1. Find a
good local café
I first
visited the café opposite school during my first week at Sagrado Corazón. All the
teachers have one day a week free from playground duty and my tutor invited me
to accompany her and some of the other primary teachers to the café over the
road. The tostada was good and the coffee even better. When I went up to pay, I
was astounded by how cheap the prices were. In fact, initially I was convinced
there had been a checkout error. But there wasn’t … a break time snack that
could easily average around £4 in the UK came to a grand total of €1.50.
Since that
first week, I have been back most days after school and I really cherish the
time, drinking coffee, eating tostada and not having to do anything at all for
a whole twenty minutes.
2. Walk as
much as possible
With the
river park running through its heart, Valencia is a city that promotes travel
by foot. The sprawling flora that covers most of the park’s walls blurs into
the periphery as futuristic sculptures and an assortment of gym equipment divert
you from your path along the dried-up riverbed. The diverse range of sports and
activities being enjoyed in the Turia adds further distraction (and
entertainment) making your afternoon stroll so much more interesting than your
average walk in the park. Last weekend, a group of twenty-somethings happily partook
in a game of Muggle Quidditch, while three bagpipe players blasted out tunes
mere metres away.
3. Drink
sangria and catch a flamenco show
A Google search
quickly yields the names of venues hosting traditional flamenco shows in
Valencia. Last Saturday, we arrived at a tiny, crowded bar, ready to see real
flamenco. The bar itself was tucked away and looked unassuming from the
outside, but once inside, we quickly realised it was packed out and the bar
staff directed us to the only remaining seats in the house. Glasses of sangria
were ordered and swiftly brought over before the show began.
And it was a
fabulous show. To be in such a small venue and so close to the performers and musicians
allowed us to really appreciate the precision, passion and speed of the dance.
At the end of each sequence, the crowd applauded fiercely.
Despite the
show going on till well past midnight, one couple had brought their two toddlers
along, who successfully slept on their parents’ knees through the entire show seemingly
oblivious to the stamping, clapping and strumming from the performers and the
audience.
4. Explore
the quieter streets and discover the best shops
Valencia’s
old town has an abundance of independent shops that sell some marvellous clothes
and trinkets for the most reasonable prices. I visited one such shop and lost
track of time altogether, busying myself trying on floaty smocks, diaphanous
skirts and outrageously bright dresses. Below is a picture of the zany earrings
that I couldn’t leave the shop without buying.
In addition
to the shops in the old town, many of Valencia’s traditional markets have been
revamped and now host a variety of cool cafés and arty pop-up stalls.
5. Take a cooking
class
Before I arrived
in Valencia, I knew (like most tourists in the city) that it is famous for its
plethora of orange groves that cover the surrounding countryside. However, the
list of other foods that you should try during your stay in city is long. Most cafés
serve horchata, which is a bit like a Spanish marmite, not in the way it tastes
(it contains no yeast extract, but plenty of tiger nuts), but in so far as you
either love it or hate it. A safer bet is paella which seems to be universally
popular. We were lucky enough to attend a cooking class where we learnt to make
traditional Valencian paella and vegetarian paella, along with gazpacho and
sangria. Learning to make gazpacho was a highlight for me. Ever since arriving
in Spain, I always make sure to have a carton in the fridge, chilled and ready
to pour. It is perfect when the days are hot and you have returned home for lunch
after a morning of back-to-back classes. One of the tips from the cooking class
was to remove the ‘heart’ out of garlic cloves before adding them to your
gazpacho. Prior to the class, I didn’t even know that garlic cloves had hearts …
but they do and apparently you should remove them in order to avoid your
gazpacho tasting bitter. Because nobody wants bitter gazpacho.
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