Exploring Life in Valencia

By Christina

Christina writes and edits Travelling Companion. Her writing covers  expeditions, food, and culture for the blog.​

Trip Overview: European Adventures 2018
Flight Review: American Airlines A330-300 Economy CLT-LHR
Hotel Review: London Marriott Regent's Park
Food in London
Flight Review: British Airways A319 Economy LGW-BCN
Hotel Review: AC Hotel Irla Barcelona
Train Review: Renfe Clase Turista Barcelona-Valencia 
Exploring Life in Valencia
Exploring Life in Barcelona
Flight Review: American Airlines 777-200 Economy BCN-JFK
Flight Review: American Airlines A321T Business Class Seats JFK-DCA ​​​​​

Ramon and I spent a few days in Barcelona and a full day in Valencia.  Our first full day in Spain was in Valencia. As Ramon said earlier, I have a cousin, who lives in Valencia and she was our wonderful tour guide for the day. Since we had to catch our train back to Barcelona, we limited our exploration to the oldest parts of town, but there is definitely enough to see if you wanted to spend a long weekend in this beautiful coastal city. ​

During our walking tour we saw Torres de Serranos, Mercado Central, and the Valencia Cathedral. It is obvious Valencia has so much to offer walking within the city’s ancient walls. There was beautiful artwork, history, and craftsmanship on every corner. It is the ideal city to get lost in. The thing that stuck in my mind over everything else was the food in Valencia. 

The paella was absolutely unbelievable. My cousin had done her due diligence asking various restaurants about the quality of their paella, the typical meal in Valencia. She went to eight different restaurants requesting “paella de Valencia” which is a specific type of paella. When she found a restaurant that suited her requests, we sat outside and began the Valencian meal experience. Our meal consists of a first course, a second course, and a desert all for the price of 12 euros. This is considered a normal sized meal in Valencia. Gloria informed us that lunch in Spain is at 11:00am, but they eat again at 2:00pm. It puzzles me how Valencian's can be so petite. ​

For the first course we had a salad with fresh tomatoes and tuna. I think the food was so fresh because we passed so many fields on the train. The dressing was a local oil and vinegar. While simple, it was delicious. The flavors spoke for themselves. It was a good light start to a meal, and a way to slow down our eating since we were starving. ​

The second course was paella de Valencia. This was paella with chicken and other goodies. I’m not sure how they cooked it, or what exactly was in it, but it was perfect. Warm, flavorful, and filling, this paella was a new culinary experience for me. Despite the fact that Valencia is a port city their traditional paella does not seafood, however, they do offer other paella dishes with seafood. I found the traditional paella de Valencia to be delicious.

Ramon had a different dessert than me. I had a moose that was more like what Americans call a pudding. It was creamy and light. A nice finish to a complex meal. Ramon had what Valencianos call a pudding but is more like a mix of flan and cake. It was heavenly. The pudding had a large slice, but I was only able to steal one bite since Ramon ate it so fast. 

Finally, the meal came with a drink. We picked sangria and it was a great decision. The sangria was crisp and diverse in flavors. My experience with sangria stateside is that it is generally syrup based. While this sangria was a light wine mix with a load of various local fruits including apples and oranges.​