Autumn in Valencia
I think autumn is finally taking over in Valencia... Yesterday I survived my first rainstorm! As I came back from class in the afternoon with Lena, the german girl with whom I am writing a paper, I saw a huge black cloud approaching... Halfway home the wind started to blow, lifting dry leaves and sand, very impressive... We started running, because we saw the rain coming and I had clothes hung out to dry! We got to my apartment just in time to save my clothes from being blown away and getting soaked with rain! As it rained, it got so dark we had to put on all the ligths! The lightning and thunder only lasted half an hour or so and after that the rain quickly stopped too. An hour later the sun was shining again as if nothing had ever happened! I've been told that this is the normal kind of rainstorm that occurs during the changing of the seasons. It's got something to do with the changing of the winds, or something...
But anyway, it's been way too long since I've written on my blog! I've been quite busy this past week! Last weekend my mother came to visit me (and she brought me this lovely, o-so-handy laptop I'm now writing from!). As last weekend was another prolonged one, because thursday is a festive day and friday I don't have any classes, she came for 4 days. I picked her up at the airport on thursday morning, and after a quick lunch we set out to explore the city centre. But first... coffee!
Unfortunately, as it was a festive day, many monuments and shops were closed. But Valencia has very beautiful things one need not visit to admire, like the Torres de Serranos, the barrio El Carmen and the various beautiful plazas. Luckily, the Cathedral was open, so we climbed the 200+ steps of the tower to admire the beautiful view over the city.
On Friday we visited the Mercado Central. There's so much to see, feel and smell! Like these huge cheeses Mom's checking out...
There's Jamón Serrano everywhere, whole plucked chickes, even pig's heads! (Some parts are really unrecommendable for sensitive vegetarians. Luckily I'm of the brave kind!) And the fish section is one of marvel and and sometimes disgust... like, for example, the aquariums full of live eels!
Or take a look at this baby squid... Yummy looking, is it not? :-p I'm glad that these things, once they get to your plate, look like food instead of alien seacreatures! Otherwise I'd be one heck of a vegan.
After our visit to the Mercado Central, we took a peek in la Lonja, the old silk exchange. It boasts a huge hall of columns, which used to be a trading floor, with magnificent spiralled columns. Just to give you an idea of how huge this hall is... and that for a 15th century building!
In the afternoon, we took a trip to l'Albufera national park. L'Albufera is a lake near the sea, where tall plants grow in the water, thus creating an ideal nesting habitat for birds. It's a fishermen's area, or well, it used to be before the tourists came. The fishermen built small white houses with typical pointy, low roofs, which are characteristic of the region. They say it's the best region of Spain to eat pescado, fish dishes. You can take a tour to l'Albufera by bus, departing from the city centre. The tour includes a boat trip on the lake in a typical fishermen's boat. This is Mom with our lovely boatsman, a very lively and funny man.
This is a fishnet, put up by the fishermen. Apparently it's as easy as that to catch fish! Just put up some nets in the middle of the lake. I always thought a fisherman's life was tough... not soooo tough, I suppose. But I guess it's not as easy as it looks, like so many other things.
And look at that! An authentic fisherman drifting by! So the craft still survives to this day, but of course on a much smaller scale... it's a pity that these lifestyles are lost...
That nigth Mom and I prepared a lovely home cooked meal with the cantharelles we had bought in the Mercado Central. No fish though! :-D
Well, I have to get going! I'm going to meet Lena in the city centre and she's going to take me to a place that has the best chocolate cake of Valencia! Mmmm, I'm curious! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, as well as finishing the story of the mother-daughter weekend!
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