From Barcelona we started our cruise around the Spanish coast with Ed and Shelly and our first stop was València.
Our first shore excursion was a bike tour around València. The city was very well set up for bike riding like many of the European cities.
An area where the bike paths go through was where the Turia River used to flow. In 1957 there was a terrible flood, so to prevent further flooding of the city the river was diverted around the city. The original river bed is now a beautiful green space with bike paths, gardens, playgrounds, cafes and modern cultural buildings.
We continued along the bike path to the old town. As with all old towns we have visited there are a lot of beautiful old medieval churches, cathedrals and plazas amongst narrow winding cobblestone streets with parts of the old city walls from Roman times.
In front of the cathedral there is a glass cover with the remains of Roman València. There are baths and streets plus a courtyard of the old Muslim city. These remains were discovered when they were adding an extension to the cathedral. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go down into the museum to get a closer look.
Our guide told us we should try one of Valencia’s traditional sweets called a farton. They are a sweet bread glazed with sugar. It was a bit like a stale finger bun. What we didn’t realise was that the locals have them with horchata which is a sweet drink made from soaked and grounded tiger nuts. Not those tiger nuts! They’re not even a nut. They are a type of tuber like a potato.
After the tour we went hunting for a traditional Valencian paella. We found a great little restaurant in a side street. The waiter told us it was made here just like his mother made it at home. It was delicious! It even had some socarrat around the edges which is when the rice goes crispy. So it was a very traditional Valencian paella because it had the socarrat, rabbit, chicken and beans. It should have had snails too but I said I didn’t like snails but I was happy to try them in the paella. His English wasn’t so good so we think he misunderstood.
Our guide told us about a traditional Valencian festival called The Fallas which is held annually in commemoration of Saint Joseph. The five main days celebrated are from 15th to 19th of March. From March 1st fireworks are set off everyday. This is called the Mascletà. The main feature of The Fallas festivities is the giant falla which is a monument made up of ninots or dolls that look like caricatures. The hundreds of ninots are then judged. On the last day of the festival all the ninots are burned!!! except the one which was voted by the judges as the best. It is then put into The Fallas Museum which has all the other winning ninots from the past. Unfortunately we didn’t get to this museum either. It looks like we need another trip to València.
Another amazing Spanish city that we need to visit again.
