This is [one reason] why I love Spain. And particularly, I love being here on a Fulbright grant; I don't work on Fridays, so every weekend is an excellent opportunity to travel. On Thursday night one of my roommates and I decided that we wanted to take a day trip, so we went to a Valencia blog, picked a suggested destination, and went... and it turned out to be the most amazing trip!
On Friday morning we took a train to Sagunto, a small town half an hour northwest of Valencia with history dating back to the third century BC. We had read that there was a castle is worth seeing, but that's all we knew, because Sagunto isn't mentioned in any of my guide books. We stepped off the train, and lo and behold, there was the castle on top of a hill. Asking a few people for directions along the way, we slowly made our way through the very old and Spanish-feeling town with narrow, winding streets; stone roads; and beautiful, colorful houses squished up next to each other. We passed by a Roman theater, and unfortunately we couldn't go in, but we could look down and see inside. It's incredible to think about the works that must have been performed there so many centuries ago.
We made it to the top of the hill after not too long, and we didn't even have to pay to enter. There were no other tourists, just us and the castle ruins. We were completely free to wander inside the various structures, climb on the stones, and explore the different paths and stairways. The view of the country and mountains all around was beautiful. I don't even know how to describe why this place was so magical, but it was incredible see so much natural beauty and to be so close to, and yet so far from, centuries' worth of history. I wish I knew more about the castle and the town, but since it's not a major tourist destination, I haven't been able to find very much information about it. We spent a good three hours admiring the view and wandering around the castle ruins.
On our way back, we stopped at a little cafe for lunch, and I had a "blanco y negro" (black and white) sandwich, thus named for the one black and one white sausage inside. I also had "morro," and I don't know exactly what it was, but it was some kind of pork cooked in a garlic/alioli sauce. The description I got from the owner included the phrase "mucho colesterol," but it was totally worth it :)
I don't think my description is doing nearly enough justice to Sagunto and the amazing-ness of our trip, but hopefully some pictures will give you an idea. I've posted a few pictures from Valencia to my Shutterfly website (see column to the right) and I promise to post the Sagunto pictures soon!
That sounds amazing!!! It looks like a painting in that photo. We climbed some ancient pyramids on Saturday outside of Mexico City and it was pretty exciting, although you had to stay on the steps so that sounds really fun being able to climb around. And there not being any other tourists. I looked at your pics too! The food looks great and I enjoyed seeing pictures of the streets by your apartment and around the city. Also I enjoy your brown skirt.
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