Destination: Valencia, Spain

With our December holidays drawing to a close, my family and I arrived at the final cruise destination on metropolitan Spain: Valencia. The third-largest city in the country, it’s famous for hosting many international events (as it has many venues) and its world-renown dish, paella. I was particularly excited to see what Valencia had in store for us, and to try the authentic, signature dish!

Our tour started in the late morning, with a drive from the port to the historic center. Along the way, we passed through the “modern” part of Valencia, with its futuristic buildings. Known as the City of Arts and Sciences, the district is home to plenty of innovative architecture which houses scientific and technological aspects as means of promoting the city’s aim towards new ideas and progress. We saw a multitude of avant-garde buildings, one of which is known as “the Eye” that houses an IMAX theater. We didn’t stop to visit the area, as our tour was more about exploring the historic center.

We reached the bustling heart of the city center, and from there we set out on foot in the direction of the Valencia Cathedral. Unlike Palma de Mallorca the previous day, Valencia happened to be quite sunny that day, even if the wind was chilly. On our way to the cathedral, our tour guide pointed out some notable landmarks of the historic center, including a horchateria, which serves the signature drink, horchata, that’s also a Valencian specialty. My family and I would try it out after the tour, as means of seeing what it was all about– mind you, I hadn’t had horchata before, and I was keen on giving it a go!

Arriving at the Valencia Cathedral, we filed inside where our tour guide took us around the nave before showing us one of the chapels that housed several works of famous Spanish painter, Goya, whose works blend religion with surrealism and allegory on social and political events during his time. We also entered a small room that contained a Holy Chalice, one of the few in the world which is reputed to be the Holy Grail. Being such a small object (after all, it’s a goblet), the chalice was difficult to discern among the gilded exterior which otherwise contained it.

Exiting the cathedral, we headed behind it to a plaza, the Plaça de la Verge, which contained a basilica (Basílica de la Mare de Déu dels Desemparats) and a palace (Palacio de la Generalitat). From there, our tour guide allowed us some free time to explore the area before we were to reconvene half an hour later to continue the tour. My family and I, however, wanted to visit Valencia on our own at that point, so after notifying the tour guide of our plans, we set off to do our own thing.

By then, it was around noontime, and we were ready for lunch. We’d gotten a recommendation for a paella restaurant from our tour guide, but upon arriving, we saw that it wouldn’t be opened until 14:00; we’d forgotten just how late the Spanish eat, so the working hours threw us off. Instead, we settled on a nearby restaurant (that was open) and ended up getting sub-par paella, much to our disappointment. If we’d walked a bit further back to the bustling touristy area, we could’ve gotten better paella, even if it would’ve been at a tourist-trap kind of joint. Any case, we lived and learned, and it gives me a reason to revisit Valencia and try out better paella!

After lunch, we decided to try out the horchateria that our tour guide had pointed out earlier. Called the Horchateria de Santa Catalina, the place is also a stunner with its colorful 16th-century tiles depicting everyday lives of the Spanish back then– although the place itself had just been established in the early 20th century, it remains one of the oldest-functioning horchaterias in Valencia.

We ordered our drinks, which came in a tall, narrow glass– I wasn’t expecting so much of it! Upon tasting it, I would say that it has an interesting taste, although I wouldn’t say that it’s a bad one. It had the consistency and flavor of soy milk, albeit with a chalkier aftertaste. Certainly an experience to try out, although I probably wouldn’t have it again.

Finishing our drinks, we wandered the historic, narrow streets before coming across the Mercado Central, the main indoor market of Valencia. We didn’t buy anything there, but rather just made a tour around and see what it offered. Its exterior definitely reminded me of that in Madrid, the Mercado de San Miguel, and even though I wasn’t that much interested in what it sold, at least I could admire its architecture!

Following the mercado, we returned to the Plaça de la Verge, where we snapped a few more photos before deciding to catch the complementary cruise shuttle back to the port– admittedly, it was getting a bit dark, despite it being only 15:00. The stormy clouds were rolling in, and we had already exhausted ourselves with the highlights of Valencia. We reached our cruise ship close to 16:00, and from there we rested for the remainder of the day.

We would be leaving for Barcelona later in the evening, arriving early the following morning. However, it was only to end our cruise there sans tour: it was only a means of disembarking for passengers to catch their flights easily back home, or to continue their trip in Europe on their own. While I would love to have stayed and revisit Barcelona, I also wanted to return to France, as I’d already purchased my flight back that day. My flight ended up taking off half an hour late, but I still managed to make it back to Lyon on-time and run through the terminals to catch my BlaBlaCar ride to town in the early afternoon.

…and that concludes my December vacances! Although Valencia ended up being a slight disappointment, I was still glad to finally visit, as I’d been interested in checking it out beforehand. Other than that, it was great to see my family again and, even better, travel with them. Despite us bickering at times and having different travel styles (i.e. I prefer solo travel in cheap accommodation and my parents prefer guided tours with comfortable hotels), we found a middle ground to enjoy each other’s company, as I won’t be seeing them again until June after my lectrice job ends.

Although this post ends my December travels, there’s many more travel posts to come right away, as I continued to travel after the New Year’s. Expect more of my adventures soon, whether of France or other countries in Europe. Thanks for reading, and until then!

 

— Rebecca