Valencia

As I previously mentioned, Amanda and I spent the past weekend in Valencia, a very prosperous town on the central Mediterranean coast of Spain. I think I can speak for Amanda when I say we were pleasantly surprised with Valencia. The food was great; the people were extremely gracious; the weather was beautiful; and the architecture was a stunning combination of late-Renaissance and futuristic strangeness.

On Saturday night, we had an early dinner (9:45 P.M.) at a very cool restaurant named La Sucursal in Valencia's Modern Art Museum, Institut Valencia d'art Modern. Like the town's streets and the majority of enterprises in Valencia, IVAM's name is Catalan. The restaurant did not disappoint either of us: we both started with conejo (rabbit), and I had a great solomillo de buey (beef--what a shock), and Amanda had arroz con pichon (pidgeon). I of course ordered better than Amanda did on that night, but we were both happy with our dinners.

On Sunday we went to Casa Roberto for some paella and a little local elbow-rubbing. This amazing experience was made possible by our friend from school, Isabel, who grew up in Valencia. Her family has been going to Casa Roberto every Sunday for lunch, and they know the owner, who was kind enough to fit us into their very busy schedule for a 2:00 PM lunch. When we arrived, we noticed that about two-thirds of the tables already had ham and other appetizers spread out awaiting their diners. We were not given menus, but simply asked what we wanted para empezar (as an appetizer). Without hesitating, we went with the ham, and demolished the best plate of ham we have received thus far in Spain--which is saying a lot! Although the ham was great, the highlight of the meal was definitely the Paella Valenciana (paella with chicken, rabbit, beans, and snails). Valencia is the birthplace of paella (although myriad other cultures have their own similar rice specialties), so we knew we were not going to be let down. The paella was amazing. The three-hour meal turned out to be one of our best meals ever, in my opinion, and it was augmented by the ability to watch a real local place operate. Many tables had between six and ten guests and almost every table had a full family eating a leisurely lunch.

Apparently, Casa Roberto also serves a dish called "Arroz Amanda." If we ever go back, we will definitely have to try it!

After our absurdly huge meal at Casa Roberto, we went across town to the Ciutat de les Artes i les Ciencies (City of Arts & Sciences). We didn't end up going into this futuristically-designed center for art and science (mostly for science), because the museums were going to close soon. I think my descriptions of the "city" will not do it justice. Here is a picture of two of the five--soon to be six--buildings:










In other news, we had to say goodbye to our Eurail pass. We have completed our eight trips in two months. This was a sad day in our vacation. I think we profited nicely from the original investment in the pass and I highly recommend anyone look into it for a trip to Europe lasting more than a few weeks.

Next up is our first out-of-Spain travel: Rome, Italy. We can't wait!