We caught an early bus out of Madrid an headed for the seaside town of Valencia. I threw my bag into the bus's luggage area and climbed through the bus, searching for seat 50. Unfortunately, the bus only had 49 seats, but I quickly grabbed a vacant seat and was on my way. We stopped halfway through the trip at a small rest stop where I quickly surveyed the surroundings and realized I was pretty far from Madrid. Farms, plains, and windmills still cover the land that Don Quijote once traveled through.
As we arrived in Valencia, I realized I didn't know too much about the city aside from its location and its culinary specialty - Paella. It turned out I didn't really need to know much more. We spent the first afternoon relaxing on the beach, with real sand rather than the rocks of A Coruña. After a delicious Paella lunch served in a pan about a few feet in diameter a siesta en la playa was wonderful. The sun was shining, cool breezes were blowing, and gentle waves were falling upon the shore. After a nice nap in the sand, I ventured out into the Mediterranean. The water was surprisingly warm and beautiful, so I floated out into the sea and looked back on the town, port, and hills.
As the afternoon went on, we explored the area around our hotel, which included the "Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias," which is apparently Spanish for "futuristic Franklin Institute."
We spent the evening as most evenings in Spain are spent - with tapas. After the heavy seafood paella lunch, some bread, croquettes, and olives were a great evening cena. Accompanied by Sangria de Cava - Sangria made with Champagne as the base drink, possibly the greatest drink of all time - it was a great tapas evening.
The next morning we explored the cultural parts of Valencia, starting with some of the cathedrals and city hall. Apparently one of the cathedrals has the Holy Grail, so in the tradition of Indiana Jones and his Scottish father, I journeyed there and saw the Grail. The lack of trippy tests of faith and invisible bridges was a little disappointing, but it was still pretty excellent to finish a personal quest of mine. After the quest, we stopped for a brief Horchata, a local specialty made from tiger nuts that is different from the Latin American Horchata and the Vampire Weekend version of Horchata.
We also visited the giant market Mercado Central, which houses hundreds of food stands and contains everything from fruit to meat to spices. We enjoyed more paella for lunch as well as Valencia's famous local drink, Agua de Valencia. Agua de Valencia is no mere water, however. It is a mixed drink that includes orange juice, champagne, vodka, and gin. It was alright, but no match for Sangria de Cava. After a brief discussion of whether Valencia warranted more cultural exploration, we returned to the beach where we enjoyed another beautiful day. Heading out the next morning for another long bus ride back to Madrid, I enjoyed a freshly squeezed Valencia orange juice for breakfast, although I'm not sure if the oranges actually came from there as they're probably out of season.
Valencia may be a bit of a lightweight when it comes to art or architecture, but for an early fall weekend when a beach trip was desperately needed, it was absolutely perfect.
No comments:
Post a Comment