Every stop is different, and our room off an alleyway in Cartagena was modest, but a great location in Old Town. We explored the beautifully tiled pedestrian area for one brief day

and night before we continued on to Valencia.

Valencia was breathtakingly beautiful.

Our first day in Valencia we toured the City of Arts and Sciences, a large-scale urban recreation center, with a small group that included people from Australia, Switzerland, and the USA (NYC). James, our guide, explained the different buildings in the complex (including an aquarium and iMax theater), showed us how the echo wall worked (very cool) and talked about Santiago Calatrava, the designer of this complex.

The tour ended with a penthouse party where we enjoyed tapas and many glasses of wine.

We took a taxi back and our driver apologized as he could not get through blocked streets downtown. He dropped us 5 minutes away from our hotel. As we started walking we noticed many road barricades being monitored by many police officers. There was a loud bang that made us jump, but Kenton noticed that the police seemed unconcerned.

The fireworks show started just as we reached the plaza outside our hotel. It was a long and beautiful display that echoed very loudly between the tall buildings. When we finally returned to our hotel, we asked the staff what the special occasion was for the fireworks, and they shrugged and said, “Friday?”

The next morning we went on a mission to find the Holy Grail. This chalice is said to be the one used by Jesus at the Last Supper. It is currently located in Valencia Cathedral. Once we reached the cathedral, we rented handheld speakers for an audio tour, and quickly located the Holy Grail.

The cathedral was beyond amazing. We spent hours following the audio tour to see the magnificent building and to learn about its art and history. It went on and on and on, including the actual arm of St Vincent (patron saint of Valencia) and a museum of preserved religious paintings and sculptures.

We headed back into the lovely city, enjoying the sights along the way.

We ended the evening with a dinner of Valencian paella (of course!).

Dinner time had been late in Portugal and was now even later in Spain. We would go to a restaurant at 9pm and be the first ones there. Eventually others would come in, and dinners went on until 11 or 12. Then the clubs and nightlife started, and went on until at least 3am. What a different, but wonderful schedule!