a southern lady in valencia

On Monday, we woke up in Granada and started getting ready for a very long coach trip ahead of us. We left at 11:45 am, and arrived in Valencia at 7:30 pm. We were so excited to be off the bus and able to walk around a new (and beautiful) city! A quick bus ride through Valencia and we arrived at our new Airbnb accommodation. Once again, we were happily surprised with our apartment - it was huge, sunny, and had a lovely terrace for sitting out and sipping wine.

We freshened up and set out to find a good place for dinner. We walked around and looked at a few place, but stumbled across El Huerto. It had a 'Secret Garden' feel and we were happy to sit outside in the perfect weather. Our food was incredible and it was our first blow-out meal of the trip! We had a bottle of wine, eggplant carpaccio and a huge pot of paella (which Valencia is famous for). We walked back to our apartment feeling very full and very happy.

On Tuesday morning, we went to the Mercat Central. This is a huge market and there are so many yummy things to look at and drool over. I would definitely recommend going! We had mini chocolate croissants (which were filled with Nutella) and cafe con leches. After our successful trip to the market, we walked around the city center and went back to the apartment to grab our swimsuits. We took the bus to Las Arenas and rented two chairs and an umbrella on the beach. It was a gorgeous day and perfect for relaxing in the sun. After a little sunbathing, we walked up to the boardwalk for lunch at Vivir Sin Dormir. After lunch, we walked back to our chairs on the beach and relaxed in the sun. European beaches are the best for people watching - you see everything out here! Several hours passed and we were ready to stop staring at people and head back to our flat. On our way back, we spotted a place that looked like it might be good for dinner and looked it up when we got wifi again. Sure enough, it had great reviews so we decided to check it out for dinner. We went back over there at 8:45 for diner, and we were one of two tables taken at the restaurant (us, and two old ladies!). We just couldn't believe how late people eat here, especially in Valencia. By 10:30 the restaurant was filling up and people were finally eating their meals. Anyways, the chef at the restaurant spoke English (our waiter did not) and my very limited Spanish didn't get me far with ordering. The chef came out and we asked her to bring us her favorite dishes. We were really impressed with everything she brought out and  we were starting to believe that Valencia has the best food in Spain. The restaurant is called 'Los Madriles' and I would suggest ordering the croquettes, octopus, and pork (with mushrooms and wrapped in pastry).

Wednesday we woke up bright and early to go out and explore Valencia a bit more before heading to the train station and making our way to Barcelona. The day before we had passed by la Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias (The City of Arts and Sciences) museum while we were on the bus and I really wanted to go back to get an up close look. It was great to just walk around the outside; we didn't even feel like we needed to go into the museums. But I am sure they are worth going in to!

The food, scenery, weather were all perfect in Valencia. I actually didn't want to leave but was excited about going back to one of my favorite cities…Barcelona!