4foodies in a Fiat 500 - Day 2 Valencia

After a relatively late night then an early start definitely wasn't the order of the day. Lazy breakfast of bread cheese and meats with a couple of strong cups of coffee on the terrace. What to do next for our first full day of Las Fallas, Burriana or Valencia? I'd never been to Valencia so was happy with the decision that was made. Another 40 minutes to sleep on the train to Valencia.

Valencia Cathedral

For anybody who's never been to Las Fallas you really must go. It's a festival to commemorate Saint Joseph and in true Spanish style is spectacular. Like Guy Fawkes night in Britain but a zillion times better. With fireworks that sound like you're in a war zone culminating in a crescendo which shakes windows and inflicts pain on eardrums. The fallas themselves (pictured above) which are like something from Disney in their creation, and cost circa €100k each. They all represent something topical of the day and then are burnt on 19th March in what can only be described as an amazing feat of pyrotechnics and firemanship to get them lit and then not burn down the neighbourhood. There are parades in local dress with local music, street bars, neckerchiefs and in short it's what the Spanish do best. Celebrate. The other thing there is lots of is food.

Given the late start we arrived at 2pm in time for the daily fireworks, but we also arrived very hungry. So after the fireworks and battling through the crowd we dived into Lizarran on Calle Convento Santa Clara for a jug of beer and some pinchos. Lizarran is one of these chains that is expanding worldwide so don't expect stunning traditional local pinchos but for filling, tasty formula food it worked well and also gave plenty of food for thought. Pinchos, in case you were unaware are traditionally from Northern Spain, especially the Basque country (pintxos). They generally consist of a thin piece of bread with a topping and a small wooden spike, a pincho, holding it in place.

Pinchos on the bar

They are served on plates atop the bar and you help yourself. Whatever you do, don't through the stick away, you hand these in at the end to calculate your bill!! It's a great simple way to taste lots of things and something that I'm looking forward to creating the next time I have a dinner party for more than six. Another popular thing is to have a pincho party where everybody brings a couple along and you compare them and decide a winner. A bit like Come dine with me but with a little more style and finesse possibly.

So on the bar that day was a huge selection including black pudding, deep fried calamari with allioli, jamon croquettas, chicken with cheese, stuffed mussel shells, tortilla, anchovies in vinegar, Spanish sausage, chorizo with egg.... You get the picture, they make a lot, there's a huge turnover, nothing stays on the bar long, there's noise and bustle and it seems perpetually busy. This was a nice wee meal to fill us up for an afternoon of exploring and again there were a few ideas to bring home.

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències

The rest of the day we wandered around old and new Valencia and drank cortados. I'll fill you in a little bit in case you've never been. Valencia blew me away and I'm not normally one to get excited by architecture. We arrived into the gorgeous estaciò del nord and walked out into beauty with crisp clean buildings interspersed with tiny side streets. The cathedral is hugely impressive mostly out of stone with amazing wall friezes internally. However it was the walk through Turia gardens which impressed me, the old river bed from the Turia River which was diverted in the 1960s. Crossed by ancient and modern bridges, full of joggers, cyclists and those enjoy the sun it goes on forever until you reach what to me is the finest series of buildings I've ever seen., Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències - The City of Arts and Sciences. Designed by Calatrava it is filled with buildings of stunning beauty from constructed from concrete and glass and surrounded by glistening blue water. You have to see it to believe it. I'm still not sure how some of it stays up and the pictures really don't do it justice.


After this was a park train ride back to the station and the journey back before an evening of hospitality from MM's parents as the Spanish adventure just got better.

To follow: Day 2 (continued), Burriana
Previous: Day 1 (continued), Burriana