Sun Sun Sun

NOTE: I know some of you have been posting comments on my blog, and I love it!  Blogspot is reporting quite a lot of problems with this feature as of late though.  I have not been able to post your comments for publishing.  I can read them and then I hit the "publish" button.  All seems to go well, yet they don't get posted!  I'm not sure what the problem is, but hopefully it'll get fixed soon.  I enjoy your comments, and its nice for me to share your thoughts with everyone else too, so don't stop!   Thanks!

I think people choose to live in Vancouver because it is one of the milder locations to live in Canada, Victoria being another. Normally by this time of year I would start to get depressed, irritable, sluggish.  The grey skies and constant rains really do have an effect on your state of mind, and after several months of it life gets hard to handle.  It had been getting worse for me the last few years.   The alternative though is living in a colder part of the country.  The other provinces will see sunnier days than we will on the Pacific coast, but the wind-chill factor sometimes means dealing with temperatures in the -20's and -30's across the prairies, and who wants that?  So living on the west coast of Canada really is the best option for those of us who are fair-weather creatures.

Here the weather is more like spring than like fall.  The days heat up to 19, 20, 21, 24 degrees, and go down to about 9 at night.  It has been sunny every day and I have more energy.  There is definitely something about the sun, and it's not cancer-forming.  It is healthy and necessary for a person's well-being in more ways than one.  I can attest to that!

Manu has two bikes, so I've been using one of them daily.  From the apartment here on Padre Urbano, it takes about 5 minutes to ride to the Jardines del Turia, an 8 kilometer river bed that has been drained and converted into a park with running and riding trails throughout, soccer fields, fountains, grassy areas, gardens with a variety of vegetation, playgrounds, and a skateboarding zone.  It's fantastic, and is one of the primary reasons I dig this city.   At the southern end of the park is the modern City of Arts and Sciences which you can continue on through with more biking and walking paths, and then from there it's only a short ride to the playas and marina.  I've been doing this loop for the past few days now. 

Picture from the Jardines Del Turia - The sun setting in Valencia

There are over 128kms of bike paths in this city which makes getting around on bike easy.  If you're not into biking though, there is always the subway, and ample city buses to take you around.  Of course you can always drive a car.  Mopeds aren't as popular here as they are in Barcelona, and I'm not quite sure why.

On Saturday we rode out to the beach and marinas.  Valencia is/was home to the America's Cup in 2007 and still serves as a training base for Spanish teams.  The city is very proud to take part in the international event, and hopes to sponsor it again.  They built a superyacht pier especially for it, and there are lots of sexy loungy restaurants and cafe's to go with!

On Sunday we rode to the north side of town and the weather was super bonita!  24 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. 

You know I love Claras!

Valencian's watching a soccer (futbol!) game in a field below from atop one of the several bridges that crosses the Jardines del Turia.

I've even had enough energy (and space!) to start doing yoga again, thank God, and going for runs on the paths at the Del Turia is absolutely amazing.  Yesterday I rode my bike all the way over to the other side of town and found the Metropolitan Gym that I can use my membership card at.  I also found a rare Chinese supermarket, and they were selling woks!  So I bought one for our home.  The roomies are stoked!

I've also started checking out English language schools here and inquiring about their needs for English teachers.  I am strongly considering taking a TESL course either back in Canada where its cheaper, or here in Valencia if I can't pull myself away from this sunny city.  More to come on that as the story develops.  :)

All this just to say that Valencia is a lovely city.  You should visit one day!

Charleen xo