Valencia, a detailed account

ok now that I am actually have some time on my hands I can go into a bit more detail of my Valencia experiences before we head off to Madrid tomorrow morning...

So to back up, Preetal picked me up from the airport on Friday and after a stop to say a quick hello to her friends we went to her house. Her madre lives in a 3rd floor flat above a Asian dollar store. The flat has 4 bedrooms (i think) and two bathrooms. Her madre Blanca was nice enough to make up a guestroom for me. The flat looks spanish with arched doorways and brown tile floor. Blanca looks like a little 1950s housewife with her hair flipped out and makeup all done.

That night we met up with some of Preetal´s friends and actually had a German dinner cooked by some German friends of theirs. So my first meal in Spain was German and it was amazingly good though I am not really sure what it was. We walked home and that first night it was warmer than London and I didn´t even wear a jacket...to bad that didn´t last.

Saturday, we eventually got up and headed to the "Mercado Central" or Central Market. This is like a real food market and is very different from those in London. There are stalls of dried fruit, veggies, and meat. Oh the meat. Lets just say there are dried pig legs hanging from the ceiling, I have seen a skinless head of something nasty as well as just the snout/face/ears of a pig. Walk into the VERY fresh seafood section and they have squid, octopus, fish, eel, shrimp a lot of which is still moving or being killed at that moment. I guess this indoor market is one of the oldest in Europe and these Spaniards mean business.

After that we checked out the "La Lonja de la Seda" which is an old building that used to be a silk market. It is soo pretty and looks like it should be a church. We then did a little shopping in the shops down the street before heading to the posh little internet cafe so Preetal could actually study for her finals.

Sunday and Monday, it rained a lot and Preetal was busy studying so we didn´t do anything to eventful.....except for watching episodes of Friends on her laptop while trying to thaw out after freezing out in the rain. We did manage to fight the rain and visit the "Museo Nacional de Ceramica" or the ceramics museum. We mainly went because the museum is housed in the former Palace of Maruis de Dos Aguas and was so detailed and amazing inside.

So far we have been eating our meals with Blanca. The food she serves is very interesting. Our first lunch was paella with vegetables and what I thought was chicken but what Preetal thought was rabbit. There was also a side salad, and a plate of tomatoes with white asparagus and chunks of tune on top. We have also had Spanish tortillas which are pretty much potatoes quiche made in a frying pan. This was served with a side puree soup and some bread. The whole way of eating here is so different. First they eat at different times. In the morning, Blanca leaves for work at 10am and leaves out toast and jam for breakfast. Then she comes home in the afternoon and serves lunch which is the largest meal of the day around 2 to 2:30pm. After siesta, or a few hours of rest she goes back to work and does not come home until 9pm and we eat dinner around 9:30 0r 10pm. SO that has taken a bit of getting used to. Also they leave more food out here. The paella we ate our first day sat uncovered on the counter for 2 days, the milk is served out of box cartons that are not refrigerated. Different for sure, I know that in London they didn´t refrigerated there eggs but this is on another level all together....anyways.

Yesterday the weather was better and between Preetal´s finals (yes I am a huge distraction to her, my bad) First, we went and climbed the Torres de Serranos which is this huge gothic tower that was the entrance to the city and gave great views, then we went to see the Sorella exhibit of paintings that are of traditional spanish scenes. At dusk, we climbed the 300 stairs of the La Catedral de Valencia & El Miguelete (the Valencia Cathedral) to see the views of the city and the famous Plazas. After our treck, we rewarded ourselves and split traditional chocolate and churros. This I think might be the worst thing for you, ever but don´t hold me to that I am yet to hit Italy. 1 large cup of think hot chocolate and then dipping deep fried dough into it, very good but really rich.

Today is Preetal´s last day of finals and so everyone is going out Valencian style tonight. Tomorrow we have a 8am flight to Madrid for our 1 day there, let the backpacking continue....

ok so after typing this on a spanish only computer i now see that i really do suck at spelling haha