Valencia & Navidad

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Its been 3 weeks since my last post. A pessimist might say, "well he forgot everything." But maybe "i just gave it a chance to ferment into something better." Either way, its been a while, and between low access to internet and the chaos of returning back to school 12 hours before my first class (arrived at 9pm on the 11th after 20 hours traveling with an 8 am class on the 12th) I am finally getting a chance to put pen to paper...errrr... fingers to plastic...

Without further ado: VALENCIA

The most brutal of bus rides

What would Christmas Eve be without a 9 hour overnight bus ride on a full bus with an interior temperature of well over 100 million degrees and no lack of homeless men smelling distinctly of their own aged urine? Well, you'd probably have yourself a much more energetic day-before-the-holiday.

After a bus journey that would make even the least sleep-deprived of insomniacs jealous, the 6-man equipo arrived to our home for the holidays just after sunrise . After a taxi ride through the city, we arrived at our apartment. Upon greeting the manager, we were shown into our pad. An let me say, this pad was plush! we had sleeping for all 6 and a full kitchen with all the amenities. Now to see if we could take advantage of our set-up.

Organizing the Feast

First thing was first: a nice long nap. We slept until the early afternoon at which point I remembered that there was a large open-aired market in the Centro. After mounting and mobilizing the troops, we decided on our plan of action: we would all go shopping, have our own item list, and return to the pad for an enormous chrismas eve feast. With the idea of getting the freshest most local of foods, we headed to the mercado.

The Market was enormous; it made the Berkeley farmers market look insignificant. Even with all the standard Jamon stands, we came across plenty of new types of vendors. There were numerous fruit, vegetable, and bakery booths - each one a seeming carbon copy of the last. It made me wonder: "Which one would you choose if you were a local?" I seemed to think it all comes down to the customer service experience and the relationship one builds with the seller. I mean they all sell just about the same thing (minor differences between each) so it has to be the help the salesman gives you. And to use a term from my most recent microeconomics class: they vendors engaged in "perfect competition" in which vendors sell homogeneous products and have no effect on prices (since I pay a pretty penny to go to my University its nice to throw out a term here and there that shows i haven't been wasting my tuition). I imagine that locals have been shopping at a specific booth for the longest time. Each vendor has his or her "regulars."

After purchasing a few tidbits for the dinner, we continued strolling at which point it really hit me: I've never experienced the excitement, choice, and near chaos of a market like this before. I remember a butcher vendor in which two women butchers chopped ruthlessly at carcasses of duck, turkey, and otherwise. The benign, undisturbed look of the attractive Spanish butcher as she brought the heavy knife down to fowl flesh - splattering blood and such on her apron i might add - is something I won't forget. It felt like just about everything was pulled from the ground or culled from the farm only a day or so before. The only thing I have felt similar to this type of market is a trip to Market Hall in Rockridge, Berkeley - anyone who has been there will understand. The sort of ancient Roman Forum type feel or a lively foreign outdoor market (you know the type that car chases always go through in movies only to ruin everyone's stand and knock pineapples 10 feet high) I loved this type of market and its energy will certainly not leave me as I return to the supermarket shopping of the U.S. whose steroid fruits and clueless sales staff cannot compare in authenticity.

As we split up once again through the market, Raffi and I decided - as the only empowered fish-eaters- to head over to the fish section. Needless to say, I've never seen such a huge fish sales area. The smell would have tinged even the some of the hardiest of seafood connoisseurs. After some browsing, We decided on a huge 2 pound calamari for our dish. After the fishmonger ripped out the ink, the cartilage, and peeled off the purple skin, we headed back to the kitchen with a bag full of a questionably adventurous purchase.

Family Time

Back at the batcave, Seth and I decided to head out for some Horchata at the fabled Santa Caterina Horchateria while the slowpokes would catch up later. Apparently horchata is a famed beverage in Valencia. Me being a huge fan of horchata, i couldn't pass up the opportunity. Upon arriving at the horchateria - two centuries in the making i might add - we shared a glass each. I found that it was a bit overly sweet and wuite different from the horchata im used to. I guess Mexican agua fresca horchata and Spanish authentic horchata is quite different. IT turns out, the former uses rice milk, cinnamon, sugar, whereas the latter uses water, sugar, and the meal from the ground tiger nut. The tiger nut is the key ingredient and one in which does not apply at all to the Mexican version. I found that i like the Latin version much more.

After this bebida, we headed to the miguelette tower at the Catedral. I found that there is not better way to understand a city than to get to its highest vantage point and look out at in all directions. This is a great way to understand the spatial relationships of positive and negative space between the plazas and the building mass. It also gives an understanding of the distance between points of interest or monuments and where the city line begins to turn to more rural space. After the Cathedral, we met up with the rest of the squad and headed to the Museo de Las Bellas Artes. Ofcourse it was closed on christmas eve, so we just headed back to feast.

After a bit more relaxation at the pad, it was time to put together the meal. If i remember correctly, out Eve feast consisted of homefried sliced potatoes, bred and the usual jamon/cheese fixings, cooked green beans, Marinated chicken, and more. With plenty of wine and beer to top it off, we were doing just fine and throwing up some nice toasts on the eve before the birth of the lord.

The rest of the night consisted of some good, solid family time that we could all use after some very active traveling. Also notable was the fact that this was the first Christmas away from home for many of us. I personally have had it with family for as long as i can remember. The town seemed to shut down early for the night, the streets vacated, and the Equipo called it a night...

Navidad con el Equipo

Christmas day came with Santa Claus leaving us only an array of dirty dishes and plenty of laundry to do. Not even coal this year!

It was weird waking up on a christmas day that had very little excitement. You realize that a holiday is only as significant as those family members present. Having a relatively small family, I dont usually partake in the epically large family get togethers that i have seen in other families. Still, it didn't seem like anything special for us and we used the day to continue our wayward sights.

The equipo mounted their trusty steeds, and after failing at finding bikes to rent - again because of the holidays - we walked along the River Turia to the Ciudad de Las Artes y Ciencias. It should first be noted that the River Turia is a dried out river bed that has been converted into park, field, and museum space. The "river" wraps all the way around the city. It was pretty cool and made an amazing central park typ feel that wrapped linearly around the city. I thought it was a pretty lucky occurrence that a dried river bed could create such effective urban space.

Arriving at Calatrava's "Ciudad" felt like arriving on a new planet in a Star Wars film. The hyper-post-modern architecture reveals a side of intense contemporary architectural hyperbole; so bizarre and profound it is hard to appreciate. Nevertheless, Calatrava's organic shapes and mastery of engineering could not be doubted. I think that without a doubt Calatrava is the best engineer in the architectural world. Calatrava's forms are as anachronistic to his time as Saarinen's concrete shell structures are to his. Calatrava pulls of an almost unbeilievable architectural move on the huge scarab-like Palacio when he uses a massive feather-like roof that seems to float in the air. It cantilevers so savagely that it look like 10 drops of rain might ruin its structural integrity.

As a website puts it:

“As the site is close to the sea, and Valencia is so dry, I decided to make water a major element for the whole site using it as a mirror for the architecture.”
Santiago Calatrava The City of Arts and Sciences, developed by Santiago Calatrava, is a large-scale urban recreation center for culture and science which also incorporates L’Oceanogràfic, an underwater city designed by the late Felix Candela. Set in the old dried-up river bed of the Turia, midway between the old city of Valencia and the coastal district of Nazaret, the City of Arts and Sciences covers an area of 350,000 square meters.

After the Ciudad, we tried to fulfill our fantasy of swimming in the Mediterranean, only to come across a taxi-driver who told us we were crazy for thinking we could walk there. Naive little boys we were... So back to this it was. We finished our time in Valencia with a night out at a few cervezerias and enjoyed the renowned "agua de Valencia," composed of OJ, Champagne, and vodka. very scrumptious.

As a final point, it must be pointed out that the oranges in Valencia do in fact deserve all the legend that the receive; including their eponymous variety. The oranges were incredibly sweet. The juice, or "zumo," that you can get at any restaurant is unavoidable. It is always fresh squeezed from the local varieities.... too goood... But remember dont eat the ones off the street trees. They don't ripen well and maintain an unbearable tartness that singes the mouth. Just ask Aaron Mcreary.....

Calendar of Events

Wed Dec 24th
- Arrive 7am after brutal bus ride
- a solid nap
- Groceries @ the Nercado
- drop off Xmas dinner
- Horchata @ Santa Catalina with Seth (The others were sleepy heads)
- Mount the spire of the Catedral
- Eve dinner and family time

Thurs Dec 25th
- Planned to walk to beach
- Only made it to La Ciudad
- Plan to swim in the med foiled
- A night out at some bars
- Tried the Agua de Valencia

Fri Dec 26th
- Early Checkout
- Bus to Barcelona

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Photos

El Mercado
Th large open-air market in downtown Valencia

Some Calamari
Raffi and I bought the big one on the left. It was about 2 pounds. We cut in cross-sectional slices and cooked it with wine, oil, garlic, & salt. Delicious

more market
they had a hundred of the same fruit, vegetable, or jamon stands

Spanish Recycling
Spanish recycling is public. They have these huge ovoid depositors that accept glass by the buttload. It seems like a great way for public recycling. sometimes they are even graffitied over

Seth Portraiture
If you look closely into his glasses you can see my reflection. Pretty cool pic

Bridge across the Ciudad
This picture reminds me of an architectural rendering. It has that look of being digital; the reflections and light due to the over-exposure make it look computer generated

Incredibly sour oranges
So the Valencia oranges may be delicious, but the ones on the streets are not to be messed with.