paella Archives - Everywhere Abroad

We arrived in Valencia June 28th and stayed there until July 25th. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, this was our first destination after the Camino de Santiago.

The reason we chose Valencia is because we’ve never been there before and because it is in the south part of Spain. After walking the north from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela we also wanted to experience the coastal areas of Comunidad Valenciana and Andalusia, which we had been told is a must see. Compared to other cities in Spain, Valencia is more affordable to live in, for us this is important since we will be traveling for awhile. For those looking for a great cheap vacation, Valencia is a great option. Staying here for almost a month, is a way to get involved in the culture and really get a feel for how people live, to have a daily life while at the same time exploring around. During July it is very hot with temperatures of up to 35C as it is summer time in Europe. Coming from Florida this was not too much of a problem for us, it felt better because there was no humidity like in Florida. We definitely made a good choice by choosing Valencia as one of the cities to live in.

Our Airbnb was very nice and located right on the Plaza Tossal in the neighborhood of El Carmen. Here we had everything we needed such as cafes, tapas bars, restaurants, small fruit/veggie markets, fashion boutiques, museums, theatre, and the Central Market was 3 minutes walking distance from our apartment (aka piso). No matter what day of the week it was El Carmen was always ready to party at night. Whether we walked downstairs to what became our corner to have a drink and enjoy the evening or look through our balcony we enjoy it very much!

Our apartment building to the right and some of the street art
Torres de Serranos, one of the 12 gates that formed part of the ancient city wall.

In Valencia you can rent a bike, scooter, or simply walk like we did. There are also free walking city tours that you can book online and offer great insight (at the end of the tour you pay what you consider appropriate).

Food in Valencia like everywhere in Spain will not disappoint. Tapas, burgers, fresh seafood, paella, agua de Valencia, horchata, vermouth, fartons, churros, arroz caldoso, and many more! Valencia is where you can find the most famous Spanish dish, the paella, which originated from this area. For those of you that do not know, the traditional paella Valenciana is made up of chicken and rabbit. In Valencia they do offer other combinations of paellas for those that do not like the taste of rabbit (like Santiago). Agua de Valencia was Ingrids favorite after a sunny day of walking around. It’s very refreshing and made up of fresh-squeezed Valencian oranges, along with cava, vodka, and gin. We also had anything we could ask for at the many markets and shops around town. Santiago was able to cook some of our favorite meals from home during our stay in Valencia. We also went to many international restaurants like Chinese, Argentinian, and Colombian. Needless to say, do not worry about food in Valencia because there is something delicious for everyone!

Agua de Valencia
Horchata and Fartons
Paella de Mariscos

The City of the Arts and Sciences complex will amaze you! It’s very futuristic and offers many activities for the entire family. You’ll need to dedicate some time when visiting even considering coming back a second day if you have the time. The City of the Arts and Sciences is comprised of the Museum of Sciences (hands-on exhibits fun for the entire family), L’Hemisferic (IMAX cinema), Palau de les Arts (opera venue), Umbracle (open air area to take wonderful photos), The Agora (multi purpose event space), Oceanographic (Europes largest aquarium). We recommend purchasing a combined ticket of your choice which is good for the day of purchase and the next day to allow you to come back. Tickets are around 25 euros for combined activities depending on what you want to see. You can also walk around the complex and its gardens for free.

Umbracle
Museum of Sciences
The City of Arts and Sciences

La Lonja de la Seda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was originally used for trading in silk. This is a beautiful Gothic building worth seeing that will not take much of your time, it’s free, and it’s right around the corner from the Cathedral at Plaza de la Virgen.

Jardin del Turia is a park in the center of Valencia that runs about 9 kilometers stretching from the Bioparc to the City of Arts and Sciences. It is the largest urban park in Spain with activities for the entire family. Within the park you can enjoy activities such as morning runs, cycling, yoga, sight seeing, skateboarding, festivals, fairs, playgrounds for children, Gulliver’s park and much more! We enjoyed walking through here to reach different points in the area and take advantage of the shade, we did our daily runs, and enjoyed the fair that was there at that time. When in Valencia it is very hard to miss as it stretches along the city and from its history you’ll want to go see this park that was once the River Turia.

Bioparc is one of the top zoos in the world located in Valencia. We visited the zoo and enjoy it very much! The park has a concept of zoo-immersion, which is a more natural habitat for the animals and where you’ll see rivers, rocks, and ponds separating you from the animals. Pretty cool!

The Mediterranean Sea has a lot to offer and along the coast of Valencia you will find its many beaches. We visited La Malvarrosa beach and drove a scooter to Playa de la Pobla de Farnals. Both very nice beaches to spend the day.

Playa La Malvarrosa
Playa de la Pobla de Farnals

We loved The Central Market! We were 3 minutes away walking and we were here for our daily coffee and some pastry almost everyday after our morning run. Inside the market you can find fresh fish, meats, cheeses, all kinds of ham, veggies, fruits, spices, and many many international foods.

Central Market

Valencia’s Cathedral claims to have what is supposed to be the Holy Grail, the actual cup that Jesus drank from at the last supper. There is a small entrance fee for the cathedral. You can also go up to the cathedrals bell tower (El Miguelete) through a spiral staircase of around 200 steps for city views.

Plaza de la Virgen and the Valencia Cathedral

Ibiza! What a surprise for us! We visited Ibiza for the summer in July 2019 and spent a weekend there. Ibiza is one of Spains Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea with a population of around 140,000. Once you arrive you start to realize how beautiful and big the island actually is!! We imagined Ibiza as a party island, almost like a strip of clubs along the beach with all sorts of crazy, and unorganized chaos. Well we were totally wrong!!

We reached the airport and took a bus that after an hour ride took us to San Antonio where our friends were waiting to meet us. Ibiza is divided into many towns and San Antonio is where we chose to stay. It is considered one of the biggest towns of Ibiza. This is also where the famous Cafe Del Mar and Mambo Cafe are located (both well-know for their unique sunset views). Since we were traveling as a group we all chose the hotel or area where we stayed as a group so that it worked for everyone. We stayed in a nice hotel, the only drawbacks were that it did not have a pool and our room did not have any views. Since we were in a very central area, as San Antonio is, we had beaches and pools very near and that was not a problem at all. The best part of these pool lounges is that you had a view of the sea/sunset and all you had to do was consume something from their menu to be able to enjoy an entire day of relaxation.

We had it all within walking distance except when we wanted to go to the other side of the island or when we had to go to a party. We ended up going to 2 electronic music parties. One was at Amnesia and the other at Pacha. We had very good times at both. More at Amnesia I have to say, Pacha was way too crowded.

Formentera! We can’t forget Formentera! This beautiful island is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, it’s the smallest of the Balearic Islands of Spain and is just an hour away by ferry from Ibiza! We did a day trip from Ibiza and it was totally worth it! We rented a scooter and drove through the entire island making stops at some the most beautiful beaches. Seafood and cocktails are also very good here at very reasonable prices.

Ibiza has entertainment for the entire family, it is not only a party island as we discovered and it is very much controlled, clean, organized, and safe. Beautiful turquoise water beaches to enjoy the day with water activities for everyone, historic places to visit, boat tours, delicious food, and anything you can think of when you think of an island vacation.

Some of the activities we recommend doing while in Ibiza:

Take the ferry to Formentera for $30 (both ways).

Take a boat tour around the island for around $40 per person.

Check out one of the sunset cafes, including the famous Cafe Mambo or Cafe Del Mar. For these two places you don’t need to go in during the sunset times as it could be quite expensive (minimum $70 consumption per person). Instead, go to one of the many stores around to get some drinks, snacks, get a blanket and enjoy the music with your friends sitting by the beach. You will have an awesome time and better yet, one of the most beautiful sunsets you’ve ever seen.