Showing posts with label Valencia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valencia. Show all posts

Thursday, August 11, 2011

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 5: VALENCIA-BARCELONA

originally posted May 15/11
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WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 5: VALENCIA-BARCELONA

BREAKFAST HELLOS & GOODBYES

Hello Breakfast! We had a very lovely breakfast. There was so much to
eat we had to survey the table before choosing what we wanted. We
started off with Cava (champagne) again, and had other drink options
such as orange juice, tea, coffee and soy milk. There was a selection
of bread, warm croissants, cheese, meats, fresh fruits (strawberries,
kiwi, pineapple) and a lot more. I had plain yogurt that I mixed with
berry jam, bread with brie and berry jam, bread with cheese and
proscuitto...basically I'm carbo overdosing...the food is just too
good!

Our hosts were so generous and friendly. Matteo offered to mail our
postcards and called us a taxi to take to the station. While I worked
on the 3rd journal, Jos realized that her lock wasn't working. She had
put her passport and wallet inside just to be on the safe side when we
went back to Barcelona. We both tried numerous times with the
combination, but nothing worked. Matteo and his friend tried to help
out without success and then Matteo translated on paper for us, how to
say my lock is broken. Where can I go to cut it..or something along
those lines. When the taxi buzzed up, we said our goodbyes. Matteo and
Koyola were the most friendly hosts we have encountered so far. We
told them that we'd recommend their B&B to our friends.

SHE'S GOT A TICKET TO RIDE...

While we were at the train station, Jos went to get us sandwiches and
drinks for the ride. I took both the luggage and walked around the
station. I picked up a few things, as I didn't want to leave Valencia
without buying anything. Got Jos a pair of earrings as part of her
birthday gift and a scarf. Our train was late and finally we were on
our way. People laughed as we struggled to get our luggage in the
upper compartment above the seating. We were laughing too. Our
luggages aren't heavy (yet) but they are big, so they were quite a
handful.

PATIO BARCELONA

Jos got us to our accomodation very easily. We arrived in the evening.
Our host greeted us and showed us around It is a very nice place and
really has the authentic B&B style to it. Tony told me that he and his
wife opened this B&B in 1992 and it was one of the first ones in
Barcelona. We walked around the neighbourhood and then went back home
to get our stuff. We decided that today we would try to catch the
Magic Fountain show we had missed before and shop at the Arena. Jos
and I got through a few floors and then we had to eat because we were
hungry. Jos suggested we go to the top. There was a wonderful view and
we walked around the circle. We could see Montjuic where the fountain
and the Museum of Catalonian Art from there as well. The food prices
weren't that bad so we chose a scenic view and watched the fountain
show from there. An event was going to at the entrance - I think it
was like a car show. The Magic Fountain's music could be heard from
where we were and the it lit up in numerous colours and danced to the
music.

We had two orders of pasta, wine and panacotta. I love panacotta so I
was very happy to eat it. After that we tried to go to the fountain
but they had blocked it off for that event. BOOOOO. We went home to
get some rest as tomorrow is going to be a full day of museums.

Buenos noches!

-Sam & Jos

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 4: VALENCIA

originally posted May 15/11
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WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 4: VALENCIA

Thanks for the emails. Sorry I can't respond to them all, but I do
read them all.

OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE OLD

Today is another travel day of sorts. We are moving from the Westin to
Valencia Mansion in Old Valencia. Its a good thing Jos booked this
place because we might have missed this part of the city. The map was
a bit confusing and we thought we had seen all of the old city, but we
had not. Matteo and Koyola are the owners of the B&B and are really
nice people. Koyola answered all of our questions and showed us a map,
pointing out all the visit-worthy places. He recommended two
restaurants to us for lunch and dinner. The lunch place was Tapenarie.
After telling him about our food adventures, he also recommended a
restaurant we could eat at for dinner. Their friends were visiting
from out of town and he offered to make a separate reservation for us.

Once we were given the rundown of everything, Jos and I left to
explore. We were also getting hungry so we went in search of the
restaurant which took a while to find.The map was confusing us.
Eventually we found it. The food was SUPERAMAZING! The funny thing
was, that Matteo and Koyola were there too! It was quite funny - it
was like we would be following their food trail. The set menu of
appetizer, entree and dessert was between 10 and 12 euros. Jos ate the
potato fish soup and I had the SUPERAWESOME goat cheese salad with
figs, dried apricots and raisins. For the entree, I had squid grilled
then covered in its own ink (kind of like Filipino squid adobo) and
Jos had duck with rice. For dessert, we had coconut creme caramel (SO
AMAZING). It was like eating a coconut macaroon with creme caramel.

CHACHKAVILLE

We went to the Plaza de la Reina which I dubbed Chachkaville, because
of all the chachka-like stuff (from ceramics, magnets, wooden spoons,
religious art work) people were selling. In the past, I would have
purchased one or two homemade trinkets, but I'd rather buy useful
things. Although the paella magnet looked tempting, I did not purchase
it LOL.

Visited the Catedral de Valencia which apparently houses The Holy
Grail. There are also numerous relics throughout the church including
someone's intact arm and hand...though I can't remember who it
belonged to. The architecture is exquisite and so is the artwork. I
will never understand how artists were able to create art and build
structures and sculptures of such huge scales. Ahhh Cathedrals,
churches...we always take so many pictures because there is so much to
see. Also went to see the Bascilica de Virgin's square which was hop
hop hopping. Passed by the big market, but it was closed. We also
visited La Longa, which is also known as the Silk Exchange which had
very interesting architecture. Jos' shopping drought continues...

Our goal was to get lost in Valencia and that is what we did. LOL.
Thanks to my superawesome sense of direction we went around in circles
a couple of times. It's not my fault there are no parallel streets and
that they all used the same types of material for their houses
hahahaa. We finally got back with 5 minutes to spare to get ready for
dinner. We met Matteo and K with their friends downstairs and headed
to the restaurant. This place is their secret gem kind of restaurant.
Matteo told me that they have never recommended it to any of their
guests and I told him it was probably because we had told K that we
were big foodies and willing to spend the money for good food.

We ordered:
Salad topped with a gigantic portion of Buffalo mozzarella with mandarin oranges
Thinly sliced shrimp with avocado
Tuna tartar with with mango
Thinly sliced beef tartar with parmesan cheese
Chocolate brownie
Nora white wine & Naia white wine

I forgot to mention that Matteo was so helpful. At Tapeneria and at
the dinner restaurant, he came over and translated the menu for us. He
also recommended some dishes for us. We could have muddled through,
but his help was definitely appreciated...not to mention, his
recommendations were great! Jos and I finished dinner before them and
Matteo gave us directions back as we were sure we'd get a bit lost. We
managed to get home safely. I was dead tired as always...this journal
is late because of my fatigue and I still owe you a few more.

Hope all of you are well! If I have forgotten anything, I will try to
add it to the next journal.

-Sam & Jos ^__^

Where in the world are D2? Pt 3: Valencia

originally posted May 13/11
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WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 3: VALENCIA

THANKS FRIENDS
Jos and I just want to say thanks to all of you who messaged us about
the earthquake in Lorca, Spain. Your two D buddies are alive and
well - except for the sore feet from walking and probable weight gain
from eating and drinking every day! haha! Lorca is south of where we
are and we actually didn't know about this until we received the msgs
from you. We watched a bit of coverage. It's pretty sad to see the
destruction and all the people in the evacuation centres. On to the
adventures...

DRINKS AT THE HOTEL BAR
Last night, Jos and I had a drink at the hotel bar - which was not
surprisingly expensive. Under U.S. drinks/cocktails, they had Canadian
Club listed. Don't they know we are two different countries? Oh well.
Jos had her usual dirty martini and it was quite entertaining seeing
her try to explain to the waitress in English. It's funnier if you ask
her for the story, so I won't put it in here. There was another moment
when the waitress delivered snacks for us to eat with the drinks,
which included Pocky. How Spanish! kekeke

BREKKIE...SO YUMMY

We decided to get some breakfast the next morning. When we were
leaving , there were a commotion, as Barcelona FC was arriving soon.
They had had barriers and people were waiting outside. We searched for
breakfast near the hotel and found a small place to eat. The waitress
was like a mom and so friendly. We had something like torta (omelette
with onions) with a tuna, tomato and pepper tapas. We had to go back
to the hotel to check emails, etc and the crowd was bigger and we had
to show our Westin cards to get in. Too bad we weren't stickin' around
to see the team, but we had things we wanted to do.

CIUDAD DE LAS ARTES Y LAS CIENCIAS

Jos and I visited the City of Arts & Sciences, which include the
Oceanografic (aquarium), Museu de las Ciencas (science museum),
Hemisferic (the Hemisphere - theatre), Palau des les Arts, Agora (for
big functions, like Tennis final). The architecture alone is
beautiful. We bought tickets to see both Oceanografic and the Museu
de las Ciencias. We went to Oceanografic. If you can only visit one of
these places, we recommend the aquarium.

We spent a lot of time there because the creatures are so amazing. At
the same time, we saw a few things that also made us sad for the sea
creatures.
1. The beluga whale who stayed by the barrier staring out of the bars
and not moving from there. It looked so sad.
2. The two manatees who were swimming in opposite directions doing the
perimeter of the small inclosed space they were in. There really
wasn't enough room for them.
3. The penguins - remember that scene in Happy Feet where they show
the penguins in the zoo? That's what it was like except there was this
one penguin sitting under where the ice chips were falling from the
ceiling and he wasn't even moving...it was kind of eerie

Other than those three things, Jos and I really enjoyed our experience
there. There were tons of fish and sea creatures I had never seen
before. We spent 20 mins just on the first fish aquarium. There were
school groups there who were loud and pushy, so we tried to avoid
them. It felt like we were playing Where's Waldo, trying to identify
different fish.

Jos forgot her extra battery and the one she was using ran out so we
went back to get it and quickly charge the dead one. We got bracelets
on our way out so that we could come back. We watched the dolphin show
but I would say my favourite part would be walking through the tunnel
of sharks and other sea life.I think most people would find that the
highlight.

HOW MARVEL-OUS

The Museum of Science was a really interesting interactive museum.
There were lots of hands-on science tests and activities. I would have
to say the highlight of this attraction is the Marvel exhibit! They
used the superheroes powers to explain science in a creative way. They
had blown up comic issue covers and panels, as well as art works.
There were Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and Storm
statues.

DINNNEERR

After that, we walked around the rest of the City of Arts & Sciences.
We headed back to the hotel and then we went for dinner at Raco de la
Turia. This was our high end dinner. Our host/waiter was very friendly
and spoke some English. We had him choose our appetizers. Jos and I do
that a lot - we like surprises. We had grilled squid, the steamed
mussels, fideua (seafood noodle paella) and for dessert, pumpkin creme
caramel. YUMMY!!! We were so full afterwards. We walked around and
headed back home.

Where in the world are D2? Pt 2: Valencia

originally posted May 10/11
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The winner of the Destination Contest #1 is Dave L who got the
right answer in 2 mins. That´s right, kids. This contest is only for
the SUPERCOMPETITIVE! Good on the rest of you who have guessed right
so far! We´ve enjoyed reading the guesses! The travel journals plus
some photos will eventually be posted on my travel journal blog (which
includes all past travels): http://a-wandering-sam-urai.blogspot.com

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 2: VALENCIA

Buenos Dias! Woke up at 6:30am - Jos was already awake. Finished
typing the travel journal. Jos ate breakfast while I packed my stuff.
We took the 8am first class on Renfe to our second destination. We
arrived and got off the train. As we exited the station, we were
greeted by the lovely architecture of the city. Our accomodation for
the next two day, Westin Valencia, wasn´t that hard to find. We were
welcomed by Cesar, who poured us refreshing citris water that he made.
Jos opted the deluxe suite with a king'sized bed. Our room is very
nice with a king sized bed. Our room is very nice with a separate
shower and tub, as well as a separate toilet and bidet. The hotel
gardens, restaurants and gardens are also beautiful. After Cesar gave
us information on teh hotel and city´s attractions, he recommended two
restaurants: La Pipica & La Marcelina.

YOU HAVEN´T EATEN PAELLA

I can´t recall ever eating paella. If I did, I probably never ate any
that were good enough to remember. This statement is no longer valid!
Cesar booked us a terrace table at La Marcelina. We had the sangria,
salad, fresh shrimp and the best paella EVER! Jos says all the paella
she´s had in the past has been fake. hahaha. You all know that Jos and
I are foodies - Jos even more so. We will post pics of the paella. I
literally had to stop myself from inhaling it, so I could savour each
bite. We finished our meal with homemade creme caramel. Lunch totaled
67 euros, but it was well worth it. I´d do it again if I could...well
I can...but I won´t because there are other eateries to explore! Jos
and I had planned to eat our way through Spain & I do believe we are
well on our way.

D2 @ THE BEACH
After eating, we hadead straight for the beach. Dipped our feet in the
water, walked along the shoreline and finally settled on a tanning
spot. The weather is perfect. THe sun is hot & cool wind is rolling
off the waves. I am hesitant to leave. Jos has gone to get drinks and
attempt to shop. Imagine that...Jos has not shopped yet! I am sitting
on the sand writing the journal and taking in the wonderful scenes
which include the crazy topless man in jeans who is rolling around in
the sand laughing so loud I can hear him from far away. I hope he
doesn´t get heat stroke! There were guys kicking a ball around and we
have also been approached by numerous people peddling their wares and
services like massages and accupuncture?!?! Despite this, I have
really enjoyed today. This is what vacation should be like - a nice
day on the beach!

PIRATE PARTY

Yes, it says PIRATE and no, its not what you think. I know you´re all
very disappointed...lol. We bumped into a Canadian couple on our way
back from the beach. The man actually serves the Canadian Navy, but
volunteered to go to Afghanistan. We started talking politics and he
is from Vancouver. He told us that when he went to vote there was a
Pirate Party listed. That´s HILARIOUS! Oh Canada....

BACK AT IT

Went back to drop our beach gear at our place and headed back out to
shop. Unfortunately Jos´ shopping drought continues, as she didn´t buy
anything at the beach. We walked around the old Valencia and checked
out the shops. Jos wanted to go to Berksha but the bigger one closed
just as we got there...THE JOSIE SHOPPING DROUGHT CONTINUES!
Valencia´s architecture is just so picturesque. We had a strange
encounter in the square though when a bazillion birds started flying
all around like a natural disaster was heading our way.

LA CUEVA

Jos and I barely survived this place. Our eyes were simply bigger than
our stomachs. We ordered two much and I didn´t know how to ask for a
doggie bag so I just pointed at it and said "to casa"? Yeah I know its
horrible. I´m working on it. We asked her how to say it and I already
forgot. Jos ate tomato and garlic salad and veal steak. I had ham
croquettes and pork steak. Yeah...too much..too good!

We are in Valencia until Fri 13th....then we´re back in Barcelona.
Contest will continue on the 18th, when we travel to the next
destination. Until then, you get travel journal spam and hopefully
some pictures when we don´t have to pay an arm and a leg for wireless
internet....jeezz....5 star hotels...SUPERAWESOME in so many ways
except for internet.

BYE BYE!!

- Sam & Jos