However, there's nothing I love more than exploring new places and Valencia was no exception. Admittedly it's not my favourite city in Spain, but it still has the typical Spanish charm with the picturesque little squares and the big gothic Cathedral. It's also only a 2 hour train ride from Madrid, and is one of the closes cities that has a beach.
I arrived in the afternoon and after checking into my hotel went out to explore the city. This started with a long and laborious climb up to the top of the bell tower of the Cathedral for views over the city. If i'd known that those bells were going to wake me up at 9am each morning and ring incessantly for 35 minutes then I would have cut them loose there and then. For lunch I had some nice tapas at Las Cuevas before carrying on my tour of the city. I have to be honest, there's not really a hell of a lot to do or see in the city, which forced me to spend much of the afternoon drinking beer. What you gonna do?! That evening I took the metro out towards the coast where I had read about a popular tapas bar called Casa Montana. By the time I got there at 9 it was already heaving (fairly early by Spanish standards). I found a seat at the bar and ordered a really nice glass of Rioja (I've subsequently sent the details off to my dad who has already ordered some bottles off of the internet. I'm hoping that'll make my transition back to Scotland more bearable). To eat I ordered their famous stewed broad beans, which were extremely tasty, as well as tuna stuffed pepper and cod croquette.
The next day was spent at the beach. Although its aesthetically a nicer beach than Malaga, I found the water to be quite dirty and the one and only time I went in for a dip I found that I came out covered in debris. It was also very windy, unlike Malaga where there was no breeze. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for this given how hot it was, but it meant that I couldn't use my parasol as the sand was far too fine to withold the force of the wind. Third world problems. For lunch I went to one of the many restaurants that lined the promenade. As Valencia is famous for paella, I figured it was something I had to try. Easier said that done since most restaurants prepare paella for a minimum of 2 people. Not much use when you're a sad and lonely singleton like me. Eventually I found somewhere prepared to make it for little old me. Usually I find paella to be quite bland, but it was actually rather nice. The traditional way of making it here is with chicken and rabbit, so it had more flavour.
That evening I had a couple of drinks in my favourite bar, La Estrecha, before going to Sagardi for a tapas dinner. This place is very popular in Valencia and is always packed. The bar is lined with all sorts of different tapas served on bread. The idea is that you just go up with your place and take as many as you like. They also come out with hot tapas, such as croquettes, chorizo etc. At the end of the meal, they tally up how many cocktail sticks are on your plate and give you the final bill (each tapa is 2 euros). I'm not quite sure what's to stop people from throwing away cocktail sticks so they pay less. However, I'm not a stingy bastard, just a fat one, and therefore the only reason I would have to throw mine away is so that I wouldn't be judged on the quantity I managed to eat!
I returned to Madrid on the Thursday and on the Friday decided to take a day trip to Alcala de Henares, which is only 35 minutes on the train. Its pretty small, and there's not much to see or do, but it's a pretty city to walk around. As the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, there are homages to Don Quijote all over the place, such as statues and plaques. My favourite place was the Convento de las Clarisas de San Diego, which is where the nuns sell homemade candied almonds. You have to order and pay for the almonds through a revolving wooden door, as you are not allowed to see the nuns. I can't imagine a life where no contact with the outside world is permitted. I may still be single, but I"m not yet ready to commit to a nunnery, even if it meant a lifetime of delicious candied almonds!
No comments:
Post a Comment