Lot of back and forth on how we were going to get to Valencia from Barcelona on 8/15. We bought rail passes to use while in Europe, but they are only good for 10 days over 2 months, plus the fast trains require an additional reservation fee for seats. Probably spent too much time analyzing the options, but ended up choosing the slower regional train to hopefully see more scenery along the coast and avoid using our rail passes to save them for a bit later in the month so they will last to the end of our trip in late October.
We had two trains to catch en-route to Valencia, and the first one was “eventful”. Started with the mass rush of people pushing into each doorway to grab a seat, but somehow we managed to get a pair while the rest of the folks had to stand or sit on the floor for a couple hours. The temperature gauge in the car kept rising as we went along, ending up around 100 degrees by the time we got off at our station to change trains.
Charlie did great in handling the crowd and heat on the first train.
So many friendly people we have met. This gentleman offered to hold Charlie by the window so he could watch the scenery.
Luckily the second train was much less crowded with room to spread out and enjoy the ride and scenery along the coast. Cindy bought a ring from a guy who makes jewelry and was looking to make a bit of cash for the train ticket. We made it safely to Valencia and look forward to exploring a new area from an Airbnb that’s located more centrally than the one we had in Barcelona.
Two seats to spread out!
Glimpses of the sea along the way on this second train
Some kids got on board along the way and really enjoyed the iPad and fishing pictures from Smooth C’s
Couple lessons learned today:
Train tickets are cheapest when purchased online rather than the ticket window.
Queueing (standing in line) appears to be an American thing.
Chris, Cindy, Charlie and Cecily’s Adventure Blog 