In the City

3000 miles and many long hours later, I have arrived in Valencia. The trip wasn't too bad, although Madrid was pretty cold. I flew from JFK to Madrid to Valencia, went through customs twice, and got a sweet visa stamp on my entrance into Spain. Though it took a while, I was comforted when my first view of Valencia was palm trees, sunshine, and 67 degrees.

I'm actually on my second day here, but most of the first day was spent in a post-travel comatose state. I live with a 60 year old host mother named Julia and her son, Adrian, who is 23. The apartment I have is on Carrer Guillem de Castro, and has a very nice view of the city. If you click on the link, you may notice that there appears to be a castle across the street. In reality, it's half a castle and is called Las Torres de Quart. My host mother has informed me that it was used to defend the city against invaders many centuries ago. 

I snapped that photo from standing on the balcony. I really like the view we have. The dining room has a wall of windows that look over the street and out over some rooftops. I haven't walked up to the top of Las Torres yet, but I plan to. I've pretty much been tired since I got here, but hopefully the jet lag will go away in a few days. Other than that, it's been a great start to the semester.