"En la luna de Valencia"

I chose this expression as the title for my blog post just because I like it and it refers to Valencia (the subject of this post). I don't know where the expression comes from but it means to be despistado (distracted, absent-minded, away with the fairies). So there you go, a tid bit of Spanish knowledge on a Monday.

We went to Valencia in May, on the lovely puente those of us in Madrid get, where you have the Thursday and Friday off. It's a four day weekend so we thought we'd make the most of this time off to go to Madrid's nearest beaches, Valencia. Dafydd came down from Barcelona (look out for my post on when we visit him there, coming up this week), and Maria and I took a quick ride on the AVE.

My musts for a quick trip to Valencia (in no particular order):

• The cathedral - very interesting audio guide included in the entry price and you can also go up the tower but we chose to go up Torres de Serrans for a view over the city
• The Lonja de la seda - a UNESCO world heritage site
• The Torres de Serranos - not for those with a fear of heights
• Tapas and going out in Barrio del Carmen
• The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias - we just went for a look around but if you have more time and money, I've heard the aquarium is incredible
• The port - we were there off-season so it was pretty eery but I imagine a lot of fun on summer evenings
• Playa de la Malvarrosa - we chose to stay close to here for maximum beach time and there is whole host of restaurants lining the beach next to the port, buzzing both day and night
• Eat paella and fartons, and drink both agua de Valencia and horchata 

And this is my blog after all, where would we be without photos to back up my recommendations,

La catedral,

El mercado,

 La Lonja,

Ceiling vs. floor,

 

A Feria Andaluza we stumbled across,

And here are a few photos just to prove I was actually there!