This day started out a 1:00 AM with Omar knocking on my door. We had received a message from REFE that train we were scheduled to take to Valencia was canceled. The plan was for the four of us to take a train from Barcelona Sants station to the Valencia Nord station. We would bid adieu to Carlos and Omar in Valencia and take our scheduled car transfer to Cullera, another 45 minutes south. This plan was clearly not going to work. I sent a message to the transfer company that we needed to change the pickup point to Barcelona and went back to sleep. At 1:30 Omar is at the door again telling me that the train is now a go, without any message from the transfer company I send an email to then so we could revert back to the original plan. In the morning I got a response to the first change telling us it would cost 700 Euro to transfer from Barcelona to Cullera, I respectfully declined. We had our breakfast, emptied the trash and started moving luggage one person and one bag at a time, it was a very small elevator. We waited outside for our pre-ordered 9AM Uber van. However there was no driver assigned to the order and the closer we got to 9:00 the more apparent it became that there was not going to be a van coming to get us. So both Omar and I stared ordering two smaller Ubers and both Leslie and Carlos wert out to look for taxis. First Leslie got a taxi, then Omar wrangled an Uber. Soon enough we met at the train station only to find that while we were driving to the train station, REFE sent out an email saying the train was again canceled. Oooffff! So the plans are busted wide open. Omar contacts their next stay in Seville to see if they can start earlier, but that is not an option. I use a different service to book a van Valencia. Finally we agree to split the cost of a trip to Valencia by car, 650 Euros minus the amount from the train tickets that we will receive in a refund. Then we returned to the plan, drop off Omar and Carlos and head to Cullera. It was a long ride but the new Mercedes van that we rode in made it more bearable.
Time to head out
Only to find that the train is canceled
In the van we go
A big bridge or a quarry works
Industrial chic
Lots of open space
some small towns
A new coast line to explore
Rugged cliffs
We took a mid trip break
Stables?
On this stretch we could see the debris from where the road had been flooded the previous evening
A church / monastary
More rain up ahead
Passing more small towns
And more rain
In fact the drivers phone alarmed with notifications of heavy rains
A hard rain
Approaching the outskirts of Valencia
Some grand buildings
We dropped off Carlos and Omar and are seeing flooded feilds
More warnings are coming in about torrential rains
The driver has picked up his speed
More evidence of flooding
More intense rain
We have reached the town
A big castle in the hill
The sea is rough
But our view is fantastic
We headed out to buy some essentials and picked up kebabs for dinner
Both chicken and beef
Dinner on the patio
Watching the people and the dogs
A lone wolf in the darkness
