And more socialising

Carole came to stay for the week so we got the chance to see more of Valencia, and yes much more eating and drinking, which is all they seem to do over here.

We did many of the normal touristy things.  Carole took herself off to the Cathedral, Basilica and Archeological Museum, as we had been there the week before.  We walked on the Turia and around the Squares and down to the Colon Market for coffee and the Horchateria on Sunday for Churros.

On Wednesday Andy and Sandra came down from near Denia for lunch and we spent the afternoon gossiping and eating, oh and the odd glass of wine.  What a nice way to spend the day.

On Friday we took the bus to Albufuera about 50 minutes trundle down the coast.  I think we were lucky not to be there at the weekend as I think it is heaving with people coming down for lunch.  Albufuera is a national wetlands area with the little town of El Palmar at the end.  The landscape is of rice fields and a huge freshwater lake, and of course it must be full of birds at different times of the year.  We saw white egrets mostly today.

Three old guys whiling the time away

Old fisherman's cottage, the town must have been full of these once

Amazing sparse landscapes and big skies

It is supposed to be the best place to have seafood, so we did what we were told.  Small fried fish to start followed by Arroz y Banda, bit like a paella with lovely rice.

We spent a lot of the week just walking around the city, doing a bit of shopping, looking at the buildings.  It's the sort of thing you do here.

One evening we took her to our favourite little bar, which is a bit like sitting in grandma's sitting room.  We both had a local drink, Agua de Valencia, which seems to consists of loads of vodka, something else, topped with cava and orange juice.  One was enough and we felt decidedly squiffy coming home. 

On Carole's last day we had lunch in a Cheese Bar, yes a cheese bar called Majada, that we had spotted weeks before and we just needed an excuse to go.  As you enter the place there is a cooled cheese store which you have to go through a door, I didn't want to leave.  Amazing array of cheeses from around the world, even Stilton.

You can have platas of different cheeses and we chose a Valencian plate and half a blue cheese plate.  Well what can I say, what a lovely way to spend three hours, and of course a bottle of lovely wine or two.  I think Carole was pretty relaxed when she got the plane back to the UK that evening.