The water is smooth and a deep blue. The Windsurf is gliding smoothly through the water and we’re in the Veranda restaurant having breakfast. We’re waiting for the ship to dock so we can explore the city of Valencia, home of the famously named oranges and home of paella. Interesting thing about the orange trees that line the streets of Spain. They’re inedible. That’s right. Downright nasty in taste. The cruise line had offered three excursions at anywhere from $89 pp to $199 pp or a 4 hour private van at $1169. We h
ad opted to go to tourguidesbylocals.com and rent a van that way. Sorry I can’t remember the cost but it was much less than $1169. And we had our guide for longer than four hours. Valencia is a large city of about 800,000 inhabitants. Like most of Spain, it is going through bad economic times. We heard this consistently from all of our guides. Abandoned office buildings, half built apartment complexes, row after row. Our guide, Michael, picked us up at the dock and off we go. At first he drives us around, explaining the economy and the history of the city. Not very impressive. But once we get into the old city, we’re more impressed. He first takes us to the Square Central Market. My kind of place. It covers about 26,000 square feet over two floors. And you can buy any kind of spice, fruit, vegetable, meat, oil, vinegar etc that your little heart desires. I did buy some olive oil. Fact: More olive oil is produced in Spain (43%) as opposed to Italy (21%). Fact: Italy imports Spanish olives to make olive oil then exports it. Trivial pursuit time! We then walk over to the Cathedral of Valencia. Here is my bad…This is where there is supposed to be THE Holy Grail. I am a huge fan of Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie. “I fart in your general direction”. Or, “come on ya pansy”. Or, “what? a swallow carrying a coconut?” Enough of that silly talk. Back to Valencia. WE DIDN’T SEE THE GRAIL! I didn’t do my due diligence and didn’t know it was even there and our guide never mentioned it. Damn! We then got back in the van and drove to a futuristic looking complex known as the City of Arts and Science. It was interesting but not that big of a deal. Now comes the part we enjoyed the most about Valencia…Paella at a beach side restaurant. Our guide took us to Restaurante La Ferradura. We ordered wine and two types of paella, seafood and mixed meat. We didn’t know what was in the mixed meat but we believe it was chicken and rabbit. No matter. It was delicioso (a)! And the view was spectacular. The restaurant was filled with locals so we knew we were in the right place. Michael was a good guide but by the end of the trip, we thought he was “tripping”, if you get my drift. He became extremely animated. Slap happy is the way I would describe it. But I have to give him credit. It was the best paella we had on the whole trip and it was inexpensive…
Meanwhile, if you’re on board and not visiting Valencia you can do: a stretch and relax session, yoga on the deck, pilates class, or enjoy a shore excursion briefing for the next port of call. Nightlife on Windstar is minimal. You’re not sailing on this cruise line if nightlife is important to you. Our routine was to meet at 6:30 for drinks, go to dinner at 7:15 or 7:30, then hit the casino or listen to music out on deck or dance to a few tunes in the main lounge. Hit the hay by 11 or so. We’re not big on the partying…Next up: Journey to Murcia and beyond.
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