The next day I got up early so I would not be discovered camping in the forest. To my knowledge wild camping is generally allowed in Spain but there are exceptions like in national parks, close to military bases, on beaches, next to roads or in bird protective zones. Since I wasn’t sure what my location qualified as I wanted to stay low. That didn’t really work out though as my location was probably passed by ten jeeps and 50 cyclists after sunrise. Nobody said anything though. If anything they greeted me friendly.

The place where I had ended up was actually a beautiful spot by daylight. Would make for a great bonfire place but of course that was unthinkable considering the extreme heat and risk of fire throughout the region and much of Europe for that matter.

After I had packed the bike I left the forest again and went back to onto the regular roads.

Towards Valencia always searching for the next place to take a break and escape the heat I found a little town with a nice beach where I made a stop to cool off and go for a swim.

Refreshed and relaxed I continued my journey …

… and reached Valencia in the evening.

There I stayed at a hostel for the first time on this trip. Two nights at the hostel elevated my costs for accommodation since the beginning of the trip from 0 to a grand total of 30Euros. Wild camping makes for a cheap holiday. Still, staying at a hostel once a week is a welcome change. Getting a real shower instead of relying on the sea, lakes and shower facilities at the beaches is a welcome luxury. Also getting to charge all batteries of my electronic devices was convenient. Not to mention proper toilets.
Charging my devices on the road actually worked very well though. The only thing I can not charge well on the road is my high capacity battery bank. But more about that in a dedicated gear post later.

In Valencia I ate my first Paella. I didn’t even have a vague idea of what Paella was made of. Also I only discovered by accident that the Paella comes from Valencia. Honestly I was a bit underwhelmed when I found out that one variation is basically just pasta with cheese. Nonetheless it tasted great and the shrimp and the mussel on top was a welcome change from my usual -lets call it cost effective- travel diet. Besides this actually was cheap too. 3.50Euros and I was really full after. London take note.

For me the best food I have had in Spain though so far is the pastries. They are fantastic. Any and all of them. They are not drenched in sugar like in many other countries. It’s just a hint of sweetness. The real taste comes from the baking ingredients. No matter where you go a bakery, cafe or supermarket they are always delicious and not expensive either. Even at Lidl I had amazing fresh pastries. For me the pastries are on par with the ones from Sweden which have so far taken number two on my list after Austrias baked goods. Pastries have become a big part of my diet here in Spain. Because they don’t taste extremely sweet you can actually eat a lot of them without getting sick of them. Anyway enough with the pastries.

Here is one of the many old churches in Valencia.

I liked Valencia more than Barcelona. It’s smaller and felt more homely to me.

More impressions of Valencia:

Before leaving Valencia after my two days stay in the morning I stopped at the stadium of FC Valencia. Like in Barcelona I only saw it from the outside as I did not want to pay 15 Euros for an inside tour considering that that could also be one night at a hostel. I like football and these clubs are the spearhead of world football but that was not worth it for me.