) inhabited by families and people who have, it seems, lived here their whole lives. We’ve barely heard English (except when we get flustered and blurt it out before limping through in Español) and there’s a distinct neighborhood vibe. When we made our plan to make Day 4’s outing to be going in search of the water I wasn’t sure I’d like what we’d find.
Beach tourism is a thing in Spain, for obvious reasons. There are miles of beaches along a few coasts (east, west, and north) and the weather in the summer seems to be just about perfect, whichever direction you choose. Let’s just say I was a bit worried.
To continue our exploration of non-car options we signed up for Valenbisi — a bike rental service like Divvy. We paid for a year’s worth of access (29,10€ each), strapped on our shiny new helmets, and headed over to the nearest docking station. It only took a couple of tries to release 2 bikes, and a few minutes of adjusting the seats to reasonable heights, and we were off.
Biking is different here. The entire city is connected via dedicated bike lanes, set away from both the cars and the pedestrians. All the lanes seem to be 2-way experiences and the locals have passing and such down to a science. The app thought we’d make it from point A to point B in 21 minutes, well under the “first 30 minutes free” threshold from Valenbisi. The app did not take into account how lost we’d be nor how slow I’d be.
51 minutes (countless map checks, and one seat readjustment) later, we made it to the docking station at Playa de Malvarrosa (sometimes written Playa de Malvar-Rosa or Malva-Rosa).
It was breathtaking.
https://youtube.com/shorts/mpbSiOlfM9c?feature=share
We sat on a low wall for a while, drinking water from the huge bottles we bought from a man selling both water and delicious-smelling roasted corn (we were too hot to want to taste the corn but I have faith we’ll make it back again), and just looking at everything. The beach there is deep and there were a lot of people enjoying all it had to offer. Some were strolling, others were playing beach volleyball, some were sunbathing, and others were frolicking in the water. The breeze was strong and the temperature was warm without being sweltering. The scent of the sea (mingled with the corn from the vendor) was delicious (and nothing like the smell of Lake Michigan).
We eventually took off our shoes and made our way down to the water. The closer we got to it the denser the population of beach-goers. There were people of all ages lounging around us. I saw just about every variety of bathing suit on just about every age and body shape. I noticed a few topless sunbathers and they were scattered among the others with no fanfare. It seemed like everyone was just doing their thing without influence or concern for the choices others had made. Perfection.
We’d been told it was warm and Bill very much wanted to put his feet in. I’m not sure what sort of magic was at play but, despite my long-standing “that’s where fish live” aversion to being in natural bodies of water, I put mine in, too.
It was amazing.
https://youtube.com/shorts/jv2e5IbKc0g?feature=share
The water was really warm, like warm bath temperature warm. It felt so good to feel it rush over me while the sand shifted beneath me. I’m not sure I’ll get back to the frolicking in the water stage of my youth but I’m pretty sure if any body of water can lure me in it will be this one.
When we left the beach we strolled to what will, we hope, be our longer-term home here in Valencia. While the beach itself was clearly full of both tourists and locals, the neighborhood just west of the beach was distinctly local. Regular buildings with regular people walking their regular dogs, stores that catered to the folks who lived in the neighborhood not the tourists visiting, bars and restaurants with patrons spilling out of them with a degree of comfort that comes from being from somewhere. My concerns were soothed — this was a place we could settle into, and we’d be no more than 3 blocks from the water.
We navigated another bus-mask kerfuffle (I thought we’d be biking home) and got on another bus to head back to the Hobbit House. We’d had the perfect Spanish day so far: Breakfast at home, coffee out, a siesta nap, light snack at home, bike to the beach. We decided to finish what we’d started by going out for Tapas at a local bar (down the street from Dream Coffee). I had my first, heavily masked, taste of fresh fish (Ensaladilla Rusa — sort of a hybrid potato/egg salad with tuna and olives). We fumbled through ordering in Español (cerveza de barril = beer on tap). We navigated paying without seeing a check (veintitres, tarjeta, muchas gracias).
Home, shower, bed. And we’ll have new adventures today knowing the Mediterranean Sea is only a bike ride (or bus trip) away.
