Easter Sunday Part II: Xativa Town

We had decided for the Saturday we would do a day trip as neither of us had been out of Valencia in all our months there, and it seemed like a shame to not see at least one other town. We picked a place called Xativa for a few different reasons; two teachers had recommended it to us, the internet recommended it to us, it was only half an hour train ride away, and the train was cheap. We weren't quite certain what to expect, especially as upon arrival the train set us down in a dirty industrial area. Hopes low, we began wandering towards where we thought the city center might be. 

Things improved as we came across this pretty park.

                                   

                                    

We enjoyed the parks artistic touches, of which there were many cool little details, paintings, carvings etc. It was fully Spring now, and the trees were blossomed with the most amazing colors. One of my favorite things was wherever there were orange trees, the smell of the orange blossoms was heavy in the air and smelled amazing.

 

The park was closed off on one side by a medieval stone wall. It made the park even prettier in my opinion. The town had a long and interesting past, famous during Roman times for it's linen fabrics, and then in the 12th the Arabs brought the technology to manufacture paper here. 

The dramatic main walkway in the park

We eventually wandered up (Xativa being built on a mountainside) to the main area of the town, and came across this pretty church. A passing nun told us we could go in if we wanted, so we did. 

It was very pretty, and very quiet. 

The narrow streets were small and winding, the houses brightly colored, it was exactly what I had always imagined Spain looking like. I suppose the stereotypical imagery has to come from somewhere!

  

The church, not only an impressive building, but it seemed to be the center of Xativa, with the town spreading out around it. 

Easter Long Weekend Part I

With Easter approaching, Emma and I decided to have a fantastic Long Weekend, and planned out each day and what we would do. There was a ridiculous amount of food involved. 

We began our Easter long-weekend on Thursday night after work, when all the teachers went for drinks and tapas at 100 Montaditos. One of my favourite cheap bars, I've probably mentioned it before. There are a chain of them all around the city, and they do 100 tapas and most are under two Euros each. After a good catch up with everyone, Emma and I happened to notice a Gelato shop next door - Amorino...So yes, we accompanied our pints of beer with ice-cream at eleven at night! And was it worth it. The coffee flavor was unbelievably delicious, with coffee beans mixed in. I also got coconut that was lovely and fresh.

Then it was back to our favorite 'Meeting Point' bar for cheap tapas. One of my favourites are croquetas de jamon. Mashed potato mixed with Jamon, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Mmmmmm. This one here is a racion portion, which simply means its more meal-sized than a tapa which would be half the size.

Followed by more tapas of goats cheese with some kind of cranberry sauce that tasted amazing, and a nice tomato herby paste on the others.

There was also a food market on in one of the squares, we visited out of curiosity. It was a very small square, and there were a lot of people, so we didn't stay long as the crowds were suffocating and the lines ridiculous. We did stare longingly at this dessert truck though. 

During Easter itself there were a number of traditional foods that we found displayed in supermarkets and bakeries. We decided we simply had to sample these local specialties (for science! cough) They were excellent. 

This strangely shaped bread was a mix between brioche (melt in your mouth) and hot-cross bun (spicy and fruity) then covered in a light layer of chocolate. What's not to like? The 'Easter' egg was extremely enjoyable too, and tasted like a kinder egg. Funnily enough although this one was actually made of chocolate, many of the bakeries simply had real egg shells that were painted bright colors.

This was the other extremely traditional bread we found that seemed to pop up in every bakery in the city. Covered in nuts and sugar with wells of sugary goodness throughout the dough, it was also somewhat fruity and slightly hot-cross bunlike, and extremely good. 

On Easter Friday we decided to go to the Italian restaurant we had been eyeing up for months in the Benimaclet neighborhood. The owner was extremely nice, and typically exuberant Italian. Middle-aged and rotund he reminded me of a mob-boss. Although we tried to order in Spanish, he continued to excitedly talk to us in English.  Service was impeccable, quick, and the food was great. 

We went for the set menu as it was the best value, still expensive (at least for Spain) but worth it. It came to about 18 euros each at the end for three courses and a drink. There was no physical menu, only a waiter telling us each option.  Fancy but stressful!

For entree we had ravioli filled with pumpkin and amaretto  which sounds weird but didn't even taste like pumpkin, it was delicious and slightly sweet.

Our main was a cut of meat with a delicious cream pepper sauce, reduced balsamic glaze, and mashed potato that I would die for. Genuinely the best mash potato I have ever had, it was smooth, silky, and flavored with some kind of herb that just made it absolutely to die for.

Dessert we branched out and decided to get something different from each other so we could share. I got the caramel panna cotta (insanely good) and Emma had Tiramisu, which while not the best I've ever had, was pretty darn nice.

The meal ended with a complimentary shot of some kind of liqueur which was quite nice, but then after chatting with the owner and him finding out my name, he became quite excited (apparently I share the name of a character from Pulp Fiction - which I have never seen) and wouldn't stop talking about it or bringing us more shots. Unfortunately this time it was limoncello which to be quite honest was disgusting straight. We grimaced it down to be polite, only for him to pour us another one! After enduring three we fled. 

Overall, great experience! 

 

Plaza de la Virgen at night.

St Patricks Day and the approach of Summer

Saint Patrick's Day in Valencia was a bigger affair than I expected; Emma and I decided to go out for a token Guinness and the streets were full of people in tall green top hats! The Irish pubs of Valencia (of which there are surprisingly quite a few) were of course packed, however we managed to squish ourselves into 'Finnegans' for a pint.

With the weather becoming hotter and hotter I spent my weekends lying in the park enjoying the sunshine (and often the shade due to the heat!) and having park picnics with Emma. 

One of the highlights of Spain for me was going with Emma and Alix - two of my teacher friends- to a local football match! Valencia vs. Alicante (The neighboring city) meant there were supporters for both sides. There was chanting, flag waving and rude gestures coming from every direction, it was awesome. We of course supported Valencia, and we won! It was an exciting match with Valencia scoring a goal in the last minute of the game, causing our area in the stands to go completely mental! 

I also finally made it to the beach, only fifteen minutes away by tram, it seemed ridiculous that it took me over three months! It was a very long beach, but it was busy too. The water was freezing at that time of year so we only paddled. I enjoyed the trip but the wind constantly blew sand in my face (I was washing sand out of my ears for days!) and it was too busy and big for me. Give me a tranquil beach in New Zealand or a cove in Greece any day.

More culinary delights were had of course. Emma and I discovered our favourite bar 'Meeting Point' where pints were only a euro and tapas weren't much more. 

Chocolate and Cream crepes for 1.50? Yes please.

Las Fallas

Las Fallas in Valencia is an annual festival dating back to 1497, when carpenters and artisans would annually dispose of all the broken artifacts and spare pieces of wood left-over, they would drag them outside and burn them. Over time the parots  were dressed like people before they were burned - often important people from the neighborhood. This then became a competition between neighborhoods for the most impressive parots.  They also grew satirical in nature - under Franco the government in fact attempted to ban the Fallas many times as it was one of the only ways left for public expression and criticism of politics. 

The build-up to the Fallas is actually really cool, as streets close off and the huge monuments (as they are now known) are carefully covered so as not to be revealed until the Fallas begins. The Fallas kicked off with a 'Mascleta' a huge number of fireworks banging into the sky, from then on every day the Mascelta occurred at 2pm. I went with my friend Nuria to see one of the first ones (pictured below), it was sweltering hot and extremely loud. A cool experience but certainly not one I would want to repeat every day for weeks as the Spanish seemed to - creating huge crowds every day. 

The Fallas also involved a Festival of Lights and all the neighborhoods strung different types of lights above the streets. Here are the ones in the street of the Academy where I worked. On the right you can see the throngs of people going to look at the monuments which were finally unveiled - for three days only before they were burned on the last night.

Outdoor night markets also sprung up around the monuments, here is a stall selling only olives. Awesome.

 

The monuments were not at all what I expected, far larger and more colorful than I thought they would be, and also cartoonish, like something from a Disney movie. Apparently in the 20th C they had switched from wood to cardboard and polystyrene. 

They all had political messages, however as the little plaques at the foot of each monument were in Valencian, we had no hope of understanding. 

I liked this one because it reminded me of a mix between the pied piper and the nursery rhyme about three blind mice - the mice here were tiny, adorable and looked very brainwashed. 

Even with no understanding of language or politics of Spain, I enjoyed these monuments, the one on the left definitely looked like it was having a go at the church! The one of the right reminded me of a very evil Ogre/Shrek.  

Although it's not a very good picture, this one was one of my favorites, and reminded me of Alice and Wonderland. 

Some more cool monuments, the one on the right had lots of Romans and was one of my favorites. One of the monuments even had Asterix and Obelix! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them. 

 

More weird and wonderful monuments

On the left you can see the amazing structures made entirely by lights, on the right the statue of the Virgin Mary, being cloaked in fresh flowers.

 The Lion monument was one of the fanciest - at night it lit up from inside and changed colors. And then on the last night, each monument was burned, accompanied by a live orchestra sat just behind the crowds.

 

This enormous monument won first prize and therefore had the 

honor of being the only monument not burnt. 

 And then every night at midnight, the fireworks would go off for fifteen minutes non-stop. Each night it was a different and dramatic display.

I can quite easily say they were the best fireworks I have ever seen.

View down one of the busy streets on the night of the burning.