Leaders in Language 2018, Placement 1: All hail Saint Vincent!

Saint Vincent is the patron saint of Valencia and was celebrated yesterday as a feria in Valencia only. The poor fella suffered many tortures during the 3rd century because he was Catholic and is now honored in Valencia, Saragossa and Portugal. Therefore "nous, les citadins" were lucky to have an extended weekend as schools were closed on Monday in the center of Valencia.

We are riders on a mission, action kids in play position.

We took advantage of this unexpected day-off and of the weather #veranoenenero to spend the weekend outdoors trying to get to know the area a little more as we're already halfway into our trip. Valencia and Moncada joined forces on Saturday as we rented out some bikes. I will not get into details of the near-death accident that overshadowed such a sunny day, but if you would like to read about it, please see Norman's tale.

Port Saplaya

It was a brilliant day out as we cycled in and around town and all the way to Port Saplaya, nicknamed Little Venice. It's a peaceful little harbour at the end of the beach with brightly-coloured houses where we enjoyed a classic paëlla. After two weeks in although I've eaten three already, it never seems to be the right one. Here's a standard conversation you WILL have with a Valencian if you ever do visit.

Valencian: Have you had paëlla here in Valencia?

You: Yes I have, it was...

Valencian: AAAH, you've not tried a real one. Let me tell you where to go...

One thing is clear, if you have tried paëlla outside of Valencia, you will get told that it wasn't the real deal. Arguing that "it was the best you've ever had anyway" is dangerous, but worth the fun.

A map of our area because I love maps

I went South on Sunday morning to visit our Gandia trio. Sunday was a very special day as another saint was celebrated in the person of Antonio. He is the patron saint of animals and in places like Gandia where St Antonio is worshipped, an uncanny celebration takes place. On Sunday, hundreds of people lined up by the church for the priest to sprinkle holy water on their animals.

Jean de la Fontaine: Le palmier et le minimoy

I missed a tortoise getting blessed in order to go visit the castle of Denia. I'll get over it but it might take some time. Denia is a beautiful port town and the food we had there was incredible. Arroz con mariscos, cocas, gambas, alcachofas valencianos, croquetas de bacalao and so on... it's a good thing we had a late lunch after climbing up to the castle.

The castle was originally built by the Arabs who ruled Denia from the 8th to the 13th century. Its architecture is remarkable and made me want to visit Granada to see the Alhambra even more. Group holiday later this year? 😄