sunburned

As some of you may know already, I got quite badly sunburned a few days ago as we were on the beach. Yes, I used sun lotion, but apparently I didn't put it everywhere carefully. I think I haven't burned myself this bad ever before, but at least I will definitely be more careful in the future. My thighs, back and neck are the worst parts (they hurt without even touching), but also ankles, stomach and cheeks are bright red. And one of my ears too?! It's painful to move and sleeping is not easy. But it's totally my own fault so I shouldn't complain. Stupid me! I try to put on a lot of lotions and creams to make this better and I guess it has already helped a bit. This weekend I have to avoid the sunshine so that I won't make it worse (well, now it's cloudy anyway - which is not usual in Valencia?). I am going to recover before going to Malaga, even if I had to stay inside all next week..! And may I say, only 10 days left!!

Next week, the Easter week, we have only three days of school as the university is closed on Thursday and Friday. The week after that is totally free - Easter holidays. And also the Monday after that is free. Even though I have only three days of school next week, I still have quite a lot to do - French voice-recording for Monday, marketing mid-term test on Tuesday and I should also study Spanish economy stuff for Wednesday as I'm so in trouble there. Blaah, I feel lazy just thinking about those. I haven't planned anything special for today so I guess I should get those things started today.

Have a nice weekend!

FYI

I'm flying back to Finland on June 19th (Tuesday). It's a straight flight from Barcelona to Helsinki (first I have to go to BCN by train/bus) and I'll land at Helsinki-Vantaa at 5pm. See you, darlings <3

PS. happy birthday to my dear sister <3

it's a beautiful day - don't let it get away

Oh god how active I am with this blog. Yay me. Today has been a good day (no special reason - what's wrong with me?! usually it's the opposite, having bad days / being pissed off for no reason). The only minus is the saiodaijksndm f*cking assignment that our French teacher gave us for tomorrow. It includes recording your own speech.... Yay? NOT! But I'm not gonna let it ruin my day, I will do it tomorrow. Now you get to see pictures (once again) of the beautiful city called VALENCIA. Enjoy.

maybe not the safest decision to take pictures while cycling... i mean for the other people :-D

Isn't it beautiful?

Sunday - my favorite!!

or NOT. Fiiiiiinally this long Sunday is coming to its end. If you think about it, it should have passed a bit faster than usually as the time went an hour forward today but noooooo. It didn't feel like that at all.

My weekend has included a lot of stomach aches and being pissed off for no reason. Yesterday I actually started to write a post but it's still unfinished (I will publish it when it's done, it's not about one actual day or anything so it doesn't matter if I don't get it done right now). Well yesterday I did a lot of laundry, cleaned up a bit and went to try my Valenbisi-card that I got on Friday. It was so nice to go cycling after a long time! People that passed by probably considered me as a retard or something because I had that foolish grin on my face as I realized how useful the whole bike system is. Now I can get everywhere so easily and quickly! I went to a shopping center that I hadn't visited before and it was nice. Have to go there again some day. I went around a bit and found a few shirts and two pairs of earrings. Then I drove back and came home after visiting Mercadona. So, nothing so special.

Today (i_hate_sundays.com), even less special. Stomach aches again, long shower, school stuff and I visited the only store that's open just because I just wanted to do something. The weather was better than good and now it's proved - it's officially summer, because I went out wearing just shorts, two tops and my favorite shoes (for the first time here) and I didn't feel cold (and I'm a person who's always feeling cold). The fact that I was able to wear my favorite shoes (in the pictures) cheered me up a bit. Later we had a Skype date with J.

So, this weekend has been quite boring but I must say that I wouldn't even have been able to do anything special - there were a few times when I almost passed out because of the pain in my stomach. So maybe it was just good to take it easy. A new week of school work ahead of me, and I have to say that I hope that the next two weeks will pass by as quickly as possible because then I'll see J (15 days left!!). We are both flying to Malaga on April 10th (Tuesday). I just can't wait anymore..........

to prove my words...

...everything really looks better now, after the rain! As I've already told you, last Tuesday was the first proper rainy day that I've experienced in Valencia. Since then it has been beautiful again. As you can see.

I actually got my Valenbisi-card today, so from this day forward, I can get quickly around by bike! = to the beach!!

we went to have some coffee with Emmi :-) the terrace and the sunshine, not bad at all!

Beautiful Valencia!

me wants.

(from weheartit.com)

I would give (almost) anything to get one of those^ right now. I've been craving those for many days now.. actually I guess it's been a few weeks since I first mentioned to J that I miss those so much. and the craving hasn't gone anywhere.. here in Spain they do have "los crepes" but it's not the same! I need to have one (or a few more) made by my grandma. boooo there are still 3 months to wait 'til I get them! what a horrible idea...

Another one: SALT LIQUORICE!! I already ran out of it. My sister should have brought more of it to me. sojdowijkanjkreds thank god I can get more of it when J comes. I already got (almost) used to not having it but now that i got the taste of it again, I need it! Come on Spain, why can't you fill your markets with salt liquorice already. How do these people manage to live without it (and Somersby apple cider)? (and my grandma's "crêpes" (LÄTTYJÄ!!)?) if they only knew what they are missing...

I still have a few things to write about.

1) The rain was absolutely good for Valencia. Everything looks greener and the nature got freshened up. The leaves are appearing to the trees (even those in our front yard, I already thought they weren't supposed to have leaves..). And it smells a lot fresher outside. As I mentioned one day, the weather collapsed the night between Monday and Tuesday (just after all the Fallas-things had been burned to the ground) but now it has normalized again. It's sunny and warm again.

2) My friends, relatives, friends' friends, randoms, everyone - please - leave more comments! I like them and it's always a nice surprise to see that someone has actually left a comment. It really cheers me up! You can write about anything. About the posts, about Spain, about your country, about yourself, about your dog, about the weather - anything. According to the statistics, I have quite a many visitors per day but I still don't get almost any comments :( Still, thanks to all of you for visiting, and especially to you who have left even one comment! I've answered to each one of them as a reply straight after the comment :) 

more comments would make me almost that happy!! (from weheartit.com)

PS. 19 days to go!

BCN shopping

So I decided to show you some things I bought from Barcelona. For my sister, the main purpose of the trip was maybe shopping, so I can tell you - we went around shopping a lot. I didn't actually need to buy anything (except for lace tops that I've been looking for) and I have the same stores here in Valencia, but I guess that my sister handled the shopping part on behalf of both of us.. Even though I feel like not having bought almost anything, I still managed to spend quite a lot of money? I really have to start thinking my spending behavior... I will be so broke when I go back to Finland :-D

FC Barcelona -flag from Camp Nou!

i love that top <3 from a little boutique where the salesperson praised my Spanish :-D out of pity...

a few mini tops to be worn under open tops to cover the underwear

Well that was almost all I bought (some little things like cards I didn't bother to picture). Of course money was also spent for food, transportation (in addition to walking we used only metro) and some entrances. But as I said, my money spending was seriously nothing compared to M's shopping :-D She actually had to buy a new bag from the airport so that she could get everything back to Finland...

Good night, sweet dreams!
Ps. less than 3 weeks to go - then I'll see J <3

Back in Valencia + Las Fallas

So now I'm back in Valencia. Yesterday, 5 hours in a train wasn't too comfortable but I made it. It was such a loooong day! I left the hotel (in Barcelona) after 8am and arrived in Valencia after 2pm. Getting to metro from the train station wasn't as easy as thought - no, it wasn't far away, just in front of the train station - there were just so much people in the city center that I couldn't get through them. Seriously, I've never seen so many people in a same place (okay maybe I have, but I'm just trying to clarify the amount of people there). It was the last day of the Fallas, so everyone had gathered there and it was terrible. I felt a panic attack coming when I tried to get through all of them with my bag that I was dragging. Thank God I finally made it to the metro (before the panic came) and then I came straight home. I was exhausted.

that's how it looked like on the streets because of all the explosives and firework...

I tried to take a nap but - as expected - I couldn't because of all the noise (explosives, little "bombs"). I was too exhausted to leave for the city center in the evening (and the tight atmosphere didn't seem tempting either..) so I settled for watching the fireworks and burnings of the neighborhood from home. The last night of the Fallas means that they burn all the stuff to the ground. Luckily that flower-thing (in the picture) was on our home street so I could see it well. Here are some pictures and a video of the burning actions and fireworks:

First they burned the smaller one

 First they burned the smaller one - then they prepared the bigger one - then they burned it - at the end of the video, some fireworks

Now, I don't actually regret anymore going to Barcelona for this weekend, because for me, it's important that I get to sleep - and here, it hasn't been possible lately. And at least, I got to enjoy the best city in Spain - Barcelona, and still I got to see a bit of Las Fallas celebration even though I didn't have any power to go to the city center.

Today, it was the first proper rainy day that I've experienced during these two months I've been here (it looked just like Finnish fall!!). Seriously, it hasn't been raining properly for two months, so this weather was maybe just nice for a change. And suitably for the celebrating people, it came just after the Fallas and not before or during it!

Sunday (the last day) in Barcelona

L'Aquarium, the beach, Barri Gotic, la Sagrada Familia ...

 

Tomorrow: a 5-hour-journey back to Valencia, by train. BLAH.