The kids had Madrid circled on the calendar. It had been more than half a year since they had seen their little cousins and they had major plans! The four of us were so anxious, we arrived in the city a couple days before my brother and his family. This ensured that we could scout the area surrounding their hotel and advise them on the good playgrounds. We would spend the next 10 days touring the city, partaking in kid-friendly activities and continue our search for street performers. The girls were happy to cause mischief with their cousins while Paige and I were happy to have other kids around!
I was sad we weren’t in Italy and the previous week travelling along the Mediterranean coast had some hiccups. Unlike Barcelona, we walked into Valencia unaware of what we would do for our extended stay. The focus was Julie’s birthday and we hoped there would be enough for the kids to do. We quickly realized Valencia was perfect for our little family as it is a kid-friendly European city. For the next two weeks, we would base ourselves with Paige’s mom in an Airbnb on the Plaza de la Reina in the heart of the old town. Paigey would dine with her mother at a Michelin-star restaurant, while I would dine with the kids at Mcdonald’s. We were both happy.
Located right on the main square, we were a mere 7-minute walk from the Turia park system that runs through the heart of Valencia. The first day, we rented bikes (bike rentals were crazy cheap!) to explore the 7km park. The kids hadn’t been on bikes for months and Isabella blissfully biked care-free and “car-free” for the day. Unfortunately, we had a parenting fail with Julie. She had forgotten how to ride a bike (apparently that can happen!). While the rest of the family went off exploring on their own, I ran beside her for the first day as she got the hang of things again. She fondly remembers her crash into the public artwork and her accidental “jump” off the edge of an elevated walkway.
Biking mishaps aside, we visited the park almost daily. Every second day, Paigey and I would do a morning run with the locals (by the end of our two weeks, we were dreaming about all the running gear we would purchase back home). The kids would fly paper airplanes (occasionally hitting strangers) and spend hours in the playgrounds. There’s a popular playground in the park in the shape of Gulliver from Gulliver’s Travels. It is a massive plastic contraption with slides, ropes, and walls. It has to be at least two stories tall and watching them clamber recklessly across it was nerve-wracking for us parents. Fortunately, the only one who got hurt was yours truly as I got a friction burn going down one of the slides!
It seemed like every day we would do a new activity in the city with the kids. The Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies kept us busy when we weren’t at the parks. The vast complex includes a science museum, a movie theatre and a top-notch aquarium. We have been to a lot of aquariums and outside of the actual ocean, this is as good as it gets. We spent hours trying to find animals from our snorkelling exploits a few months prior. Once we had exhausted all the CAC had to offer, the kids were treated to the zoo by their nan. That was an added bonus of having another family member with us. Somedays, we would split up the kids. Other days Paige and I would go off on date night. And occasionally, Paigey would hang out with her mother. During those times, the kids and I would venture into the city to find as many street performers as possible. We closed the gap to the goal of 100 Julie and I had established in Barcelona.
Street performers in Valencia
Did I mention that we were also in town during one of the large festivals in the calendar? We didn’t really understand what the Feast of our Lady of the Forsaken was, but the city was alive and jumping the last weekend of our stay. There were concerts, performers, food stalls and an enormous parade throughout the weekend. The actual procession passed right below our apartment’s window and for three hours we watched the celebration. The kids couldn’t believe the dresses and outfits worn by those involved and we probably took a bazillion photos. They tried to stay up until the fireworks but they kept the futility streak alive by falling asleep about a half hour before the culmination of the festivities.
But even that festival paled in comparison to the birthday blowout we threw for Julie. When she woke up, the apartment was decorated with a banner, streamers and balloons (we all forgot how much kids love balloons). She loved the desperately needed new clothes and dove right into her new Lego set. But the highlight had to be dinner as Nan made Julie nachos which she had been dreaming about for months. There was none left for leftovers. Paige special ordered a Nutella chocolate cake for the occasion (yep a cake full of Nutella! Seriously how has no one thought of that back home?). We knew the birthday was a success when Julie went to bed complaining about a stomach ache from the Nutella cake.
Family Travel Countdown 