Poptarticus

Shannon’s Super Sexy Blog. Music. Travel. Randomness. And a Lot of Wine.

The Weird and the Beautiful

One thing I have learned in my travels in Spain is, if it is a nice day out, get out there and get some stuff done because the next day, it could be raining like crazy.  We were very lucky our first few days here – it was gorgeous and warm every day and we made the most of it.  Monday we bought tickets on the double decker tourist bus, good for two days, and they really worked out well for us.  I think that in the end, we could probably could have saved a little money by just taking taxis instead, but the good thing about the bus was it sort of got us into a program of what to see and where to go.  Plus it was fun to sit on the top of the bus and be closer to all the tops of the buildings.  There are some uber cool buildings here.

Yesterday we packed a lot in – the history museum, the City of Arts and Sciences (just to walk around) and the Las Fallas museum.  With the way the times work here, it takes some planning, because even a lot of the museums close in the afternoon.  The history museum is short on artifacts but has these cool interactive movies with some pretty funny acting.  Dudes gossiping about the Borgias in Renaissance garb.  Moors (who don’t look too Moorish) hanging around making up really weird poetry.  Anyway, it was really fun and I did learn a lot about the history here.

The City of Arts and Sciences… wow.  Everyone has probably seen the pictures of the place but they just do not prepare one for actually being there.  It is MASSIVE and it is weird and it is beautiful.  (There is a dude next to me sucking on a popsicle really loud – it is messing with my concentration.  Anyway.)

It is going to take me some time to get my mind around all I have seen and done here but it is truly a magnificent city with a heck of a lot to do… the gardens and the parks are amazing!  And I love it everytime I enter the Plaza Ayunamiento, a triangle shaped plaza with gorgeous buildings all around, including the most beautiful post office I have ever seen.  Just down the street, the bullring is next to the train station (also very beautiful with a lot of colorful tiles and mosaics inside, and the ticket windows are all wood…)

The only thing that has not been so perfect for us here is the food.  (Now the popsicle dude is watching skateboard videos.)  We had one earth-shaking meal, our lunch on Sunday, which was so random and unexpected that it made it all the more glorious (stopped for a tapa, stayed for five courses).  Other tapas have been meh and expensive.  Last night, we stopped in a tapas place and ordered tomatoes topped with bechamel and baccala that were pretty good, but we also ordered (because we wanted to do something a little different) pimientos de Padron “relleno” – presumably stuffed with cheese and sauced with something.  But they came out fried and they were… FROZEN inside.  Nasty!  They were like jalapeno poppers from Applebys or something.  I had a Gordon Ramsay moment.  I tried to figure out (from my mom) how to best express that these suckers were frozen and I was NOT paying (learned the word for ice – hielo) but Mom just told the server they were frozen and she whisked them away and then we heard her yelling in the kitchen.  Clearly this was not the first time.  Today we went to a recommended vegetarian tapas place and ordered some vegetable croquettes that came out cold.  This time, mom had the GR moment.  But they reheated them and they were fine.   Tonight we are going to go and eat a pizza.  Oh, and all the food we have bought and ate at home has been great.

Last night a big storm came in and there has been crazy thunder, lightning and periods of heavy rain here.  I woke up in the middle of the night and seriously, it sounded like that part of Raiders of the Lost Ark where the nazis open up the ark and everything goes crazy.  We had a nice day just walking around but we got pretty wet.  I bought a phone, too – mission accomplished there.

Tomorrow we head out of Valencia to a town in the mountains called Morella for a little down time.  We really loved Valencia and I definitely want to return someday – even with the frozen tapas.

9 Responses to “The Weird and the Beautiful”

  1. Marcia Says:

    So glad you’re posting about your journey here, sounds wonderful; I really want you to plan a trip for me/us someday in Spain.

  2. Amy Says:

    OK, you are now responsible for adding YET ANOTHER place to my travel list…

    Thanks for the cool trip entries!

  3. Pauline Kenny Says:

    Frozen! Bad enough they are using frozen foods, let alone serving it not prepared correctly. I hope you start finding some fabulous meals! Your apartment sounds great!

  4. Krista Harris Says:

    Shannon, I love your blog entries, popsicle dude, bad tapas and all. Keep up the good work!

  5. marta Says:

    Spain sounds wonderful as before. Too bad about the food. I would have though Valencia would have great food. shrug – who knew.

  6. Deborah Says:

    Shannon’s blogging.
    Tomorrow, world comes to an end.
    😀
    Thanks, Shannon. Enjoyed these first two posts!

  7. Jane Says:

    Hi Shannon, i’ve been waiting for a post so was glad to see this and get an update. Frozen tapas? How awful is that? Do they have a Costco? 🙂 Glad you’re having a good time even with the popsicle dude. Post again when you have time.

  8. nancyhol Says:

    It sounds like you got better food at the mercato centrale than in the restaurants – go figure!

    And you never know where you are going to find that special restaurant . . .

  9. Tiffany Says:

    So glad to be reading you again! Sounds like you are having a great time, keep up the writing!

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