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