It's that time of year, you know, when spring fever is hitting hard and you just need to get the heck out of whatever cold place you live and into the sunshine. I got so jealous seeing so many people flocking to my dear hometown (St. George) for President's Day last week, so we decided to take a trip to the Spanish coast and get some much-needed vitamin D.
Oh, Valencia has stolen our hearts! We loved traveling to the beautiful city just a couple of hours south of Barcelona along the Mediterranean. It was a beautiful 65 degrees with not a cloud in the sky all weekend. Even though it wasn't really warm enough to swim (although that didn't stop our friend McKay from sprinting into the ocean the minute he saw it;) the freckles on my skin were just delighted to make their first appearance of 2020.
The beach, the architecture, the park, the FOOD, ALL OF IT was amazing! Our first stop was at the market where we picked up some of the most delicious produce in the whole entire world.
I have to share this because I haven't yet, which is crazy because there are markets like this EVERYWHERE. Those things hanging are just a bunch of pig legs that have been cured and are ready to eat just like that. If you've never eaten jamón, then you've never been to Spain--the two are inseparable, and both are amazing.
We spent that evening walking around the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias and marveling at the most modern architecture we've seen in months. Each of these crazy buildings is located right next to the largest aquarium in Europe, the L'Oceanogràfic, so they're all reminiscent of some kind of sea life.
I'm thinking this is supposed to look like a big whale coming up out of the water with a mouth full of krill.
The big building in the background, when reflected on the giant pool of water next to it, looks just like a fish. And we speculate that this building here was probably inspired by the inside of a really bony fish, but we're not totally sure.
Gulliver Park is now one of my very favorite places in the world. It's this narrow, miles-long park in the middle of the city located where a river used to flow. The river used to flood the streets all the time, so it was diverted and replaced with one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen.
Please enjoy this photo of me and my girl Syd.
We just couldn't get enough of the park! So the next day we rented bikes and rode up and down the beach and all through the park again.
Still sporting my Sketchers. If ya know, ya know.
The flowers all over the city were unreal! They did my soul so much good.
Also THESE. Valencia is FAMOUS for its oranges, and for good reason. They are delicious...so delicious, that at first, we were surprised to see so many oranges left on the trees instead of picked off. Turns out, the city purposely planted this particular type of orange all over because they taste awful (not that we were dumb enough to try them even after we were warned against it...;) but they are beautiful decorations.
Ohh it had been far too long since I climbed a tree. Seriously, a trip to Valencia is exactly what the doctor ordered (or, quite the opposite, because just days after there was a mini coronavirus outbreak in the region so literally the doctor should not have ordered us to be there...WE'RE FINE, DON'T WORRY).
Anyway, it's an absolute crime that we didn't get any good pictures of the beach, but the calm Mediterranean waters were really a sight for sore, landlocked eyes. We DID, however, document one of THREE paellas we ate during our three-day stay. When in Valencia, you gotta eat the famous dish, right?
The four of us (Hayden included) ate out of this giant pan of rice, chicken, peas, and rabbit (sorry, rabbit owners) together, as is custom. WOW. If you're ever fortunate enough to get to Valencia, you can't miss out on this stuff. Grab your friends, get yourself a mediodia reservation at a local paellaria, and come hungry. (Side note, "mediodia" in Spanish is translated directly to "middle of the day," which is NOT noon around here, it's 3:00pm...that was quite the misunderstanding.)
Also very typical of Valencia is orxata...which you probably recognize better has horchata. Instead of rice, though, it's actually made out of a nut called a tiger nut and it is DELICIOUS. Nothing better than a nice farton in orxata (it tastes way better than it sounds, promise).
Just behind yet another beautiful but disgusting orange tree is the Valencia Cathedral. This is no ordinary cathedral...
In it, damas y caballeros, is housed THE Holy Grail (or so the story goes). Ya know, I don't really know the whole story, but some people believe that this is actually it, contrary to any of the Monty Python allegations that it's in England.
Umm, can we talk about the 2/3 rule here for a second? I think I really nailed this shot, but I guess the flowers and the beautiful architecture made it pretty easy:).
We spent our last day in the city at the largest aquarium in Europe. It was amazing! Such a variety of beautiful seal life.
I'll spare you too many fish pics, but take this smiling beluga whale as a summary of how the weekend made me feel, how Spain makes me feel, and how absolutely grateful I am to have the opportunity to see the world like this!
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