Valencia, Spain

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Two years ago we drove from Madrid to Barcelona and stopped to have lunch in Valencia … remember Carlos, DJ, and Cecelia?  We ended up having Five Guys burgers in the central plaza because we were there during siesta time.  We were interested to see what we missed and on this quick stop. 

We got off the ship at about 10am after a light breakfast. Cunard busses passengers into town because it’s a long, ugly, boring walk from where the ship docks. From the bus stop we walked about 2 miles along a beautiful park to the same plaza where we had had burgers. Today is Sunday and the plaza is bustling with people out for the day. We looked around for a bit, but we really wanted to have paella. 





Paella was born in Valencia. We sat in the front seats of the bus on the drive from the ship, so Jim talked to the bus driver and asked about where to get authentic paella. The driver was happy to tell us that a great place is at the beach — he gave us the name of a restaurant. From the plaza we took a taxi to the restaurant he recommended. 

We were worried when we arrived just after 12:30 as there was nobody in the huge restaurant. We reminded ourselves that we are in Spain, we should have known we were a little early. The paella was phenomenal — we had traditional paella Valenciana, with chicken, rabbit, butter beans, and green beans.  It might sound a little strange, but it was good.  By the time we left the whole place was packed — it was a great recommendation. 











After we ate we strolled along the promenade that fronted the beach. It was very nice, albeit cool at 60 degrees, but sunny. 





We have a fairly early departure today, so we decided to make our way back to the ship, which was only about 1/2 mile across the water/marina. Our walk though, around the marina, was 2 1/2 miles.  It was a nice walk; this is where we get our exercise while on a cruise.  We don’t visit the gym on board. 😊

Back on board we had some ice cream. The harbor pilot boarded the ship at 4:35 and we were soon underway. 





Unfortunately, about and hour after we left Kristi began to have an upset stomach. So this evening she rested in bed. Later on Jim went up for a bite to eat at the buffet and turned in early. 

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