I am going to start off by saying we LOVED Valencia! And I am going to put both of our days into one post, well…just because it is easier!
Valencia – Day 1
We rode on a high speed train from Madrid to Valencia that took just about 2 hours and of course Phil LOVED tracking the speed in which we were going! We had one and a snack of meats and cheeses we brought onboard with us. Once we arrived in Valencia we went straight to our hotel, the Palacio Santa Clara which is a lovely 60 room hotel that had fabulous decor and vibe to it. After resting for a few we headed out to see what we could see in this town…..Valencia is a cross between Vienna and Paris but a smaller, very friendly feel to it. But what amazed us was the smells! This town needed as Phil said “smellavision” – all of the trees and flowers were blooming , the restaurants were cooking amazing things, it was like walking through the yummiest place on earth. We walked about 2 hours exploring and taking pictures of this great city and then went to dinner which was at funny enough an Argentinian Steakhouse and oh my goodness the food! We got the 2 person deal which included 3 appetizers, and for the meat we did ribeye and tenderloin – the tasty and the tender! We were very happy to “waddle” home aftre our meal and first wonderful day in Valencia.
Valencia – Day 2
After a nice breakfast at the hotel we headed out to do more site seeing, this time Phil wanted to see the Mediterranean so we went over to the beach to check it out and dip our toes in the water. Valencia is actually the 3rd largest port in Europe and it was massive with several very large cruise ships in port. One of Valencia’s top sites is the City of Arts & Sciences and I am not sure how to describe this group of buildings other than mammoth works of art. There they had a plantitarium, science center, aquarium and art museum as well as a atrium of local plant life – all of this surrounded by shallow blue water pools. I think Phil said it best when he said it is almost overwhelming. We did not have time unfortunately to go to the Aquarium because we had bigger plans for the afternoon. Which incuded us going to a spa! We decided we needed a down day to maybe work out some of the soreness we still had from our boat and horse excursions! They put us in this great room to start that had a jacuzzi tub, steam room and sauna and after we enjoyed that we actually fell asleep waiting for the therapist to come get us. It was a great relaxing day but our day was not over. Back to the hotel to shower and clean up because we had a private Paella cooking class to go to. We absolutely loved our chef Jose and we learned so much about the ins and outs of making paella and how it is meant to be shared on Sunday’s for lunch with family. The traditional Paella is with chicken and rabbit but we opted for the seafood which included shrimp, clams and cuddle fish (I was very scared by this slimy looking fish) but after Phil cut it up and it was cooked it was not bad at all. We had a great time and of course for those of you that know us. We will be buying a paella pan and cooker and add this to our repitore of things we love to make like pizza, pasta and steaks! This is our last night in Valencia and tomorrow we are off to Barcelona! We are down to our last 5 days but we are going to end it with a bang! More to come!
