I went to Valencia by train from Balsicas the day before my cruise departed.
At 5 am, I woke up before my alarm went off to wake me up. I immediately got up, took a shower and packed my toiletries in my case before closing it up and getting ready for my friend Jim to arrive to take me to Balsicas train station for my onward journey to Valencia. I met Jim outside my apartment at around 6:20 am, and within 20 minutes, he dropped me off at Balsicas train station.
When I got to the station at about 6:45 am, the station was open, but there were no staff on duty. I sat on the station platform and waited for my train to arrive at 7:10 am. I got on the train and found my seat, where I sat until the train arrived in Murcia, where I got off to get my connecting train to Valencia. I crossed to the next platform where the train to Valencia was already sitting, but no one was on it yet. The driver turned up about half an hour later and started up the train before opening the doors to the coaches on the train. I found my seat in the correct coach and settled down for my journey to Valencia.
At around 1:15 pm, the train arrived at Valencia, and I got off. I had a quick look around the station and then got a taxi to take me to my hostel for the night. I ordered the taxi using a phone app that gave me the name of the taxi driver, the make and model of the car, the car colour and its number plate, and a fare for the journey in advance. The taxi journey took about 15 minutes, and I was dropped at the Dormavalencia Hostel, where I would be staying overnight. I had never used this type of hostel before. You have to phone a number on the door, and they let you into the building. You then type your booking details into a vending machine inside, which then pops out the room key.
I went up to the room and was delighted with it. It was a good size and very clean. I sat down on the bed for a while and fell asleep. It had been a long day so far.
This is a video of my room at Dormavalencia, Valencia.
When I woke up, I went for a walk. I saw a Consum store over the road and got myself a bottle of water to drink before going into the Il Vulcano Valencia pizza shop for a takeaway pizza. I took the pizza back to my room in the hostel and ate the majority of it before going to bed for the night.