After our reunion in Barcelona, our group of 4 embarked on a 3-hour train ride south to Valencia in search of the best paella in the world and authentic Spanish horchata. Yes, paella was the only reason we went to Valencia.
Highlights
As in every city we went to, our group made it a point to hunt down the central market. We love central markets! You can't get to know a city, its people and the culture any better than spending a couple of hours in one of these. Stalls upon stalls of fresh produce, unique meats (we saw whole skinned rabbits in the display cases, with some fur still intact!) and dairy (green cheese!) and local speciality items.
Mercat Central
Our search for the city's best paella took us on a long, expensive journey to Lake Albufera, 12 miles outside of Valencia, to the city of El Palmar. Apparently, this region is like the paella motherland, where all the rice for paella is grown and harvested. Here is where we did have some of the yummiest paella to date.
View of the lagoon from Restaurant Le' Establiment
The remainder of our time in Valencia was stricken with bad luck: an attempt at biking down to the beach was quickly abandoned due to a big, unexpected downpour. Our last effort to eat another paella meal at L'estimat or La Pepica on the beachfront was replaced with a rather crappy one at the only restaurant on Paseo Neptuno that was open (apparently L'estimat and La Pepica aren't open in the afternoon!). It was so crappy I can't even recall the name. In spite of our bad luck, we remember this portion of our trip fondly as the city with the best paella in the world!
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