Anyway, two weekends ago I took an impromptu weekend trip to Valencia, a city on the eastern coast of the peninsula. Valencia, as you may or may not know, is the home of paella and Valencia oranges. Also, they speak valenciano. Depending on who you ask, this is either a distinct language or it is a dialect of catalán. Either way, it looked like Fretalianish on paper.
I met up with Andrew, another former Menlo teacher, who had moved to the city just a week before. He made for a great travel companion as we explored the tourist sites together. 
When I arrived on Saturday, I was greeted with blue skies, warm air, and palm trees. Compared to the freezing rain in Madrid that weekend, I felt like I was in heaven. I met up with Andrew at the Mercado Central, then we went off to explore a 15th Century mercantile building and the tower of the cathedral. Valencia's cathedral claims to have the real, actual Holy Grail, but we didn't want to pay to see it! For lunch I insisted on paella, of course. We took a tram out to the beach and found a place where we could sit outside to eat. Again, heaven! The paella was tasty but not mind-blowing, but the beach was awesome. 
It was my first Mediterranean encounter so after lunch I made sure to put my feet in the (really cold) water. After a walk along the water, we headed back into town to check out the Museo de Bellas Artes. Lonely Planet claims that this is an awesome museum. Lonely Planet is mistaken. That evening, we nibbled on olives, almonds, and red wine (still so full from paella!) and stumbled upon a great percussion group drumming their way through the streets of Valencia.
When I arrived on Saturday, I was greeted with blue skies, warm air, and palm trees. Compared to the freezing rain in Madrid that weekend, I felt like I was in heaven. I met up with Andrew at the Mercado Central, then we went off to explore a 15th Century mercantile building and the tower of the cathedral. Valencia's cathedral claims to have the real, actual Holy Grail, but we didn't want to pay to see it! For lunch I insisted on paella, of course. We took a tram out to the beach and found a place where we could sit outside to eat. Again, heaven! The paella was tasty but not mind-blowing, but the beach was awesome. 
It was my first Mediterranean encounter so after lunch I made sure to put my feet in the (really cold) water. After a walk along the water, we headed back into town to check out the Museo de Bellas Artes. Lonely Planet claims that this is an awesome museum. Lonely Planet is mistaken. That evening, we nibbled on olives, almonds, and red wine (still so full from paella!) and stumbled upon a great percussion group drumming their way through the streets of Valencia.The next morning Andrew and I met up to head over to the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias, a pretty recent addition to the Valencian skyline and one of the main draws for tourism. The Ciudad is made up of a series of crazy super-modern buildings that house an aquarium, a science museum, and a planetarium.
We didn't bother going inside, but we did walk around with our mouths open. I wouldn't want my house to look like that place, but the architecture was still really impressive. I've never been to Brasilia, but I'm guessing it's a similar feel. After walking around for a bit, I decided I wanted to catch a bus out to La Albufera, a lagoon/bird sanctuary outside the city. La Albufera is also where many of the rice patties (for paella!) are located, and you can convince the village men to take you out in their boat and row around. Unfortunately, after about an hour of looking for then waiting for the bus, we called it quits and went for lunch. Sad! By the time we finished eating, Valencia weather started feeling more like Madrid weather, so we sought shelter in various other museums of the city. Yeah, Valencia is just not a museum town, I gotta say. I did enjoy the prehistory museum, where I learned about Iberians and Celtiberians. To finish off the trip, Andrew and I went to an horchaterĂa to try a few more Valencian specialties. I drank an horchata (nothing to do with the Mexican version) and I convinced Andrew to order an agua de Valencia. This agua is not water, mind you. It's OJ, cava, gin, and vodka. Yum!
It was a quick jaunt to the coast, but it was definitely a nice break. This weekend I head to Salamanca with Alexia. I haven't been there since I was 15, so I'm looking forward to being sentimental. :)
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