Sunshine brightened our hotel room, and we stretched awake after a serene slumber. We ate the food from the supermarket: yogurt, brioche, and nectar, but we intentionally had a light breakfast because we had a substantial lunch planned.
A different guy was working at the Front Desk, and he greeted us by saying "Bon dia" in the Catalan dialect, instead of "Buenos dias". He gave us a local tip for site-seeing: a church named San Nicolas de Bari. We accepted his notion and went out to start our day. Metro and tram routes do not go through the city-center, so we intended to trek to the church. Fortunately, a taxi drove down the street, and we hailed it and rode to the site. It took us through many narrow and winding lanes; half were only big enough for one vehicle. Yet, there was rarely a backlog of traffic—despite the morning Commuting Hour.
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We exited the cab and were astounded that a national landmark with 800-year-old heritage was hidden/obscured from the street. That's because it predates the newer buildings that are closer to the street. It's always fun to discover hidden treasures!
Our Tourist Passes got us a discounted admission of €7 each, which included audio guides. Several suited docents were stationed throughout the church to be helpful. Signs indicated that photography was prohibited, but everyone was allowed to take pictures and videos. Ours are great!
Established in 1242, it's the oldest church in the city. But the site was initially used by an ancient Roman Temple from the years 200 to 700. That was demolished by Muslim invaders who built a mosque in its place. In the early 1200s, it was captured by Christian armies and redesigned. It has six chapels between its buttresses. During the 1400s, the whole structure was redone in Valencia's Gothic style, and the Rose Window was installed.
The interior is covered with frescoes! Here are my videos...
They were painted between 1690 and 1693 by Juan Perez Castiel and a nobleman named Antonio Palomino, who was appointed as Royal Painter to King Charles II. They provide plenty of baroque embellishments that makes the church unique because it fused Gothic architecture with Baroque decorations.
For us, it was evocative of the Sistine Chapel... and its restoration was lovingly done with as much carefulness. The city has much to be proud of within this one building! *To see our trip to the Sistine Chapel, please use this link: https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2022/03/our-trip-to-italy-part-5-of-7-vatican.html
The church is named for a world-famous saint. In Spain and Mexico, he's known as San Nicholas de Bari, but the rest of the world knows him as Saint Nicholas (of ancient Myrna): a bishop who morphed into a Christmastime gift-giver. He's the patron saint of Amsterdam who comes on December 6 to distribute treats to kids. He's a "children's saint" in Austria whom God allowed to return every year to bestow gifts to good children. In medieval Albania, he and the Virgin Mary were the most-popular saints. Nearby in another Balkan nation, Bulgarians celebrate him on December 6 during a winter festival as the saintly protector of sailors and fisherman. Czechs love Saint Nicholas Day as the best Advent holiday. In Germany, he appears with a villainous monster, and they divide duties for good and bad kids. In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, towns officially welcome him on the Sunday before his Saint Day of December 6. In the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine, he rides a white horse and leaves goodies overnight. People in Palestine venerate him on December 19. In Poland, kiddies behave nicely, write him letters, and recite their catechism so he will approach their homes (wearing his miter and walking with his crozier) and bestow gifts.
*To learn amazing things about Saint Nicholas, please use this link: https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-many-outfits-of-saint-nick.html
It was 11:00, so we paused for espresso at Cafe de las Horas—the place suggested by our waiter at El Marquis. It has occupied a charming spot in the middle of the city for 29 years.
There are many reasons why we liked it: the colorful ornateness, the prompt service, and the attractive waiters.
Galan!
The best thing was the well-pulled espresso. It is also highly-regarded for its tea selection and extensive brasserie menu.
Recharged, we traipsed across the city for our lunch reservations. Great scenery!
Thanks to the city's prioritization for pedestrians, we arrived early. Fortunately, we saw an art gallery across the street, so we investigated.
It was named Fundacion Bancaixa. Amazingly, it had an entire exhibition of masterpieces by Sorolla! Lewis and I were giddy with excitement because he was the artist whose mansion/museum was closed twice when we tried to enter it in Madrid. It's great when things work out like that! We got a discount with our Visitor Passes, so the admission was €12 each.
Please enjoy our videos of the high-tech visuals of Sorolla's artwork that complemented his actual paintings...
Precisely on-time, we left the gallery and enjoyed the ease of merely crossing the street to arrive at our lunch destination.
Before our trip, we reviewed the Michelin Guide and pinpointed Lienzo as the place that we wanted to eat at in Valencia. Its longstanding excellence earned it a Michelin Star!
I made online reservations for the only lunchtime availability that remained, and that was on our last day. Perfect timing. We were exhilarated to be lunching at one of the city’s preeminent restaurants. Making it more significant was the fact that the chef is a woman. (We like to see more equality in the masculine-dominated world of cookery). María José Martínez is the chef and co-owner, and her husband is the other owner. She was born in place named Alhama de Murcia, surrounded by pastures, orchards—and beehives. She learned to respect bees for biodiversity, and she still champions for their longevity. Since 2015, she petitioned the City Council to promote urban beekeeping. Now, there are 24 beehives in Valencia. She employs 13 people with a mantra of "hard work without pressure", "live in the moment", and "patience". Apparently, the Michelin Guide Inspectors agree with her results.
María José has a penchant for honeybees, and she creatively found uses for their honey She used artistry for our amuse bouche to make it resemble bees on their honeycomb. Qué mono! The cannelloni were made with Rosemary Honey Jelly (made with organic Bona Mel honey) filled with Four Picos cheese (made by Hoya de la Iglesia) with black garlic.
Bona Mel is a third-generation beekeeping business. Their bees get pollen from organic farms and Natural Parks. Hoya De La Iglesia is a family-run cheesemaker in Valencia that hand-makes exquisite dairy products from goat milk. They are famous for animal welfare, natural processes, and biodiversity.
Next, we were presented with a pedestal-dish shaped like coral reef, and it contained two pastry-puffs, topped with olives and stuffed with sheep's milk cheese. It was dreamily delicious!
With decorum, Alessio offered the Wine List. The three of us colluded to choose a type of white wine named Chimera from Spain's Clos Coe VI winery. The family-owned winery has an organic vineyard in the kingdom's dynamic Hoces del Cabriel Nature Park: one of Europe's best-preserved landscapes! That privileged location produces superb quality.
Their 2019 vintage has a golden color, due to its ancient Savvatiano grapes.
Dutifully, he kept it in a chiller until it was time to pour. When our drinks were finished, I quietly signaled him, and a busser removed our glasses, and Alessio presented chilled stemware.
After that, the kitchen served tartar of Salted Tuna mixed with Eggplant roulade from the nearby City of Gandia.
Terrine of Eel, with Arropyaki sauce and puréed Figs.
Sun-dried oysters in pickled tomato broth with vinegar.
Shrimps boiled in beeswax, corn cream, egg yolk (from local organic poultry farms), crispy bee rice D.O. Valencia: organic Riuet rice.
Low-Temperature Squid with Dash, pickles, and crunchy Squid Ink (granualted).
Organic Iberian pig shoulder cut in "orza" with demiglace vegetables that were cooked on a clay pot.
The kitchen sent oven-fresh bread to our table, topped with delicate pork rinds. Instead of butter, María José provided lard and a sprinkling of sea salt. The lard was very good!
The chef is proud of sourcing the finest green beans, and their extraordinary taste is so impressive that she wraps them in leaves and cooks them in a clay mould to preserver their flavor. The chef wheeled her trolley to our table and hammered the clay apart. The release of aroma was captivating! Here is my video...
Such a presentation was very clever!
Next, we ate smoked Aquanaria Seabass with Plum chips, Spinach, foie micuit of liver, and ravioli stuffed with Sobrassada (Catalan cured sausage from the Balearic Islands). Before it arrived, a server prepped our table with a fork and fish knife. The knife-rest was shaped like a paintbrush (Lewis thought it also resembled a mustache. Ha ha).
For our Main Course, María José and her five cooks prepared Fernando Robres organic veal, honeyed mushroom terrine, and dehydrated mushrooms. It was accompanied by organic carrots, leeks, and onion. Our utensils changed again: black steel that Lewis admired.
Our Pre-Dessert was Panna Cotta shaped like honeycomb and filled with Strawberries from Canals, Valencia Orange essence, and organic Spanish Olive Oil. At that point, our silverware changed again... to gold.
For our actual Dessert, we had two things. The first was urban-made thyme honey—directly from the honeycomb. Alessio wheeled a trolley to our table that held a chunk of honeycomb—fresh from a honeybee hive. It was framed for display, and he adroitly used a knife to remove a big piece for us. Here is my video of it, and it will make you salivate...
You can't get fresher honey than that! We chewed it and gently spit out the wax. It was indescribably fresh, sweet, and tremendous!
Then, Alessio surprised us with the bonus. Speaking in "honeyed tones" (pun intended), he said that we could have spoonfuls of whichever two honeys that we wanted!
Being a gentleman, I let my sweetie pick. Being a gentleman, he insisted that we each choose one: Barri de Pataix and Barri de Malilla. They were named for the districts that the pollen came from. Patraix is in the southwest with ancient Roman origins, and Malilla is a residential area with gentrification. Each honey had an entirely different flavor profile, and they were unimaginable! Honey is often adultered, diluted, or made of a mix from several nations. Chef Martínez only accepts pure ones.
The second half of our dessert involved lemon gelato with two balls of frozen nectar. It was presented in frosted bowls that were covered by wafers. To make a crescendo of amazement, Alessio drizzled syrup on the wafers, which caused them to dissolve and disappear and instantly reveal the ingredients underneath. Spectacular! Please enjoy my video of that moment...
Another surprise from the pastry team (which we appreciate at Michelin-starred restaurants) was a platter of sweet treats: Apricot gelled into cubes with Orange marmalade, Dark Chocolate Truffles, and Canelés with dollops of custard.
It was a perfect "sweet finish" to a stupendous meal! I accepted Alessio's idea of a digestive espresso. I liked the sleek off-center cup/saucer, and the crema of bubbles was ideal!
The taste was equally perfect. Glancing at my wristwatch, I realized that we luxuriated at Lienzo for 3 hours, yet it seemed like time flew by.
The bill was €273.00, including a 10% gratuity which we knew they deserved. Before we departed, María José gifted us with jars of the honeys that we loved! A wonderful and thoughtful memento! So sweet (literally)!
After our lavish lunch, we wanted to visit the world-famous aquarium. It's the biggest in Europe, out of 50 countries. It is situated within a complex named City of Arts & Sciences. The entire thing has futuristic architecture. Indeed, it is spectacular, so we were enthused to visit it.
We crossed the street and joined the queue at the Tetuan bus stop. Notice that the bus-shelter is long enough to protect all the passengers (for the length of the bus). That is admirable infrastructure created to help citizens. That never occurs anywhere in New York City or New York State (despite being the wealthiest in the nation).
All of the buses that we saw were very clean. New York City’s buses are rarely washed during the year; the city waits for them to get rinsed by rain.
Within one minute, ours came. It was perfectly on-time so that it actually arrived as the nearby bell-tower chimed! That impeccable timing NEVER happens in NYC.
Delighting us further, the bus was manufactured by Mercedes-Benz. Americans can never hope to have that type of well-made/safe vehicle as public transportation. But across Europe, we see that brand supplying large and small cities with vehicular excellence. The ride was whisper-quiet and smooth—not jostling during acceleration or braking (as always happens in NYC). Even nicer was the cleanness: no gum on the floor, no foot smudges on the seats or walls, no food residue on the upholstery, no smears on the windows, no spilled drinks on the floor, no thugs shouting at the back, no beggars roaming through, and nobody trying to smoke drugs. It was entirely opposite of what happens in NYC. It made our 13-minute ride wonderful... and relaxing. Another amenity that seems futuristic to people from America was the video screen that showed the upcoming stops... and local cultural facts.
As the modernist structures came into view, we alighted from the luxurious bus.
The City of Arts & Sciences was designated as one of the "12 Treasures of Spain". (Another one is the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that we explored during our first visit to Spain). Begun in 1991, the $900 million site is amazing! Here is a map of all the buildings.
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Please enjoy my video of the front of the stunning architecture...
The first structure was Queen Sofia's Palace of Arts, which opened in 2005 as a performing arts center and opera house that is surrounded by water. It looked like a spaceship!
We were impressed with the Assut de l'Or Bridge, which was constructed in 2008 and reminded us of the harp-shaped one in Dublin.
Alas, by the time we arrived at the aquarium, it was due to close within an hour, so it wasn't worth the cost to enter. We laughed at that because it was similar to the zoo in Madrid. *If you go, it will look like this...
As a back-up idea, we used a conveniently-located Taxi Stand and rode in a taxi to the city's Chinatown.
The ride cost €7.85 and no tip was needed. The Chinatown includes all types of Asian cultures. Unlike the ones in London, Amsterdam, and Boston, Valencia's was unkept, dingy, and unimpressive. We paused at Casa Tafu Taiwanese Cafe, Hiper Asia Groceries, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, and a hot-pot eatery. None enticed us to enter. Finally, we settled for bubble tea from Hi Tea costing €5.50. It was flavored with passionfruit and lemon.
In addition, we noticed plenty of Erotic Massage Parlors, and many offered tantra massages for men... finished with "genital stimulation".
Anal massage was an option. "Two therapists at once" was another option.
The advertising was clear to understand, and the locations were amongst upstanding businesses. We also spotted Sex Workers.
Life/Work Balance.
Lewis guided us north to a majestic plaza named Placa de l'Ajuntament. A sunset began, and the sky became ablaze with purplish and reddish hues. Gorgeous sunsets can be appreciated in cities with a low skyline. Ornate buildings were illuminated beautifully. As we photographed the scenery, the streetlights turned on, and the fountain glimmered in spotlights. Please enjoy my video...
We ambled through the winding streets and heard the melody of an accordion player. Please enjoy my short video of the lovely vibes: a quintessentially European atmosphere that will evoke a sigh of pleasure...
It was the customary time for either tapas or sweets, so we abided by our friend's advice for something sweet. Simón said that Valor Chocolateria was a national chain that sold the best churros. (Remember that Valencia's name derived from the word "valor"). The one near the cathedral was full of happy customers who sat at tables (inside and outside) for one type of snack: the classic combination of churros and hot chocolate. After walking 5.1 miles, we deserved it. Enjoy my panoramic video of the lively sight...
People who sit outside on NYC's midtown streets cannot have that type of atmosphere because noise pollution ruins it. Please watch my short video near a restaurant with outdoor seating at 54th Street...
We were happier in Valencia with oven-fresh churros and steamy cocoa. When I say “hot chocolate”, I don’t refer to America’s “hot cocoa” (a watered-down liquid made with powdered industrial chocolate). It is a beverage simply prepared by melting chocolate into a thick liquid. Perfect! That’s how I like my hot chocolate to be! (as it should be).
Admittedly, churros have a phallic shape. Incidentally, when referring to men, churro also means "a hottie" (a snack).
So, they are a perfect "suggestive segue" to go back to your hotel.
Hours later, we dined at Riff, which achieved a Michelin star.
We didn't like it. The white wall was dotted with holes, which resembled antique radiators.
Our cheque totaled €256, including the tip. Lienzo is a better value and a tremendously better experience.
Thursday dawned beautifully.
Lewis purchased a bottle of water, which was affordable at €1.50. The same size of water in NYC's airports cost $6.00.
Our taxi driver racially-profiled Lewis and said, "You look Chinese, so I think you want to go to Flushing." (It's an area known for Asian residents). We corrected him. During the ride, he wanted to know how much we paid for rent, and he complained profusely about rising costs in the city. Meanwhile, we sat on disgusting seats that were twisted and gnarled. Here is one section in my photo...
The next day, I stood on corner of 23rd Street and 8th Ave for only 10 minutes and was pestered by two separate beggars who spoke gibberish and smelled like rotten garbage. They lingered nearby, urinating in street and scanning people for new ones to harass. They ranted in deranged ways. That's what you get in America’s most expensive city.
Soon after that, America made global news headlines due to another mass-shooting on a school campus.
Please remember what the young Spanish man remarked about America. Now, it makes more sense, and you might not resent his opinion. (Overpaid police overspend on a phony War Against Guns, yet nothing improves in the USA).
Making more headlines, part of a 96-year-old building in NYC collapsed (just before Christmas), because the landlord was illegally greedy/cheap (as most are in NYC for the last 170 years) to maintain it properly. As usual, the corrupt NYC Building Inspectors allowed the landlord to accumulate 100+ violations without any consequences. Eventually, the decrepit thing fell apart!
It's like a third-world-city. In Spain, we saw hundreds of buildings that were older, yet they are maintained better. Things like that collapse shouldn't happen in this modern era. In NYC, things don't change (the inspector was merely suspended for his crimes against human safety). The news revealed that the landlord (slumlord) has 471 violations for all of his properties, and he's publicly rated as "one of the wort landlords in the city." Why does America's richest city allow that? Now, 175 people are homeless before Christmas... thanks to greed and uncaring in NYC.
As another New Year arrives, Lewis and I strengthen our objective to live in a beautiful place that values its citizens and upholds the concept of Life/Work Balance.
*To see the Walking Tour that I gave Simón in Astoria, NYC, please use this link: https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2017/07/go-with-flow.html
