Cath's attempt at a World Tour.

Back on British soil. Last week came and went with some really good kids. Flight was an hour late but an okay journey. Came home to a night of unpacking, cleaning room and curry! Also got pressies from parents trip to Venice. Soo lucky. Relaxed weekend then back to reality on Monday. Next thing is CELTA and NCS in Wigan until September. Will update when I go for my next travels! Final class Rainbow on final evening  Another angle  Waiting for my flight  Pressies! 

After Friday's classes and my last Friday in Moragete I was invited to Joel and Eleanor's villa down the road. They escape there every weekend on Friday and come back refreshed on Monday. Had a little party to say goodbye to the Spanish monitors as it was their last week. Such an awesome bunch of people and they don't even get paid to work as they do it as some sort of test! Really relaxed weekend of eating, reading and watching movies. It was great and just what I needed. 2 days down and 2 more to go in my final week.  Last Friday classes  That Friday feeling.  The Villa The luxury of a double bed The train station

... or else they are just known as things. After the park I came back to rest for a while and then went out to explore Valencia at night. Very pretty and a huge range of restaurants from all over the world to choose from. Decided on tapas of bread, spicy potates and calamari with a pina colada. In the morning, Jack and I went through the rigmarole of x-raying all our belongings when you do anything within in train station and stored our bags. Went for lunch and a bit of tourist shopping for my loved ones (you know who you are!) and then back on the last train to Requena. It's a long journey back but the train goes right under the mountains and between canyons, it's fantastic.    Market at night Government building something Lunch! Woo patatas bravas. Town Hall ...

Got back on track after my tour of hobo town and then walked through the full length of the gardens. It used to be a river but due to a bad floor, the river was diverted and the parks used for water features, gyms, playgrounds, sport centres (track, cricket, rugby etc) and just general areas for trees and people to relax and play. If anyone is ever in Valencia I would definitely recommend it as a day out. Map of the gardens View over the gardens. Gulliver from Gulliver's travels playground. Museum Lake at the end of park and before the zoo.

Said goodbye to Steph and then Jack and I got the train back to Valencia. Had my next international starbucks and then booked into my hostel. Both hostels I stayed were nice but I couldn't bring myself to share rooms with strangers yet, Got the bus to the mall by the Arts and Sciences centre. Walked all around there and even took a wrong turn and walked around where I'm guessing homeless people live, with the pans and clothes dotted about. It was a bit expensive to go in and all the info would be in Spanish so just enjoyed the architecture. View from the mall. I think it looks like a whales mouth! Dome thing! People canoeing and playing in balls. The finished product 

After going around the city I headed down to the beach. The weather wasn't hot enough in my opinion for sunbathing. I walked through the pirate fair that was in town for Pascua complete with an actual ship and then down along the prom and back. In the evening, Steph, Jack and I went for a paella to share. The cathedral was at the bottom of the street and there was a long procession of people wearing full length robes and pointy hats in an assortment of colours, red, black and white. As it looped back down the main high street I could see they were carrying massive displays with the virgin mary and the cross on. Took about 24 people to carry one. There were kids dressed up in red robes with drums and women in black dresses and lace hats carrying staffs. It was surreal to watch but awesome all the same. Not everyone shared my, too cold to sunbathe, outlook A pirate fair wouldn't be complete without a rotating meat bbq ...

This is my 100th post since I started this blog in summer of last year, I am so proud about the places I've seen and things. Thank you to all of my readers who continue to follow my world tour, its means so much to me. After the castle, I followed my map and went to the best historical buildings. Alicante is a beautiful city but quite small and I would have struggled to find much to do if I was an avid sightseer. Saw the bull ring and some nice hidden parks. The churches and political buildings were beautiful. The city itself is impressively clean. Lots of restaurants to chose from and narrow alleys to explore. Basilica de Something or Other How can an alley be so picturesque? That's one way to build allotments for apartments I guess Bull ring ...

Views from the top. The City The Gardens Neighbouring hill The bay The Marina 

After the gardens I walked around the castle. There was an exhibition for Lord of the Rings but as it was in Spanish, I feel the entrance fee would have been wasted. Went for breakfast in a cafe inside the castle and had a tortilla bocadillo which is basically potato and egg omelette on a baguette. Sat at the highest point for a while and had a siesta as I had sun glasses on and could be sneaky. Loved all the views from the top, 360 degrees around the city and coast. There is another hill nearby which has a tramline to Benidorm going through it.  Road leading to castle. The restaurant on top left and inside the castle More of the inside Metal suits of armour dotted around inside The castle and the coast

Left Campus Moragete on Thursday morning for Alicante where I stayed with Jack and Steph until Saturday morning. Steph left to go back to England and Jack and I returned to Valencia until Sunday night. Had an awesome time, first time I have planned something like this alone and did bookings/travel arrangements. I took lots of pictures so will be posting every night for at least a week to go through them! Have split the days up.No work today as it's a holiday but kids coming tomorrow and more on Wednesday. Weather is a bit grim today. Arrived in Alicante on Thursday afternoon and just relaxed and wandered around as we were all tired from travelling. I went solo on Friday and wanted to climb to Santa Barbara Castle which is on the coast in the centre of the city. You can pay 7 euros to get the lift but I wouldn't admit such weakness. Found my way through the winding streets and up through the gardens on the west side of the hill. They were so beautiful and truly serene. Zig-za...