Valencia. Oct 15 2015

another three-day school holiday weekend, so we found a train and headed south a few hundred miles south to my new favorite spanish city: valencia.   growing up in southern california,  valencia oranges are plentiful.  i have a tree in long beach that i miss very much.  store bought oranges (like tomatoes) never taste as good as home grown.  Well, come-to-find-out (after 51 years), the valencia orange is not named after the city in california.  valencia orange  trees were brought to california from valencia spain during the time of the spanish occupation of cal/mexico.  these lovely oranges are named after an equally lovely city.  spain's third largest city, with  900,000 people.  relaxed and laid-back, valencia has miles of Mediterranean beaches, Europe's largest aquarium, a science center, a central cathedral (of course), and most importantly, an excellent market with fabulous pastries.  in any city i am always drawn to its market and cathedral.  the cathedral in valencia, ingesia de san agustin  (church of saint agustin), has, in it's possession, "The Holy Grail."  true story, no rumor. The Holy Grail, is the chalice (cup) that Jesus drank from at the last supper.  they claim to have it.  The Holy Grail is prominently displayed, with security, in a small chaple off the main floor of the cathedral.  your eyes are probably skeptically rolling around in your head, as were mine.  but i did very little research and found that the experts think that there is a lot pointing to the authenticity of this challis.  there is a documented trail to follow, starting with the owner of the house where the last supper took place.  so who can say? not I, and being the base coverer that i am,  i asked El Padre if i could have a tiny sip, you know, in the interest of saving my soul and all.  he was not to keen on the idea.  it was worth a shot.

The Holy Grail

no sipping, but for 2 euros we could climb the cathedral bell tower and view the city from on high.

while we were up there the bell chimed 12 noon.  those big bells are loud.

cathedral tower in background

almost to the top

they must not have gotten a sip either,  they are still searching

Valencia also claims to be the birthplace of the classic spanish dish "paella," and a shake made of tiger nut called "horchata".  i am not a big fan of either, but corrinne really likes the horchatta.

fresh valencia orange juice in the square

Paella,  is a slow-cooked rice dish with spices and  assorted additives,  sea food, chicken,   veggies, etc.

horchata is  milkless, but they call it a shake.  it's ground tiger nuts, water and spices (cin, nutmeg)

we went to the beach and our last morning we spent some time at the market where we found some fantastic pastry.

at the end of the day i was still standing.  some people just don't eat enough

i am fifty-one

who would have thought that i would be living in spain when i turned 51.  thanks to all for the birthday greetings.  we have not been gone long, but long enough that it is fun to hear from those back home.   my birthday was on monday, so we where in town because corri still has to go to school.  we have not let her drop out yet.  I had a very relaxing day.  cb and i went to lunch at my favorite pizza place, and we had a quite dinner at home.

looking pained because CB will not let me eat until she takes a photo

tuesday we joined some friends to see a guitar recital at a cathedral in the heart of barcelona.   the gothic cathedral, esglesia santa ana, was built in the 12 century.  attached to the cathedral is a monastery with a small gothic chapel in it's courtyard.  the recital was held in this small chapel, under candlelight.  very intimate, very very cool.  cindy later surprised me with a promissory note good for a bread baking course of my choosing.  i am looking at a course in northern italy.  seeya.    not a bad 51st.

$$$$$

i have my first blog request.
from a financial standpoint, whats it like living in Europe?
well it's not that joyous.
 i am unaware of all the factors that go into currency valuation, but i am pretty sure there is a lot of politics involved.  after hearing about the economic difficulties that Europe has been dealing with over the last five years, how can the US$ be so weak against the european euro??  the current exchange rate is 1 european  euro costs US$ 1.30'sh.    add the weak $, to taxes on goods that go as high as 21%,  and you begin to miss america really fast.   we knew living in spain to be more expensive then the US but it is much more expensive than we expected.  additionally, you do not get as much for the same amount of money.  my US1.30 that equals 1 Euro will buy 1 pound of broccoli in the US but only 1/2 pound in spain.  the  $4 starbuck frapachino  cost $7.5 here.  i have not been to starbucks since i left the states.  interesting fact,  a can of coke here costs about the same as a can of beer, and a bottle of water costs more than both.  priorities baby, priorities.
we where frustrated because it took us a while to find a place to live, but there was an unexpected bonus in the delay.  it gave us time to get aquatinted with the expense realities we were facing, and we were able to adjust our housing budget to offset other costs.  we opted for a small apartment instead of the dream house, so we expect to be able to keep corrinne in food & clothes for the duration of our stay.  
although she's making it a challenge.  all of a sudden she is eating a lot more, and i think shes growing.
we have only been here a 6 wks and have had to buy two new pairs of shoes.  once, after spending most of the day walking neighborhoods,  she started doing the tired thing.  she cried loudly, "you guys don't feed me enough, and i'm going through a growth-spurt."  i assume bystanders did not speak english.  she got some strange stares,  but no-one turned us in. in foreign lands you can get away with malnourishing your kid.
conclusions:  you got to love America. the land of plenty, and tasty things.
i posted this and then went to pick up corrinne from school. it is wednesday, which is after-school treat day for corri.  this reminded me of another interesting expense.  more irritating than interesting.  businesses here like to charge more for nothing more than perceived value.  so today corri picked gelato as her treat.  a small cup of gelato is about the same as one scoop of ice cream back home.  here that cup is 2.6 euros, a little more than US$3.  but how many children want just one flavor of gelato.  well, for two flavors in the same size cup you are charged 3.4 euros, over US$4.  but you receive the same amount of gelato at either price.   go figure.

this is how i look after paying $4 for a scoop