We found some interesting street art (or as our Australian mate from the train called it, “graffiti”) along the way. Valencia is a very manageable size, which makes it easy to walk around. There is a whole separate chapel where you can see the chalice (albeit, from a great distance). The Cathedral also claims it houses the original Holy Grail – the chalice which Jesus used during the Last Supper. We made it up to the top just in time for sunset! We walked around the Cathedral in Valencia and of course had to tackle the tower. Valencia’s famous drink, called Agua de Valencia, is actually champagne and orange juice – yum! Valencia is covered in orange trees, much like Sevilla is. We ended up exploring one of the old city gates, which had great views of the city. Upon our arrival, we decided to walk around the Old City and get our bearings. We headed South on the train along the coast towards Valencia on Wednesday morning. We all relaxed and laughed along with the movie (highly recommended!).
#VALENCIA SPAIN NIGHT TIME DONKEY RIGHT MOVIE#
Again, I used this as an excuse to make a movie night of a movie I’ve been wanting to see – Chef. Luckily for us, the pharmacy practically threw antibiotics at us after hearing Ashley cough, so we got her some rest and meds. However, we got to explore all around Sagrada Familia together first. I have as much fun watching their fingers as I do their faces as they enjoy and feel the music.ĭay 3 was when Ashley’s sickness unfortunately set in. The women’s fingers know all the strings and contours of the guitar to pluck it just right to make the right sound at the right time. The women performers were so strong and confident, and the setting was pretty unreal. We capped Ashley’s second day in Barcelona off with a guitar duo performance in a chapel of one of the old gothic cathedrals in Barcelona. I ended up buying a bottle to take home for €2.80! Delicious cava, people! We also got to check out a “fairy” themed bar I had heard about. It had the most amazing cava for such a cheap price! Everyone was drinking the rosat cava, so we tried that and really liked it. Moriah, our other college roommate, had recommended a bar to me in Barcelona, so we decided to check that out. You wouldn’t know it was January by the great weather!! We had some time to kill before a guitar concert that evening, so we did what all sensible people would do – talked over drinks! We wandered through the rambling streets of the Gothic Quarter, stopping at the Cathedral and eventually my favorite sangria snack place for a rest. We walked the aisles of the Boqueria, oogling the delicacies and got some solid fresh juice and cone of ham and cheese. The next day, Ashley and I headed out for some girls time to Barcelona’s Old City.
We forced Ashley to eat copious amounts of the only green vegetable we would see for days, and then we all konked out napping. Next, dip the yummy green onion in the romesco sauce – the most delicious part of the whole experience – and eat it! It reminded me a bit of a crawfish boil – messy, but delicious! Basically, hold the bulbous end and pull, and the theory was that the charred outside part would slide off of the juicy green onion inside.
As the first batch of calçots were delivered to the table, the hostess demonstrated to us how we were to eat the calçots.
There was a fire going with tons of the calçots wrapped up in newspaper. Upon our arrival, we were handed bibs, our first hint of what was to come. The Spanish love to celebrate, and I’m not about to complain. We headed over to the dinner party, which was a “Calçotada.” Giant green onions, called “calçots” are in season in Catalonia now, and there is a tradition of grilling out with them. I know, I’m a super-nice friend. As I told Ashley, I was going to take advantage of having her here as an excuse to do all the cool things we never do in Barcelona. I scheduled a lunch/dinner party starting about 1 hour after Ashley landed in Barcelona from a trans-Atlantic flight. It was wonderful to have Ashley here, even though she got sick during her stay 🙁 She was a trooper and kept going! It must be the secret power of the patata brava sauce…or, just the crazy-strong over-the-counter Spanish drugs. Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a hot minute… She is one of those friends that I always know I can count on to listen when I need to talk, and laugh with me when I need to have fun.
When we are together, it’s like no time has passed. Texas for the win! It was so good to have time to visit with Ashley and catch up. In college, we called the house we lived in the “Donkey Ranch”, since it used to indeed be a ranch for donkeys. She was my roommate all four years of college, and the last year that I wasn’t at A&M, Grant and she lived in the same house. Ashley Teel came to visit! Funny enough, I think she is the only person to have lived with both me and Grant at some point.
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