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August 2003

Valencia

David Aaronson
2005-09-28 21:32:15

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would be a dog that blithely jumped in the fountain in the center of the plaza causing Melanie to abandon her horchata and go take pictures. Speaking of horchata, it is one of several Valencian foods and drinks we sampled. Horchata is a non-alcoholic milky looking drink made from tiger nuts. It's not really much like anything else we've ever had before. Also on the local drink list is Agua de Valencia which is basically orange juice strengthened (considerably) with a clear hard alcohol. Valencia's best-known culinary export is paella which at a fundamental level is just saffron-flavored rice cooked with a variety of meats and/or seafoods and some vegetables thrown in for good measure.

This is an unusual historical building - it's a 15th century gothic hall that was used as a commodities exchange for silk (8). It is just across the street from an enormous marketplace which is also an architectural wonder. This building, La Lonja Seda, is now just open to the public to wander around in. It also includes a very nice enclosed garden in the courtyard.

Valencia is the capital of the province of Valencia which has it's own dialect of Catalan (not Spanish) known as Valenciano. Signs seem to be interchangeably in either Spanish or Valenciano. The Valencian nationalism is not readily noticeable to the tourist like it is in Catalunya, it's a much more relaxed sense of autonomy. The red and yellow striped flag of Catalunya does make an appearance in the Valencian flag as well (9).

This busy street (Calle Jativa) separates old Valencia from new (10). The building on the left is the bullring, on the right is the train station. Just across from them (about where we were standing to take this picture) is a fun little set of pedestrian streets which come alive at night with a maze of cafes, bars and ice cream shops (heladerias). Speaking of which the local specialty is a flavor called 'turron' which can be found in candies as well. Turron is sort of a nougat flavor produced mainly in the town of Jijona (or Xixona in Valenciano).

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