This week is
Carnavales (like Mardis Gras, but about four days long) in Bilbao, so all of the Insitutos get the week off. Since we had some time off, Jess and I decided to check out Valencia for four days. The trip was pretty last minute and we didn't have many plans or expectations, but it turned out to be a really great trip!
Probably one of the reasons why it went so well was because we had people to show us around. Jana (one of Jessica's friends from Andalucia) is currently living in Valencia, and was a great tour guide. Our first night there, she invited us over to bake cupcakes, which was a lovely treat considering we don't have an oven in Blibao. Nicole, another friend from Andalucia, also joined us for most of the trip and supplied the lemon cupcake recipe.
Our second day was absolutely gorgeous! We started the day off at Starbucks (the first one I've been to in Spain!) and sat in the little indoor/oudoor patio, planning the rest of our trip. The rest of day was spent in the old part of town. We went to the
mercado central and explored tons of kiosks of fruit, vegetables, bread, oils, seafood, and meats. Across the street is
La Lonja, which used to be a silk trading center built in the beginning of the 16th century. The architecture is absolutely stunning, with a towering ceiling, spiral columns, and stained glass.
So, Valencia doesn't celebrate
Carnavales, but we arrived there right at the beginning of
Las Fallas, which is Valencia's big celebration, where neighborhoods build big wooden puppets, that are eventually burned (save one). We didn't see the burning, but we did witness the
mascleta, which occurs at 2:00 every day of Las Fallas. Essentially everyone crowds the Plaza de Auntamiento to watch/hear them set off fireworks. We saw it from quite far away, and it felt like the buildings around us were going to come crashing to the ground. Very exciting though!
The highlight of Day 3 was the
Paella. Paella is one of the more well-known Spanish dishes (along with
tortilla de patata and
sangria), and it originated in Valencia. It's also something that we rarely see in the Basque Country because it's "Spanish" (aka "not Basque"). Anyway, Paella is essentially a rice dish cooked and served in a big pan with saffron and meat and/or seafood. We got a recommendation from Jana's roommate about where to get good paella, and skipped the
mascleta in order to get a table in the sun.
 |
| Jessica tries her first beer! |
Later that day, we hit up the
Portland Ale House to test our trivia skills and get a little taste of home (and beer!). Well, the trivia part didn't go so well. I, personally, have always been terrible with random knowledge, but I was with a group of intense trivia-fiends (ehem, Jessica). According to their standards, we did pretty poorly. I mean, I was happy that I guessed one correctly! The most disappointing part was that we didn't even get our score read! Although, maybe that was a blessing in disguise... We're not trying to disgrace the good ol' Five-Oh-Three (Yes, that was our team name). But even though we sucked at trivia, the bar had a great vibe. The staff is super-friendly, there's a good mix of Spanish and English, and I finally got to drink some good beer! I tried the Panty-Dropper, which was really delicious! We even returned the next night (when it was a little calmer), and I said hi to the owner, Mike, who used to coach the girls basketball team at Glencoe when I played for Beaverton. It was really cool to see him, and he treated us all to a round, which was so nice! Jessica even drank her VERY FIRST BEER, and even enjoyed it a little! Be sure to give her a high-five when you see her.
 |
| Weirdest fish/shark in the world. |
Our last day in Valencia was spent in the
Oceanografic section of the
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. It was really awesome. First of all, the architecture is stunning. It's a group of Space-Age-Looking buildings. I couldn't get pictures of all the buildings, but you should
Google Image it, and check them out. Secondly, the exhibits are really cool. They have a bunch of different sea-life exhibits, and underwater tunnels that are home to some of the coolest/weirdest creatures (see photo). We had no problem spending all day there. If you ever get to Valencia, I highly recommend it.
Well, that was Valencia! I was really impressed and hopefully I'll get to go back some day. Now, I'm off to celebrate "Pancake Tuesday" with some Irish kids!
