IVAM- August 5

After awaking around 3pm on Friday, the gang (Seth, Wes, Clare, and I) headed to IVAM for an afternoon at the Instituto Valencia de Arte Moderno.
To be honest, I wasn't thrilled to be spending a lovely day in Spain inside a museum but man, am I glad that we did. The exhibits there blew my mind and had me begging for more, igniting an excitement for art which I had never experienced before.
The museum featured an exhibit by Rui Macedo, whose paintings were bright and colorful, abstract yet precise. I fell in love with every piece, especially the ones which contained his cat.

On our walk back into town from the museum, we came across los Torros de Quart Gate, which we promptly ran up the steps to the top. The view from the towers was exquisite. Built between 1441 and 1460, it was used as a women's prison.

After the towers we wandered through the heart of the historic city, settling down for dinner at a little restaurant in the bohemian district off of Trench Street.

The dinner was extraordinary. We began with a pitcher of sangria and tapas. Clare had a zucchini stuffed with curry, Seth had calamari, Wes ate potatoes. I had, for the first time, cuttlefish- which is now my favorite food ever. Quite like calamari, cuttlefish is spongey but much more flavorful and does not need any breading or to be fried. Mmmmm.

On our walk home from dinner, we popped into the Lonja de la Seda, which was built between 1482 and 1492. It was used as an exchange and trade building throughout the majority of its history.
We were only able to see the Hall of Columns due to our late arrival, but we will go back to see the gardens and famous staircases.

Team USA and Team Europe (Yasamin, Carlos, and Perrin) later assembled and spent the evening at Clare and I's apartment, teaching each other different games and enjoying some tinto. It was a day well spent.

More pictures can be found at: Janae's Facebook