On Saturday, I took the train to Valencia then walked from the station to the center of the old town, and moved into my Airbnb. It’s not a good one. There’s construction noise during the day and the stuff in the kitchen is sticky. I wanted to leave but, honestly didn’t have the energy. I looked back at the reviews and unfortunately see the comments about the dirty kitchen and the construction noise. I’m not sure how I missed the memo there, but I did.
It was also raining in Valencia, but it was so good for the local agriculture that no one was complaining. My only problem was that in both Alicante and Valencia, the smooth marble sidewalks were slippery when wet. Even the white paint on the crosswalks was slippery.
On Sunday I took the metro and streetcar to the beach to have a quick look around. It was hot and it didn’t show off too well with the puddles all around from the previous days’ rain. The beach was wide, there was a pleasant-looking boardwalk, and the water looked blue and pretty. It just looked underdeveloped for someplace so popular.
Back in the city center, I rested up for my food, wine, and history tour. We met and introduced ourselves then started walking and learning about the buildings and history in Valencia. Our guide Dani was very nice and had traveled a bit so he had stories to share from visits to most of the countries we the guests were from. After a while, Dani led us to a former secret hideout for outlawed sweethearts because they didn’t share the same religion. Valencia was once a city, divided into three parts separating the Christians, Jews, and Moors. At this swanky location with both a patio and a table inside, we were served a series of tapas, freshly prepared for us by the chef in the kitchen with wine pairings. Finally, we went inside and were served paella, a few other dishes, more wine, and port, plus a delicious dessert of homemade ice cream with nearly frozen limoncello poured over it. This was a pretty extraordinary experience that I would clearly recommend. It was a great night with good conversation with the other guests too.
On Monday, I spent my time planning for Sicily and clothes shopping. My clothes are getting tired and it’s still pretty warm here, so I needed some items to refresh my stash.
Tuesday was my day for a big tour outside of Valencia in the nearby mountains. We met by the train station and drove in a van for about an hour. Our first stop was at a tall waterfall called Bridal Veil Falls. Not quite Yosemite, but very nice. I did not jump in the water. It was too cold and it didn’t look inviting. Next we drove to an area with a thermal spring swimming river. It was cold and warm in various places but bearable and I loved the experience. We returned to a nearby town and had a tasty, fun lunch. Finally, we drove to a spot with a great view of a rocky canyon with climbers on the steep wall. Our last stop involved a short walk with a view of water shooting out of a wall that involved a dam somewhere on the other side of the mountain. I had a chance to talk to lots of the other people on the tour and it was a fun day. The people on the tour were from the US, Hong Kong, Poland, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and the Phillippines.
On Wednesday, I spent the day with a nice gal from Hong Kong, who lives in London now but is a fellow Aztec from SDSU.
We met at the impressive Central Market and had a coffee. We walked through the old town, visiting the Museum of the City, then made our way to the former river, now turned into a long park. We enjoyed our overpriced fruit from the market and enjoyed the views. We had a big lunch at a famous place for paella. After that we took a taxi to the beach.
This time, I saw a different area and I thought it was much more appealing than on Sunday. We had a cold beer at a beachside restaurant and took the metro back to downtown for some shopping. After a rest at my Airbnb, we were ready for my last Agua de Valencia which is fresh orange juice and some other stuff. We finished the evening with a nice dinner at a Michelin-listed restaurant in the old town.
If you are planning a trip to Spain, it would make sense to make a short visit to Barcelona, then de-camp to Valencia. It has the same vibe with a fraction of the crowds.
Off to Malta!
