Month: March 2017

Castellón / Cooking / Food / Tourism

Onda: Castle, ceramics, and paella

We managed to fit another castle into our schedule last month during an overcast weekend spent recovering near home after our epic trip to Copenhagen. We also visited a ceramics museum and Doer learned some new techniques for making paella – but first, the castle! Onda’s castle once was known as the Castle of 300 Towers, and according to Guía Total de la Comunidad Valenciana (our resident guidebook of the Valencian Community), these towers allowed Muslims in Onda to resist King James I the Conqueror for years, even after the nearby city of Burriana, where we live, was taken in 1233. The Moors built

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Other Countries / Tourism

Something’s awesome in the state of Denmark

Our friend Wendy is something of a world traveler, and when talk turned to a European visit, there were very few places she hadn’t actually been. High on her list and ours: Denmark, a country famed for its happy people and high quality of life – and specifically, Copenhagen. A trip to Scandinavia in the middle of winter? Sure, we said! Before we get started… let’s survey what we know about Denmark. Quality schools, check.  Big dogs: yep, those are from here (didn’t see a single one our whole time in Copenhagen, though!). Butter cookies in a round blue tin – definite

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Las Fallas / Valencia

Finding Ninot: Exposition of Ninots 2017

Doer and I accidentally stumbled upon the Exposición del Ninot 2017 when we dropped by the City of Arts and Sciences with our friend Wendy at the end of January. Most of the combustible figures are destined to burn the final night of the Fallas festival this Sunday; however, each year one of them is pardoned by popular vote, and it is destined to live in perpetuity in the Museo Fallero, which we visited earlier this year. The entrance to the exposition at the City of Arts and Sciences After the ninot indultado, or pardoned ninot, is announced tonight, the unfortunate remaining figures will

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Burriana

When it rains, it pours: Flooding in the Valencian Community

Doer and I have been enjoying the winter weather in the Valencian Community. Even on the coldest days, it usually reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit, or it gets pretty darn close (this doesn’t prevent locals from asking us how we can possibly go about with short sleeves and no coats – but that’s a different blog post). It doesn’t even rain that often here – but when it does, it can become downright torrential. After an especially rainy weekend near the end of January, I rode my bike to one of my favorite places in Burriana – the Clot, a little park

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Valencia

Nature and rice: Exploring the Albufera

At the end of January, Doer and I took our friend Wendy to the Albufera, a freshwater lagoon and estuary on the Gulf of Valencia. Before that, we spent a couple of days exploring some small cities in our region. We began the weekend in Sueca, a town near the Albufera and only a short train ride from Valencia. Some online detective work brought us there, as I had tracked down a cafetería with five pinball machines – by far the most machines we have been able to locate in one place in Spain. Doer really had been missing this favorite hobby, so imagine

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