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Published: September 7th 2007
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The Real Deal
Paella was invented in Valencia, as was Xorchata. So this is the place to get both. When I first arrived all I saw were giant, gross, 1980's apartment buildings. I began counting the seconds until I would leave. Really, my first impression of Valencia, Spain wasn't that different from my impression of Valencia, California. Both have mostly new construction. Both have a lot of rides.
Then, slowly throughout the week, I began to warm up to it. To begin, the food here is really great. I didn't know what paella was supposed to taste like until I had it here on Tuesday. There are horchata stands on every corner. There's also a beach, if you're into that, but it's just okay.
Once a year they have a Fallas Festival where they make giant, satirical, paper mache floats and then, on the third day, burn them all in a huge bonfire. They vote on a favorite to be saved from the fire and all of the past winners are displayed in a museum close to The City of Arts & Sciences (which is the main thing to see here). The City of Arts & Sciences was built ten years ago and houses a science museum, a botanical garden, and an aquarium. The aquarium and the architecture
Made the news
Walking back from the beach I was interviewed by a local tv station (yes, in Spanish). I asked them if they were Valencia's answer to Borat, but they swore that they weren't so we'll see.................. of the entire complex are the best parts.
By Wednesday I had met some new people and decided Valencia wasn't so bad. Maybe the bar was set a little high by visiting Barcelona first. I think that this city is still kind of figuring itself out too- as an example, the Turia riverbed is a dry riverbed that was drained and turned into a park. So it's this 7+ mile long park that runs through the city; a green river of sorts that is filled with parks and rides and futbol fields. It's also kind of too much though- there are long stretches of empty green where you're just like, "Really? More grass?". It's just so much space to fill that I think they are still working out the landscaping. Same thing with the architecture. For the most part, it's blah, but then you have something as amazing as The City of Arts & Sciences. There are tons of apartment buildings being torn down and lots of new construction. So maybe in ten more years it will be a whole new city. Anyway, I ended up having a great time and would love to come back for the Fallas
Ughhh.
My initial impression of the architecture here was giant, gross apartment buildings of odd shapes and sizes......like this. Festival. Anyone wanna go?
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Val
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My favorite shots in this section are the statues, and Oceanografic, and of course, the paella. :)