Category: Tourism

Andalucía / Tourism

Murcia, F Yeah!

We never thought a dancing sardine with a trout pout would be part of our cultural experience in Europe, but life is full of fun surprises. More on the fish later. In February, we found ourselves in the city of Murcia, the capital of the autonomous region of Murcia, which lies below the autonomous Valencian Community, where we live. It also has a near-miss patriotic name if you’re from ‘Murica like we are. One letter off, darn. After four or five hours on a train – which Doer supplemented with leftover potato salad – the two adventurers arrived in time to find an Indian restaurant for

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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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Other Countries / Tourism

Bulgari-WHA?

Aah, our province of Castellón de la Plana… home to a bona fide airport, as we learned after a little research once we were placed. Only one problem: locals told us when we got here it was a fiasco, never opened, a model of government corruption and excess. We’ve been flying from the much larger Valencia airport since we arrived. So imagine our surprise when, driving around one day, we saw exit signs on the highway for the airport. A little more research was in order! Turns out, the airport did actually open. And you can fly to a whopping four destinations from there

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Tourism / Valencia

Alicante: another world on the Mediterranean coast

Visiting Alicante – the third province in the Valencian community, where we live – had been on our bucket list for a while. With Mom and Jim in town and a few extra days after New Year’s before I needed to get back to work, we decided to give it a go on our way back from Madrid. What we found was a picturesque city full of white sandy beaches and great restaurants. With all that beach, this is a really happening spot in the Summer, though we picked a great time to see and experience what appealed to us. It really

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Holidays / Madrid / Tourism

Oh no, we Madrid’nt

With New Year’s Eve coming up, our next stop with Mom and Jim was an easy choice: the Puerta del Sol, Madrid’s answer to Times Square in New York. We were able to secure a last-minute airbnb just steps away from the action, so it was go time. We arrived on the 30th, so there was even some time for sightseeing. We headed to the Reina Sofia museum the night we got in from Cuenca, after finding out admission was free after 6pm. Lots of classic art there by the likes of Goya and El Greco. We also got to

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