This Colombian Eats and Travels

Valencia is on the east coast of Spain and the third-largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. The city is situated on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea.

Its historic center is one of the largest in Spain and its heritage of ancient monuments, views and cultural attractions makes Valencia one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.

If you have never been to Spain and are thinking of visiting, your first choices might be Madrid or Barcelona by default, none the less, you should also consider Valencia, not only because it’s the 3rd most important city in the country, but because it has many wonderful and unique things to offer as well.

Only three and a half hours away by car from Madrid and Barcelona, it is also easily accessible by train, bus or plane.

Valencia should be on your Spain itinerary, here are a few reasons why:

The food: Food throughout Spain is well known and where ever you go you can sure feast on Tapas and great Spanish wine. But Valencia is also the birth place of Paella, and you must try it if you are in town. This rice renown dish is most popular with seafood, but you can also try it with chicken and or rabbit.

If you want a real paella experience, venture out to Alfubera National park and see where the rice for paella is grown, before you enjoy paella though, take a boat ride in the Alfubera lake and enjoy bird watching.

Getting there is easy, take public transportation and be there in under an hour (about € 1.5 each way), or take a tour and these usually include lunch and a boat ride (about €30 Euros.

Central market: This is a great place to find gourmet foods like pork products, famous Serrano Ham, pancetta, fresh produce and fresh seafood, also you can get a bite to eat at Central Bar, an award-winning restaurant by Michelin Star Chef Ricardo Camarena, all while admiring the buildings architecture and eye-popping tile work.

https://www.mercadocentralvalencia.es/El-Mercado.aspx

Saint Joseph Coves: Located about 40 minutes outside of Valencia, these are a sight not to be missed.

The Saint Joseph Coves are located on the Costa de Azahar, in the heart of the Mediterranean, Les Coves de La Vall d’Uixó is the longest navigable underground river in Europe, here you can explore these marvelous coves by boat and be one with nature and experience sensations of peace and harmony unlike anywhere on Earth.

If you are lucky to be there during the summer months, make sure to find out if a concert or concerts are taking place in the coves, run and get tickets because you will be part of an unforgettable experience. It does not matter what the act is, you NEED to experience a concert inside these fantastic coves.

http://covesdesantjosep.es/en/

City of Arts and Sciences: designed by famed Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela, this complex was built on the former bed of the River Turia, which was drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957.

This complex is an entertainment, cultural and architectural complex, which houses the Opera house, Oceanography center, amongst other entertainment venues.

The architecture resembles something taken out of a science fiction movie or the Jetsons, perfect harmony of white tones, tile and water, blend in perfect harmony that shocks the senses in a mystical and modern way, making this complex, the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia.

This complex has also been a controversial one, depending on the local you talk to, you will learn that they have strong and mixed feelings about this city, some think its an eye sore and feel it was a waist of local money that went so over budget, they still can’t get over it. Others feel that it has helped the city by putting it in the map if you will, thus helping the economy and promoting tourism. Go, visit, and you be the judge…

http://www.cac.es/en/home/la-ciutat/cacsa-la-empresa/historia.html

The street art: if you like and or appreciate art, you will find eclectic, thought provoking, beautiful street art as you walk thru the streets of Valencia, some are hidden in plain sight, make sure you are on the lookout, so you don’t miss it.

There are more reasons to visit Valencia other than the ones I have listed, the intention is to peak your curiosity and hopefully you will consider Valencia on your next trip to Spain, have fun planning….

http://www.visitvalencia.com/en/home

Solo travel does not have to be intimidating , on the contrary , very rewarding. Don’t be scared to try it, you just might enjoy it and wonder why it took you so long to travel alone. I do it all the time and it’s freeing , liberating and utterly fun .

Traveling solo can be a hard thing to do for some people, they might be fearful of going to a new place alone, unsure of what to do and or where to go. Staring conversations alone can be an intimidating thing.

I have been traveling solo for a very long time and not because I don’t like to travel with others but rather because sometimes it is a challenge just trying to get friends or family to decide on locations and or times when we can all go at the same time, so instead , if I really want to go somewhere, I just travel solo.

One of the only disadvantages I see with traveling solo is the additional single supplement charges that solo travelers often get charged on tours, hotels and for example on cruises, the more people in a cabin, the cheaper the cost. But solo travelers are charged a single supplement charge that brings the cost up.

Here is a great opportunity to save on single supplements and actually have a great time , if you are concerned about traveling solo, this is your opportunity to travel alone but together along with only 212 passengers.

Check the link below for a great offer from Windstar Cruises

https://www.windstarcruises.com/specials/singlesupplementcarcrpc/

During a visit to Valencia, Spain, a couple of girlfriends and I decided to drive to Toledo for the weekend.

Nestled over a gorge overlooking the Río Tajo, Toledo is an easy 3-and-a-half-hour drive from Valencia and about an hour south of Madrid.

This city is a must see/visit not only for its beauty and centuries old history but because you will be mesmerized as you stride along Toledo’s crammed and dense historical core, chuck full of Horseshoe-arched mosques, Sephardic synagogues and one of Spain’s most beautiful Gothic cathedrals.

We decided to rent a car from Valencia and drive. The drive itself was uneventful. I was expecting forts and castles as if Don Quixote was still wondering around the area. Instead, there were several wind mill farms and very few rest stops/gas stations along the way but we did notice several black bull billboards (just the shape of a bull with no writing or pictures on them).

However, as you get closer to Toledo , you can clearly see from afar the majestic cathedral towering on top of the city as if it were the crowning jewel in the center of the city.

Once inside the city walls we were following directions in the car to the apartment we rented and struggling in the process to get there. Street signs are often hard to see and or read as they are placed on the side corner of buildings. We were also driving inside the city walls of a city that was built in the middle ages. These streets were meant for pedestrians and carriages not modern time cars, not even the smallest ones.

As we drove through winding, narrowing streets, I started feeling almost claustrophobic and overcome with the feeling that we were about to be a European movie cliché by driving our rental car through a street so narrow we would get stuck, trapped and unable to get out. Unknown to us, driving inside the city walls of Toledo is restricted to residents with a parking pass. Luckily, we stopped to ask for directions and a local told us we were not supposed to be driving inside the city walls and helped us get to a parking spot, (not many around but there are several spots where you can pay to park).

Keep this in mind when you pack, it could be a long torturous road hauling your luggage through inclined cobblestone streets from your car to your destination.

Now the fun part, Toledo is known as the ‘city of three cultures’ where Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities peacefully coexisted in the Middle Ages. Their influence and charm continue to be present today.

Toledo has 3 distinct neighborhoods, a Christian, a Muslim and a Jewish one and as you stroll around you can clearly see and feel the influence as each culture is very much present through its own unique architecture, food, stores and people. Walk through every part of town, explore, visit, smell, eat, shop in one of the unique stores to buy for example, magnificent handmade pottery or enjoy serrano ham in any of the many places that offer. You can even explore your heritage and find out what your last name means and where it comes from.

Art is also very much present in Toledo. If you like art and or enjoy museums, you must visit the famous El Greco Museum, which houses the canvases of El Greco, the influential painter with whom the city is synonymous.

Allow yourself to explore and get lost through the narrow streets of Toledo. If you do get lost, it won’t be for very long, the city is small enough that you will find your way back to your original destination. You may even find yourself in corky stores and meeting the most interesting people along the way.

For instance, as I was strolling through the Jewish part of town I stopped at a store front to gaze at some postcards, as one of my friends was interested in mailing one and I asked the store clerk a question in Spanish. It turns out that he was from Colombia and lives in Toledo with his family. This store is also a place where you can learn about Jewish history and learn if you have a Jewish heritage.

Overall, Toledo is a beautiful, medieval, historic place with a plethora of picture opportunities and well worth a detour. If you are already visiting Spain, find time to visit, you won’t be disappointed.

Barnacles are scary looking things that grow attached to rocks and or concrete  near shorelines, they are, as I discovered recently, very tasty.

I had seen them before in fish markets but they looked too foreign to me to even inquire or be curious about them, however , thru my market strolls in European Farmers Markets, I kept seeing them all over, first in Valencia at the Central Market, where I learned that they are very easy to prepare, you throw them in salted bowling water for 5 minutes and  serve. Ok, seams easy enough; none the less, I did not try them there either.

Then while in Lisbon, Portugal,  where they are even more present every where I went, I decided to try them once and for all. A local city guide “Pedro” recommended I go to Cervejaria Ramiro (Ramiros Seafood) and try them, according to him they also offer the best seafood in town.  When you go there, you are handed a tablet where you see all the items available that day, the prices are quoted by kilogram or by unit ( which means if you order one unit of shrimp scampi, you will get one order or approximately 10 to 12 shrimp), for the items quoted by kilograms, you can order as little or as much as you want, for example, I ordered 1/4 kilogram (pictured below) of barnacles and one jumbo shrimp.

I will be honest and say that I had no idea on how to eat this when it got to me, so as I was staring at these funny looking things , I literally googled “how to eat barnacles” and I quote  “To eat a gooseneck barnacle, you must first peel off the brown skin encasing its neck. Grasping the shell-clad foot, tear the skin downward from the point where it meets the shell. It should come off in one piece, almost as a sock would slide off a foot” it was exactly like that, once I tried the first one , I was in heaven and thought to my self , barnacles, where have you been all of my life? they where delicious , if you like crab, shrimp , crawfish or any shellfish, you will like this.

Be adventurous, order them next time you see them on a menu , you will be happy you did.

I love this travel quote from Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

Travel is my favorite thing to do. I don’t really remember how old I was when I decided that all I wanted to do was to travel and see the world, all I know is that travel is all I think about, dream about, breath about, however, traveling has not come easy to me.

Up to June 2017 I was working in corporate America for over 18 years, in addition and depending on the corporation I was working for, his meant 3 weeks’ vacation a year, sometimes allowing me to only take 1 or 2 weeks off at a time, due to this I was frustrated and unable to fulfill my travel addiction; I mean, where can I really go 3 weeks out of the year and truly make a meaningful difference in my life and others,  other than mostly being a tourist?

Inspiring travel requires thoughtful planning; When I travel, I like to prepare myself for the new adventure, not only by researching the places, city and or countries I will be visiting, I want to make sure that when I go, I feel and act like a local, not a tourist.

I try to visit 1 to 3 new countries a year and when I choose my next destination(s); I do so by answering a couple of questions: have I been there before; how much it will cost to get/stay there; if I am traveling solo, is it a solo friendly destination; will I be/feel safe and most importantly, does/will it inspire me?

As a traveler, I want to learn, see, taste, experience as much as I can in every place I visit, for example, if I am visiting a country where a different language is spoken , I try to learn a few or a lot of words before I get there (depending on how difficult the new language is to me) and I have found for the most part, that most people will appreciate the fact that you are at least trying and will be more willing to help you out.

I have noticed during my travels and thru conversations with some American friends that when they travel abroad they believe that everywhere they go, English will be spoken, this is not always the case, so my advice for fellow travelers out there is to do yourself a favor and avoid disappointment, do your due diligence and research were you are going and prepare yourself before you get there.

Inspiration is personal to everyone, but to me travel is everything. I find nothing more invigorating, exciting and inspirational than planning the next adventure that will give me a wider view of the world we live in and thus making me a better person.

Lastly, there are 196 countries in the world, I have only visited 21, at this rate, it would take me about 58 years to visit every country if I only visited 3 new countries a year; this is not only uninspiring, it is utterly terrifying; I am trying to right this wrong and share my experiences on the way, thank you for reading my blog, stay tuned for more, until next time…

Great article from Travel and Leisure on San Miguel de Allende in Mexico,   this city has been on my MUST VISIT list for some time due not only too its beauty, it is also a popular city for expats, it has incredible food, architecture, arts and just plain fantastic people and way of life.

click on the link below and get inspired to start your own journey….

http://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/city-vacations/san-miguel-de-allende-photos?xid=NL_JustIn071517&utm_medium=email&utm_source=travelandleisure.com&utm_campaign=just-in&utm_content=2017071518PM#intro

Well here is an interesting article from travel and leisure, see if you agree with their zodiac travel pairings

http://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/solo-travel/where-to-travel-solo-based-on-zodiac-sign

Ever wonder what to do with all your travel pictures? which ones to keep, delete, post?

The following article from Travelandleisure.com might offer some insight.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/photography/creative-ways-to-use-travel-photos

British Airways to add seats in economy , would you book an economy seat on this aircraft?

http://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/british-airways-adding-seats-in-economy