ole! we are in Espanya!

We left London on Wednesday and flew to Valencia,Spain

new territory for both of us- we took the subway into the center of town since we were told it was only 15 min away and 4 euros each by subway versus 25 euros by cab:










got off the subway and were at our hotel within 5 minutes












from there we went walking:



























and then we ended up at a flamenco dance show with paella for dinner! both were really excellent!! the meal was a total of $70 euros and we had so much food that we shared it with an American couple who were at a table next to ours. the show itself costs 6 euros each if you have dinner and 12 euros each for just the show....I drank sangria that was delightful and Les had Heineken:







the ladies:













After an hour of flamenco (we arrived half an hour after they had started) - there was a jazz group that was just as fun.

The name of the place is Mon (short for monologue) and I highly recommend the venue. It is small and intimate and the music dance food is out of this world delicious.

That was the end of day one. came home and slept like logs til today - Thursday May 28.








[Edited on 8-5-2015 by BajaBlanca]

Looks great. Wonderful town. But I almost hate to mention that it's Espana; not Espania.

So, here we are and it is Thursday - we got up late, headed off for breakfast, I immediately get in trouble at a café- I grabbed a newspaper I thought had been left by someone - Les decides we will not stay at this café so we leave, me with paper in hand and a little waiter running after me: SENORA - QUE PASA CON EL PERIODICO ... and I handed it back. Now, every time we pass the café, Les asks if I want to stop in and grab a paper....nah, I think I'll pass.

to continue with the day - we eat in a very old café somewhere else and neither of us are too happy with the food -cant win them all.

then we decide that we will do the two city bus tours so that we get a lay of the land. turns out this took us all day long with a break for a quick lunch at the main square where the buses leave from: PLAZA DE LA REINA: These are just some of the many photos I took:




Valencia is a city of contrasts- the new architecture is astounding. This is one of a quite a few buildings that house a huge garden, the biggest aquarium in Europe, art and theaters. These buildings were built on the riverbed of a now filled in river that used to overflow and destroy much of the city:









the doors are real, the rest is painted:









I love the older buildings and took hundreds of pics of which I kept just a few:














what language is this? (turns out it is the guy's name)




















this is The Bank of Valencia:















bought a Valencia apron here:







This is Catalina church, not the church where the only Holy Grail has not been disproven as being real is......which I thought it was.














jumping ahead a bit - we had dinner at the same restaurant and watched the same show because we liked it so! Here is our new paella, and the sangria and beers (we had a friend along) and you may notice that there is a box of ABUELITA Mexican chocolate that I brought to Gabriel - an Argentine living in Valencia:








a pic of the webpage for the venue:








the show tonight at the MON:













Here we met up with Gabriel who was going to be our personal guide for Valencia but had a terrible motorcycle accident 15 days ago and is on crutches for months to come.

He is cousin to a student I had about 20 years ago in La Jolla, California.....actually, there were 2 students who fell in love and eventually married- Nacho from Argentina (Nacho is Gabriels cousin) and Laura who is from Avila, Spain. Thru facebook we have kept in touch as they married and had kids - so they suggested Gabriel be our guide - he couldn't play tour guide but he joined us for a beer, chat and dinner:









one thing that stands out are the varandas on almost every apartment building:









Here I am at lunch, near the PLAZA DE LA REINA and near the Catalina Church:








This is a pic in the café of the horrible flood that made the city divert the river once and for all. This would have been right next to the café I am eating at!









CATALAN is one of the official languages and it is bizarre how it is Spanish-like but NOT:









in the afternoon, as we were waiting for the next tour bus to return - we saw throngs at the ice cream shop. check out the display ! we had mango and blueberry and it was delicious:










the tour bus took us close but not onto the beach called ARENAS:









shop with shawls - fans - typical flamenco gear:









right on the plaza de la reina square was an empty Mexican restaurant - I was tempted to go in but WE ARE IN SPAIN!!!!!









I think I will stop now - time for this tired lady to hit the sack because tomorrow we head for MADRID ......buenas noches amigos.






[Edited on 8-5-2015 by BajaBlanca]

Quote: Originally posted by lencho

Quote: Originally posted by Bajahowodd   Looks great. Wonderful town. But I almost hate to mention that it's Espana; not Espania. No, it's "España." Always puzzles me when people make the effort to "correct" others here, and their correction is wrong. How is that helpful?

I know that it is espana with the TILDA but I wrote it as I pronounce it since I don't know how to put the tilde ))))

espana looks horrible to the eye so espania it is!

edit: updated the title to ESPANYA as this is indeed how it is spelled in Catalan.....

[Edited on 6-2-2015 by BajaBlanca]

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca

I need to mention that everyone here smokes cigarettes. Awful habit when it is all around you at the outside cafes ....seems so rare to see.

Quote: Originally posted by Bajahowodd

The Catelon dialect is the result of the occupation of Spain by the Ottoman Empire. It also reflects in the architecture. Shakespeare wrote about it in such works as King Lear.

Quote: Originally posted by Bajahowodd

Quote: Originally posted by lencho   Quote: Originally posted by Bajahowodd   Looks great. Wonderful town. But I almost hate to mention that it's Espana; not Espania. No, it's "España." Always puzzles me when people make the effort to "correct" others here, and their correction is wrong. How is that helpful? If you have a MAC, all the characters that are above a letter, no matter from where in the world, are built into the operating system just by holding down the particular letter. Afterward, a menu pops up that has all the different symbols available for that letter. Maybe you can educate this feeb on how I get a tilda over my "n". I'm serious.

Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy

Hey, Odd.......it's Catalan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language Quote: Originally posted by Bajahowodd   The Catelon dialect is the result of the occupation of Spain by the Ottoman Empire. It also reflects in the architecture. Shakespeare wrote about it in such works as King Lear.

My bad.

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca

Does anyone know that MOAIZ DIHLLO (sp) means? it was the shop sign in one of the pics.

Quote: Originally posted by durrelllrobert

I was surprised to see that in Blanca's subway photo the graffiti looks just like that here in Ensenada. http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm181/bheilheil/Valencia/... [Edited on 6-1-2015 by durrelllrobert]