Valencia, Spain: Day 1

I woke up in stunning Valencia, Spain at 8:00 am. After getting off the plane, I went down to the baggage claim, and I was disgusted to discover that my luggage had been lost. I'm not sure where luggage goes when it is "lost." Apparently, nowadays, it just leaps off the plane. Well, they never found my luggage, but the airline was kind enough to give a free taxi ride to the hotel I will be staying at while in Valencia.

After the mayhem at the airport, I finally arrived at the Beta Hotel Valencia at 4:00 in the afternoon. I checked in and paid the $89 per night visitor's fee (www.tripadvisor.com). When I asked about activities here in Valencia, the woman at the front desk informed me of the International Festival of Pyrotechnics. She told me that it would start at midnight, and she said that it was one of Europe's most impressive fireworks displays. The name rung a bell. It was the same festival Hemingway was so taken with.

I showed up to the festival at exactly 12:00 midnight, and it was well worth it. I had never seen or heard such fireworks. It seemed like every five seconds something was lighting up or exploding. After the show, the air in the city was full of the strong smoke of gunpowder. I decided it was time to turn in. I made it back to the hotel, and I was asleep by 2:30 am.