Guardian guidebook

Nick leaves behind the drizzle of Stansted and boards a new flight to Valencia, where he enjoys a celebrity welcome but wishes he'd bought a guidebook

Nick Hall
Wednesday November 3, 2004

 

My four-month mission to conquer the route maps of Ryanair and other budget airlines alike began with an inaugural flight to the Spanish city of Valencia, where I am writing from outside, in the middle of a small square connected wirelessly to somebody's home broadband connection. Valencia is Spain's third largest city and has, until now, been inaccessible for those wanting to travel on a tight budget.

The journey began with an unsociable 6am flight from London Stansted. Arriving for check-in shortly after 5am, I felt as though I was walking straight into a hostel, as I had to step over all the people who had decided to spend the night at the airport in order to catch their morning flights.

A few pleasant surprises helped get me off to a good start; first of all my overweight hand baggage seemed to pose no problems at the check-in desk, in turn the razors and screwdriver that were tightly packed into my rucksack seemed to be no cause for alarm at security, despite the many notices and video demonstrations suggesting otherwise.

After queuing for half an hour at security I headed straight to the boarding gate, which is a good 10-minute walk from the main terminal building. With 25 minutes to spare and the departure gate now in sight there was no need for rush or panic. Well, at least that's what I thought, until I heard a message over the Tannoy announcing that "flight FR8321 to Valencia was now closed." To my alarm the announcement went on to explain that if the last remaining passenger (myself), who was delaying the flight, didn't show up within one minute, that person would not be allowed to fly.

Charming, I thought, as I double-checked my phone to reconfirm the time. The flight was subsequently delayed by 30 minutes after discovering they had no fuel to fly the plane.

Enduring an hour-and-a-half of heavy marketing of drinks, snacks, fragrances and gift items, as well being given the opportunity to purchase a Ryanair scratch card for €2, or in-flight digital entertainment for €7, is sure to set things straight from the start, you pay for what you get, quite literally. Any fantasies or illusions that I may have had when planning my trip of becoming one of the forgotten "jet-set" have come to an abrupt end.

Having said all that, leaving Stansted in the 6am morning sunrise, (if you can call a blanket of overcast, grey and drizzly sky a sunrise) and heading for the sun in Spain, less than two hours away, makes all of the sacrifices well worth it.

Despite this being the inaugural flight it seems I was the only person celebrating. Throughout the entire flight there was no mention of this surely great news, until the very end when it was briefly mentioned in passing by a member of the cabin crew.

While Ryanair may be blase about opening up new destinations to the budget route maps, it certainly wasn't an attitude shared by the local media who keenly greeted the flight with their film crews. In addition to a little media coverage, all passengers were warmly welcomed and given goodie bags with shirts, pens and wooden fans.

I left for Valencia with few preconceived ideas or expectations - mainly owing to my inability to plan or prepare for anything in advance, particularly where travel is concerned. It occurred to me when I arrived in the city centre, without any idea of where to go or what to see, that it might have been a good idea to at least buy a guidebook.

I spent my first day wandering the wide avenues lined with palm trees, pavement cafes and musicians, simply enjoying and observing the Mediterranean way of life. After my early start, and a two-hour walk in search of one of Valencia's two free wireless internet "hot-spots", I was completely knackered by the time I had arranged to meet Jess, a Guardian reader, who had kindly offered to put me up for the night.

Meeting up with a complete stranger and accepting an offer of accommodation after one or two emails is not something I would normally feel comfortable about doing, especially not in a foreign country. Jess, my host for two days and three nights, arranged to meet me at the main train station after a brief exchange of emails confirming the time and place. Jess works as a teacher, just outside the city, originally from England she settled in Valencia five years ago.

We decided to go out in the evening and try out Valencia's student nightlife. Starting off in a small but cozy bar named Turia, we then headed on to Arena, a club with a mainly student crowd in the university district. Valencia on first impressions seems a dormant city at night. Most of the bars and clubs, I'm told, are situated around the university, north-west of town. A night out starts late and ends late, the clubs don't fill up until around 2am and most offer free entrance and a free drink to entice you in. Unfortunately for me it was time to go home at 2am just as Arena started to fill up. Jess had work and I was beginning to feel the consequences of serious sleep deprivation.

Jess lives in a shared apartment a short walk from the central station, which is a convenient starting point for seeing the city. Directly in front of the railway station is Valencia's old town, an area noticeably quieter than the rest of the city. The Rio Turia, a 10km park running along the dry riverbed, encircles the old town making it a pleasant haven away from the wide, eight-lane city roads nearby.

The Rio Turia meets the Mediterranean at the marina and commercial docks, a derelict area currently undergoing vast redevelopment in preparation for the return of the America's Cup. At the river's mouth is the City of Sciences, a brand new science museum boasting the largest cultural-educational complex in Europe. This is an impressive area of man-made, natural beauty, combined with some spectacular modern architecture and tranquil botanic gardens in the river's basin.

Valencia is far bigger than I expected, but determined to save money whenever possible, I borrowed Jess's bike to get around town. Having tried buses, taxis, trams and the metro, cycling is without question the best way to travel around the city. The new and old city has a substantial network of bike lanes and is relatively flat.

Valencia is certainly a place I will be returning to, if only for a night out with my new-found friend and her coworkers. Valencia is an amazing city, proud of its past and present and unspoilt by excessive tourism. With only one day left I'm sad to be leaving - three days just doesn't do it justice.

· You can email Nick with advice at nick@netjetters.com or or post tips here and win an HP digital camera.

The original article is at:

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/netjetters/nick/story/0,15196,1341785,00.html

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