Seize the Day: from Switzerland to Spain: Close Calls

My lovely suitemate, Cici Wang, came to visit me last weekend. She got into Madrid Thursday afternoon and we had planned spend Friday in Valencia. We bought tickets for a 1am bus Thursday night, Halloween night, so that we would arrive in Valencia first thing in the morning.

At 12:15am, 45 minutes before our bus, we decided to head over to the bus station. We had to take one metro 15 minutes and then switch lines and go one stop. No problem. We reached the platform just as the doors to our train were about to close. But, the car was completely packed full of dressed-up people going out to celebrate Halloween, so we realized we wouldn’t make it one and let the train pass. There were about 50 people with us waiting at the platform, too, who also decided not to push their way onto the train, so we were not worried. However, when we looked up at the timer we saw there was 16 minutes until the next train…all of the sudden our 45-minute buffer didn’t seem so forgiving.

At 12:31am, after waiting for 16 minutes, we finally caught our first metro, only to realize we were completely packed into the car. Everyone around us was screaming, drunkenly chanting, banging on the walls of the metro, and holding doors open at each stop. The already slow metro was now forced to go even slower.

At 12:47am we reached our connecting stop and ran to catch the other line. We got to the platform at 12:49, but the sign did not say how much time until the next train. I asked an elderly woman that was also waiting—why was an elderly woman out at 1am you may ask, because this is Spain—and she told me that it was at least 12-15 minutes. Here we were: 11 minutes until our bus, 1 stop away, and yet no way of catching a metro in time. So we ran out of the station to catch a taxi, only to end up in a side street with no cars around at all. After making a quick turn, we found a street with 3 cars, 2 of which were taxis: 1 was occupied, the other was free. We jumped on the taxi and, 9 euros later, made it to the bus.

12:57am. On the bus. 3 minutes to spare.

Despite the stressful start, pumping endless adrenaline through our bloodstream, our trip to Valencia could not have been any better. We saw beautiful cathedrals and basilicas, drank horchata from a horchateria that has been around for 2 centuries, saw the famous bull-ring, and explored Valencia’s modern-architecture that adorns its science and oceanography museums. We ended the last half of our day enjoying Valencia’s shoreline and gorgeous beaches: powdered sand that goes on for miles and lines stunning blue water. And, of course, a Valencian visit would not be complete without a paella lunch: heavily spiced rabbit and chicken paella. It was an incredibly satisfying meal and almost, but not quite, as good as my daddy’s.