A taste of Spain at Ocean Café - in Bristol

After my visit in April to Valencia I have to admit to having fallen in love with all things Spanish, so Ocean Café in Bristol was the natural place to celebrate my birthday with friends.


The Café opens in the morning for a late breakfast of Bocadillo de Bacon (that great British favourite) and goes on into the evening for Tapas and Paella. We sampled a set menu of all the favourite Tapas - Jamon, meatballs, Patatas Bravas and Calamari followed by Paella and Churros with chocolate sauce for dessert. Unfortunately I was enjoying the food so much that I forgot to take many photos of it before it disappeared.


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A cruise in the Mediterranean

I know that many of you are on the look out for a cheap holiday, so how about this cruise in the Mediterranean that my husband took in April? The cruise started in Gibraltar where he boarded the ship to sail back to the UK and it didn't cost him a penny - in fact, you could say it was more of a working holiday.

There were some fabulous sunsets to admire as they left the Mediterranean shores...




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Valencia re-visited with the Amateur Traveler

I was thrilled to record an interview with Chris Christensen of the Amateur Traveler Podcast last week to tell him all about our visit to Valencia. The podcast has just been published on Amateur Traveler, so do head over here to listen.

Each week Chris publishes a new show on the internet with some travel related news and resources as well as an interview with a fellow traveller about somewhere they have visited. You can listen to the podcast via your computer or download it to listen at leisure on your i-pod or MP3 player.

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Guest Blog - Teacher Meets Europe

Today I'm trying a new experiment - a Guest blog exchange - a bit like a house swap. I'm pleased to welcome my new blogging friend Monna, a Canadian on the loose in Barcelona, who blogs at Teacher meets World. And in return she's hosting me today as a guest blogger on her site - so when you've finished here, head over to her site to read my post on Memories of Travelling and Rome. I know you'll enjoy Monna's insights on what different cities she's visited have taught her.

Teacher meets Europe by Monna McDiarmid
I grew up in rural Canada, in a community so small that there were more animals than people, where we did not have a stop light or even a proper intersection. From my bedroom on this tiny pin-point on earth, I yearned for Europe.

At the time, mine was a storybook longing for castles, dragons and lovely golden-haired girls rescued by brave knights. Later, my longings grew to include the homelands of favourite authors, famous cathedrals and beloved paintings. With Scottish and Irish heritage, I wanted to go "home".


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The Fallas museum - in Valencia

The Fallas festival must be one of the best known in Spain and it's unique to Valencia. It happens every year around the feast of St Joseph on 19th March as it is said to have started when the carpenters of the city, whose patron is St Joseph, would clear out their workshops and burn their scraps of wood as part of their spring-cleaning.

From a community and religious perspective, local neighbourhoods form Fallas associations and contribute money throughout the year to commission huge sculptures made of wood and papier-mâché.

The female members of the association, called Falleras, dress in sumptuous costumes made of brocade and lace and parade through the streets, to bring floral tributes to a statue of the Virgin Mary in front of the Cathedral. Each association holds a street-party with their fallas sculpture on display and has a feast of paella, which they cook up on bonfires in the street.





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The City of Arts and Sciences - in Valencia

I really loved this complex in Valencia, set in the Turia Gardens away from the old town. It's a photographer's dream but it needs to be seen against a clear blue sky, so I had to seize my opportunity to get out early one morning when the sun was shining.


Other than wandering round it briefly, I can't say that we really did it justice, as apart from the Oceanographic, we didn't enter any of the buildings. Nevertheless, you don't need to spend money to enjoy it - simply take time to admire the amazing architecture, cool blue pools and metal sculpures in the gardens.


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L'Oceanographic - in Valencia

On the second day of our visit to Valencia, the weather was grey and overcast, so we decided that an indoor adventure would be in order. We walked along to the City of Arts and Sciences, close to our hotel and headed for the Oceanographic or Aquarium. After wandering around the gardens and aviary we descended into the watery underworld and gazed at countless shoals of fish, sharks and rays drifting past us in the huge tanks.


We passed through the glass underwater tunnel and gazed at the beluga whale who was studiously ignoring the diver vacuuming the floor of his enclosure - even aquariums have their household chores. The place was packed with excited school-children on their summer outing. My children made friends with the residents of the aquarium, giving them nicknames like Mike the Shark, Ray the stinger, Lipsy (a little fish with big lips) and a pair of penguins called Nipper and Napper.

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The Cathedral in Valencia

After our picnic from the Mercado Central I decided to take a look at the Cathedral of Santa Maria, but as my family didn't share my enthusiasm for old churches I left them relaxing in the Plaza de la Virgin while I took a look.

The entrance cost €4 including an audio-guide, although you can go in the left hand side of the door and have a brief look from the lobby without paying. The cathedral is richly decorated and there are many beautiful side chapels which the audio-guide will tell you about, including one containing the preserved arm of San Vincente the martyr.




On the far right is a statue of Our Lady of the Choir surrounded by fresh flowers. Mothers-to-be come here to pray in front of the statue for a safe delivery and then walk around the church nine times, in memory of the nine months that Our Lady was carrying Jesus.

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La Lonja de la Seda - in Valencia

La Lonja is highlighted in all the guidebooks and it was certainly one of my favourites of all the places we visited in Valencia. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been recently restored so you can now see it in it's full glory - as a bonus the entry is free. It would be a great contrast if you're feeling overwhelmed after the Baroque splendour of the Palacio del Marques de dos Aguas, as there is a tranquil and cathedral-like feel about the place.

La Lonja de Seda or Silk Exchange was founded in the 15th century and the twisted stone pillars reaching up to the vaulted ceiling resemble the skeins of twisted silk. These days you enter the spacious and cool Sala de Contratacion (The Contract Hall) which in the past would have been filled with the bustle of Valencia's merchants going about their business.

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Palacio de Marques de Dos Aguas - in Valencia

You may be aware that I am a lover of painted ceramics, so when I discovered that there was a ceramics museum in Valencia I immediately put it on my list of must-sees.

When I arrived I discovered that the museum is housed in the most delicious concoction of over-the-top baroque and rococco, in the Palacio de Marques de Dos Aguas.

The exterior is covered with ornate marble decoration in sugar almond shades and the huge carved alabaster entrance was designed by Hipólito Rovira and alludes to the two rivers Turia and Júcar of the Marques' title. There's even a painted-gilt Cinderella coach to greet you in the entrance and the marble decoration continues inside as you walk up the stairs.

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Hôme Rooms Deluxe Hostel - In Valencia

After our first night in Valencia at Hôme Backpacker's hostel, we moved on to another in the Hôme group, the Hôme Rooms Deluxe Hostel. I'd picked it because I loved the individually designed rooms, each created by an artist with a different theme - I wrote about them in a previous post. The place has a modern, stylish feel and would attract anyone with artistic tendancies. The other guests were couples of all ages and families with older children. One suspects they were, like us, more interested in seeing the city than staying up partying all night.

The hotel is in a modern block only a couple of years old and surrounded by other new residential buildings. Apparently the area was rather run down,until the City of Arts and Sciences was completed at the end of the road and then the whole area was re-developed. There are several restaurants, cafes and small shops in the neighbourhood, and a shopping mall 5 walk minutes away. The City of Arts and Sciences is on your doorstep, and you need to take a 15 min bus journey into the older heart of Valencia, but it was an easy and cheap journey.(€5.65 for a Bonabus card for 10 journeys)


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Hôme Backpacker's hostel - in Valencia

I mentioned in an earlier post that we stayed our first night in Valencia at Hôme Backpacker's hostel in the older area of the centre known as the Barrio del Carmen. It was a stopgap, as our main hotel, Hôme Deluxe Rooms was full for the Saturday night, and I thought it would be good to stay one night in the centre.

We arrived from the airport at about 9pm and the multilingual staff were very nice, gave us our sheets and towels and pointed us to our family room on the third floor. The hostel is in an old building tacked on to a church and overlooked a square. An artistic eye had been at work in the decor with bright colours and patterns painted everywhere. I wished that the English youth hostels could be a bit more like this rather than the typical magnolia walls and flowery curtains.

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Old town Valencia and street-art

On leaving the metro from the airport we decided to trundle our suitcases through the Barrio Carmen, the older residential part of central Valencia, taking in the warm evening air. My impression was of a well lived in and slightly scruffy old quarter and down every other alley-way we caught a glimpse of a plot of land, empty and waiting to be build on.


Like gaps in a smile the sites seemed to be where some old building had been demolished and was now waiting for a shiny new apartment block to take its place. Unlike some other European cities where the old quarter would be polished and protected, the Valencians seemed to be quite relaxed about their heritage. Here what we would think of as old and picturesque doesn't necessarily seem to be considered as better.


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The sweet taste of Horchata - in Valencia

We'd seen the stalls selling Horchata (or Orxata as it's written) at the Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencies and around town too, so at the point in the afternoon when we needed a break from sightseeing, we decided to try out this local Valencian drink. It's sweet, milky and made from tiger nuts and has a powdery texture a little like soya milk.

As we were in Plaza de la Reina, two of the more traditional Horchaterias were close at hand, placed opposite one another in front of the church of Santa Catalina - they are Horchateria el Siglio and Horchateria de Santa Catalina. Of the two, Horchateria de Santa Catalina looked the more appealing, with its traditional painted tiles around the entrance.

We dived in and ordered our Horchata accompanied by the traditional fartons or finger shaped pastries which came either plain, chocolate or custard filling. The drink was intensely sweet to the point of being sickly - we could understand why it hadn't become a world hit to rival coca cola. The Horchateria was beautiful on the inside but I'm afraid I couldn't recommend it for the service as we couldn't raise a smile from any of the staff.


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Duende - the passion of flamenco

Duende - the overwhelming passion and emotion that you feel when you're in love, or when you're swept away by the spirit of Flamenco.

I've been introduced to it through Jason Webster's book Duende which charts his journey from a life of academia to Spain in search of Flamenco. On the way he falls into a passionate affair with Lola, a flamenco dancer and flees from Alicante to Madrid when her husband threatens to uncover their affair. Through his journey of the soul he learns to play flamenco guitar, is introduced to the great gypsy guitarists and dancers and learns to distinguish his Alegrias from his Tangos.

It's an example of setting aside the guidebooks and using a novel or autobiography to get into the spirit of a place, in this case the Andalucian south of Spain. I'd recommend it as a great holiday read if you're off to Spain and would like to get under the skin of your destination, or perhaps feel a little Duende yourself.


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The bullfighting museum in Valencia

The bullfighting museum, next to the the bullring in the centre of Valencia is small, but gives an interesting insight into this sport which is deep-rooted in southern Spain. The museum is free and we were also presented with a pack of booklets in English with information on the museum, the bullring and some background about the bulls and bullfighters. After seeing the museum you can take a look inside the bull-ring itself, although it wasn't possible for us as they were preparing for a bullfight the next day.

The stairs as you walk up to the museum were covered with photos of the great matadors of the past, posters and other bullfighting memorabilia. The main exhibits were the costumes of the bullfighting greats with information about the matadors who had worn them. The costumes known as Traje de Luces or 'suit of lights' are beautifully embroidered and skin tight and there was an interactive presentation where you could dress the matador, which explained the different items of clothing.

We noticed one green and gold costume with a large gash in the leg - I bet that spoiled his day, commented my son, and on looking more closely we discovered that it had been worn by the torero Manolo Cortes on the day of his death.


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Lunch at La Beneficencia - in Valencia

For our last day we had thought to try out the traditional Valencian paella in one of the beach side restaurants, but there was rain in the night and the day dawned a little damp and cloudy. Instead, we headed into the old town once more, for lunch at La Beneficencia which had been highly recommended by our Valencian friend, Angel.

When he first e-mailed me the suggestion I couldn't work out where it was, but then I realised it was actually the restaurant within the Museo de Prehistoria y de la Culturas de Valencia, otherwise known as La Beneficencia. To save our weary feet we took the No 5 bus from Calle Colon which circles the old town, following the route of the old city walls.


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An evening out with Angel - in Valencia

In the evening we met up with our new friend in Valencia, Angel, for dinner. We asked him to recommend a typical Spanish restaurant and he led us to a place tucked down a small street close to the Palacio del Marques de dos Aguas which houses the Ceramics museum.

We deliberated a while as to whether the children would find something they liked on the menu, but on ordering we realised that we shouldn't have worried. The Spanish like fresh food, simply cooked and so there was no problem finding plain grilled chicken or steak served with either chips, salad or vegetables (I'm sure you can't guess which of the three accompaniments the children chose).


We also ordered some jamon (air dried ham) and local cheese as well as a couple of seafood starters to share. I had a selection of fried fish and my husband had a slow cooked lamb shank. The fish tasted most beautifully fresh and nothing was left on the childrens' plates.

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A picnic from the Mercado Central - in Valencia

The sky was blue as we caught the bus into town this morning from our hotel near the City of Arts and Culture. The number 35 took us painlessly in less than 15 minutes to Plaza de Ayuntamento. You can pay on the bus but it's a lot cheaper to buy a card of 10 journeys from any Tabac shop.

First stop was the Mercado Central where we wandered round in search of a picnic. The building is large and airy and full of every fresh food you could imagine. Many stalls were selling fresh fruit and vegetables, others dried sausages and jamon or the local cheeses. In a section on the far side of the market were all the fish stalls with langoustine and shellfish laid out on beds of ice. Oh how the Spanish enjoy their seafood.

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Travelling with the teens - in Valencia

Here's what my teenage children like on holiday

- A long lie in (they are on holiday after all)
- Familiar food to eat. Pizza or pasta is fine, Paella is pushing it.
- Lots of shopping on the high street (Corte Ingles, Zara, Mango)
- As little sightseeing as possible
- On tap internet access to keep in touch with their friends


Here's what I like on holiday

- Getting out the door early to beat the crowds
- Trying out the local tapas in a back street bodega
- Lots of shopping in the unusual back street boutiques and artizan stores
- Seeing all the interesting historic sights and museums.
- On tap internet access to answer e-mails and write my blog

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