Trip to Valencia, Spain - 28th to 31st March 2008

A drinking and football trip to Valencia, a good opportunity to revisit a great city for going out and having a good time. The flight out there was on EasyJet - a change from my usual work travel, which usually involves "proper" airlines. So, it was off to Stansted to join the scrum to get on the plane. The EasyJet experience was actually pretty good in terms of everything that the airline themselves did - we were on time, the plane was in decent condition, and the drinks kept coming (for a fee, of course). My fellow EasyJet passengers were somewhat different, though - descending on the gate as soon as there was any prospect of boarding starting, as if their life depended on getting on the plane as soon as humanly possible. All very strange.

Our first night in the city involved lots of beer - starting at Manolo's Bar (and football shrine), the owner of which is so famous he even has his own Wikipedia entry. The evening ended up in an utterly fantastic indie bar called El Tornillo (The Screw). As soon as we walked in, they started playing Arctic Monkeys, The Courteeners, and other great UK Indie bands. An amazing find, and incredible to come across such a brilliant reproduction of the UK Indie scene - the owners and DJs really benefit from being able to access all that UK culture and music online. I will definitely be returning to El Tornillo.

The rest of the trip included more of the same - drinking, eating and watching football, in surroundings a good 10 degrees warmer than the UK. It has been too long since I was last in Valencia, and with the discovery of El Tornillo, I will definitely aim to return soon.