People, Moments, Possibilities

The days in Valencia were days full of unique moments, wonderful people, and many possibilities, among which I had the freedom to choose, could choose, had to choose. The latter was not always easy. ;)

The unfortunately rainy Saturday made me spend time in the cozy apartment and the huge market hall. Later, I went out to meet the Couchsurfing group for a 'Horchata' (typical Valencian drink), which turned into a cozy evening at a bar. In a conversation with Zaman from Bangladesh about cooking, I got inspired for my planned Indian dish the next day. :)

On Sunday, I accompanied my CS host and two of his friends on a hike. As 4 1/2 friends, Gerardo, Sandra, Majo with her dog Miko, and I set off on an excursion. The varied hike started in Bunol, a 30-minute drive from Valencia, along a ravine. At first, the landscape consisted of the familiar Mediterranean fauna with lots of rosemary and thyme shrubs, later it became quite jungle-like. The paths were quite slippery due to the rain, but we navigated through them skillfully. We also spotted a few ibexes.

The last part of the circular tour took us past the river, which formed a small lake with beautiful turquoise water at one point. I would have loved to take a swim here, but I'm sure I'll come across such places again ;)

The last part is an absolute highlight not only because of the river. Here, you can find all the amazing fruit trees that I have discovered so far on my journey: carob trees, pomegranate trees, strawberry trees, and almond trees.

In the evening, I cooked lentil daal with turmeric-chili eggplant slices for Gerardo and Majo (a side dish of Bengali cuisine that I tried for the first time based on Zaman's suggestion). Luckily, the experiment was successful... :-D