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Valencia Day 3 - We love “Paella”

Early to bed thankfully meant getting up was easy. Juan and I had discussed experiencing a proper night out on the town in Valencia before we left so we decided that we would go for a nice meal that evening and hang around a couple of bars before the night clubs opened at around 1 in the morning.

Having come from London where our bars and clubs are usually closing at 1 in the morning I was finding it difficult see how I would managed to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.

Anyway, before all of that we had a lot of work to do. An appointment with Moises, the owner of the Purple hostel and Red nest hostel was to begin at 9.

We sat around in reception at the Purple nest hostel waiting for him for about half an hour. As we were almost ready to leave he came running through the door and very apologetic. We had a quick look around that property which was very clean and tidy and incredibly colourful and unique.

From there he walked with us to the Red Nest hostel just a two minute walk away. The hostel was closed at present for refurbishment. Both hostels were really lovely and as mentioned before each room was unique because of the lights and paint colours.

The hostels can house a number of people however because they are so lively and fun they are always incredibly busy so early booking for these hostels is vital.

Following that visit we had to cross the city and we only had limited time to do so. Seems though we found a guardian angel along the way as when we boarded the bus Juan ask this very kind old lady for directions and she literally took us across town through a massive shopping mall and department store to the very front door of the hotel we were going to visit.

If that kind woman who helped us does ever read this blog we are incredibly thankful as we would never have found it on our own.

Due some confusion on our part we actually managed to some how miss the appointment at the Hotel Kris Abadia. Luckily the staff there were kind enough to show us around regardless and we shared a quick cup of coffee while we had a chat about the hotel.

This hotel has a partner property across town as well called Hotel Kris Consul del Mar. This hotel boasts a remarkable location. It is just 300 metres away from the Palau of the Music and opposite to the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia. It is in one of the best areas within the city because it is within reach of the beach of Marvarrosa. A beautiful and picturesque place it’s well worth a visit.

After that appointment we made our way to the beach to enjoy some traditional food. We sat at a beautiful beach side restaurant and ate plenty of traditional Paella.

I think after lunch both Juan and I found it difficult to wonder around the city with the enthusiasm we had prior to our enormous lunch. Completely full and sleepy we began our walk to find Home Backpackers.

Walking back into the heart of the old city we came across a real sort of backpacker place. Home Backpackers is in my opinion the epitome of what a hostel should be. With a lot of space to relax and chat to fellow backpackers and amazing balconies outside with loads of space and incredible views of the city it’s a great choice. All rooms are totally unique in that they all boast some crazy little art works. The light fittings for one are incredibly amusing.

The staff there were incredibly friendly and they themselves are in the midst of their travels so you are guaranteed to find many like minded people to get to know while planning the rest of your travels.

Our final appointment for the day was what is at present a building site, Centre Valencia Backpackers Hostel is in the process of being built and will only be opening mid 2007 however they are already receiving plenty of bookings through Hostelbookers.com. This hostel is going to be incredibly big but with that comes the assurance that all the facilities you could possibly want will be available to you should you choose to stay there. It’s in a great location and is going to be very competitively priced. It’s an ideal choice for large groups of people from those enjoying a stag night or even school sports teams.

We met with Joan who took us around the site with the plans drawn out on paper. With only a couple of months work ahead you could already begin to see their vision of what this hostel is going to be.

With all the work behind us Juan and I headed back to Russafa Youth Hostel to have a little sleep and a shower to get us up to scratch for the energy that would be required for our big night on the town.