Paella and future palaces

On the second leg of our journey, the Spanish Tourism Authority toured us in a place called the hidden treasure of Europe. Valencia is a city that mixes modern with old world. The third largest city in Spain, it was here where we started to gorge ourselves with the local cuisine. After all, this is where paella originated — not Madrid or Barcelona.

Aside from paella, Valencia has so much more to offer. It was here where we stayed the longest. I don’t know if you consider two days long, but it was relatively long on this trip. Valencia belongs to another region of Spain and has three provinces: Castellón, Valencia and Alicante. The people here speak another dialect and would you even believe — they have a regional anthem.

On our first morning, we toured the old city on our "used-to-driving-than-walking" feet. Our guide was a man in his 70s, but boy oh boy, could he walk! We enjoyed the guided tour through history and it was quite a relief that I didn’t have to take notes like there was going to be a pop quiz later.

Yes, I have reached the stage where I can absorb knowledge without being forced to. The guide showed us many wonderful things and I simply savored the experience. (During the walking tour, our old but very fit guide seemed surprised that some people in the group could not cope with the pace. Must be a style of living, he said, where we ride cars to get to the nearest places. We have our sweltering heat to thank for that.)

We made it to one of Valencia’s famous landmarks. The Valencia Cathedral in the old quarter of the city is where the Holy Grail is found — the Grail which people believe Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Where authenticity is concerned, this is the only Holy Grail recognized by the Vatican.

Valencia is also the land of artists. It is the home of the famous maker of porcelain miniatures and figurines — Lladro. Although my age group is not its primary market (it’s very expensive) I could not help but marvel at how beautiful a Lladro sculpture is. If you happen to drop by a high-end mall and find yourself in the houseware section or, as I call it, the "Do not bring any hyper kids or you’ll end up paying for something" section, check out the Lladro figurines. They are jaw-dropping pricey because they are painstakingly put together by artists and artisans in the sprawling Lladro complex in Valencia. From the mold to the painting to the baking, they have a special mixture of porcelain that is top secret (like Coke’s formula), and instead of molding one whole piece, each part of the figurine is assembled separately and then plastered together — a sum of minute parts, be it a leg, an arm, a petal or a skirt.

Then they paint it in its "signature" pale shade. There are different artists to paint the body, the face and the flowers in the figurine (more flowers makes it more expensive). The man hours devoted to making one sculpture are overwhelming which translates to sky-high prices, so I’m quite content at looking at the pieces on the Web.

Valencia is where we started to eat a lot. To be specific, we had a most luscious paella — so fresh, you could taste the stock. A typical Paella Valenciana has three basic ingredients: vegetables, chicken, and brace yourselves — rabbit! Yes folks, the original paella should have Bugs Bunny’s cousins in it. Sorry to all those who have rabbits for pets. You can’t even begin to imagine the size of the paellera — the iron container where the paella is cooked. And if you think paella is only cooked with rice, think again. They have this special kind of paella made of pasta or noodles called fiduo. And some trivia: A typical Spanish lunch break starts at around 2:30 p.m. and they eat dinner at around 10 p.m.

Valencia is renowned for its nightlife. Even people from Madrid would drive four hours just to go there. But since I had no one to go out with, I did not get the opportunity to experience it.

Valencia is an architect’s paradise. It is in this city where you could find Europe’s largest oceanographic park. The City of Arts and Sciences is an architectural wonder — another manifestation of Spanish artistic expertise. The entire estate was built from a dried-up river bed. This whole complex was built as a large-scale leisure center for scientific and cultural interaction. These magnificent creations are the masterpieces of a renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Three out of five buildings in the complex are his designs. So far, four of the five buildings are open to the public. Two buildings, the L’Hemisferic and the Museu de les Ciencies are the most popular.

The L’Hemisferic or The Eye of Wisdom has a design inspired by the human eye. It’s a very big space observatory. The Museu de les Ciencies is another huge museum that primarily focuses on the natural world and the latest advances of science and technology. If you had these places to visit, would you still go to the mall?

Proof that Valencia is truly a place for artists is the annual holding of a celebration unique to this region — Las Fallas. Every 19th of March, monuments made of flammable materials (e.g. papier mache) are erected in major squares, main street junctions all over the Valencian Region. Think of it as every barangay or barrio having its own falla or monument. They would hold a competition for the most beautiful and creative falla. These fallas are made and planned the whole year, only to be burnt on the eve of the Day of St. Joseph. Before that, these works of art are displayed for a few days. Such an odd tradition — you work hard on it for a year, only to see it go up in flames. It would make any visitor scratch his head in bewilderment. But this tradition symbolizes a kind of rebirth since it marks the end of winter and the start of spring.

We are half-way in our journey sponsored by the Tourist Office of Spain and KLM. Next stop: Madrid.