VALENCIA ~ Spain

Every morning, I jumped out of bed and ran to the balcony of our room to see if I could get a glimpse of our next port.  It was like Christmas morning, every morning!  As we pulled into port and I ran back and forth to the balcony with camera in hand while trying to put on makeup, do my hair, and get dressed.  As you can see by the photo, the port of Valencia, Spain is beautiful.

We drove by these massive structures which make up the  City of Arts and Sciences.  It is a unique complex devoted to scientific and cultural dissemination which is made up of five main elements: the Hemisfèric (IMAX cinema and digital projections), the Umbracle (a landscaped vantage point and car park), the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum (an innovative centre of interactive science), the Oceanográfico (the largest aquarium in Europe with over 500 marine species) and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (which takes care of the operatic programme). The Ágora gives the complex a multifunctional space.

You see many more food signs around the Mediterranean than you do in the US.  For example, I snapped this pictures of these large food signs on a street corner advertising chocolates, pastries, and  Toast with tomatoes from McDonald’s.  I can’t imagine anyone I know driving through McDonalds and ordering this for desayunos (breakfast).

It was about two o’clock in the afternoon and we were starving so we ducked into this little grocery store to grab a snack.  I just had to try this bag of York’eso sabor a (ham & cheese) Ruffles potato chips.   They were so good and taste just like ham & cheese.  I wish we had these back in the states.

I also grabbed this variety of candy.  It was chocolate and hazelnut and I’m thinking I love Nutella so this must be good.  I wasn’t disappointed.  I think Kinder Bueno is now my favorite candy.  Unfortunately, we don’t have it in the US but I found out I could order it online from Amazon. at least everything except for the Kinder egg.  It is illegal in the United States and you can’t even order them online.  If you go to Amazon you will see in bold print DO NOT SHIP TO THE UNITED STATES !  The Kinder egg is actually hollow and has a plastic egg inside with a toy inside it.