Rules for the weekend: No meat (except chorizo), only seafood.

Arriving at Valencia utterly hungry after a long day's work, I was amazed by the first sight of the magnificence of the city. Okay, so when we came out of the train station it was in the middle of a high school hangout at the mall, but walking towards Plaza del Ayuntamiento is breathtaking with the grand town hall and beautiful waterfall in the middle. The hotel was located practically round the corner, so great location. However trying to spot a restaurant for dinner was as confusing as the roads (initially anyway, probably a little disoriented from hunger!!). Had first taste of tapas, paella and sangria at probably some rip-off tourist restaurant cos we were just too hungry to look for the place that the hotel recommended!


First day at Valencia and it was to do the city tour. Went to Mercado Central (Central Market) which is a myriad of fresh fruit/vegies/meat/seafood! Made me miss the fresh foods we could get at home - obviously it is difficult to find anything nice in London. Couldn't leave without buying a blood orange, another Valencian speciality (well, oranges are, don't know about blood orange!) Next stop was La Lonja, the old Silk Exchange Building which is now listed as an UNESCO Hertiage site of humanity (another one!). It features a beautiful columned room where the old tables on which trading transactions were finalised are still in use today. It is also rare to be able to enter a place without have to pay a fee!! Afterwards, we stumbled to the Cathedral at Plaze de la Reina which claimed to possess the Holy Grail, the chalice Jesus used at the Last Supper (hmm...not sure if we saw that...???).


After a quick lunch at Plaze de la Reina it was pretty much siesta time. Now I am not one who is against sleeping, but not when I'm on holidays!! Everything shuts down in the afternoon, so there isn't much you can do but shut down too. After an hour, was time to hit the shops. Unfortunately, nothing to buy...wanted to pick up a pair of sandals but none to my taste, or no size!

Since lunch was late, and on top of siesta time, Spaniards do not take dinner until 9pm. The wait was painful! On the way to the restaurant (after having to haul out of bed..again...) we found a Juice lounge that also mixed fresh juice with alcohol...namely my favourite spirit: vodka. So in following the Valencian speciality, I ordered a naranje vodka... and to my surprise, a HUGE goblet arrived!! The place was kinda like a uni hangout.. quite chilled and relaxing with rattan chairs and cushions. Dinner was at a traditional Valentian restaurant - had the paella again. Wanted to try something authentic, and that was definately yummo! A bit salty for my taste buds though..and the by then the vodka had reached the head, so more wine or sangria!!

Day 2 - Americas Cup Port
Sunny sunny sunny day!!! Spent the day loitering at the port and checking out all to do with sailing. Given that we didn't arrive until 11am, it was pretty much time for another rip-off lunch (one tiny roll gosts €7-€8??!) There were also all sorts of displays, and activities for everyone and the beach was just next door. It was pretty cool wondering around the sheds and then checking out boats docked around the port. Eventhough I am pretty much a blonde when it come to these things (as long as it looks good!!), it does make you want to just go on a loooong holiday and sail away, especially on a sunny day!! Still waiting for my sailing trip to eventuate...and unfortunately no hot guys there to whisk me away on his boat!!!

On the way back to the hotel stopped to check out La Plaza de Toros bullring next to the train station. Can't see much since it was closed. Since we were starving from lack of lunch, I suggested going for tapas and more sangria. The style is actually very different from ordering tiny dishes. Instead, the bar is lined with a plethora of cold canape-styled food, mostly some sort of fish/seafood topping on top of a slice of french baguette bread. Wasn't what I expected at all, but did enjoy it just as much, since it was a guessing game on what I was eating (which is a contrast from Miss Fussypot!) And to work it off, wondered around the old part of town and stumbled to Plaza de la Virgen, another square + fountain behind the cathedral. And further along was the Torres de Quart - tower was built in 1441, and was part of the wall of the medieval city. Since was still too early for dinner, nothing to do but siesta!
Dinner later was at a seafood restaurant vaguely recommended by the concierge (he does not know the name of the restaurant, and when asked for a recommendation, his response was "depends on how much you want to like to waste" - waste??? does he mean 'spend' in bad English?? Noooo... he said it with a grin on his face!). I splurged and ordered the lobster...hehehe.. it's yummo fresh, but will not disclose the bill!

Last day at Valencia and it was a trip to Valencia's City of Arts and Science (Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias). It looked like you were zapped to the future, with futuristic designed buildings surrounded by water. Afterwards it was another quick shopping trip at Colon. Still I came back empty handed. And before long it was time to go to the airport.. where I think I spent more money than anywhere else buying sangria and some orange alcoholic drink/spirit...