For my dad's birthday in November 2022, we spent the weekend in Valencia. We'd visited the city years before, but my only memories of that trip consisted of my dad pinching a nerve in his neck, me and my brother swimming in the pool in the villa, and loving how sweet the oranges tasted, so we were due a recap.
My dad's birthday was on a Friday so I took the day off work and we flew out in the morning, arriving by lunch. We settled into the hotel, then enjoyed tapas in the city centre, including 'croquetas de jamón' (ham croquettes), 'pan con tomato' (bread with tomato), 'pulpo Gallego' (Galicean-style octopus), 'gambas al ajillo' (garlic prawns), 'jamón Serrano' (Serrano ham), and 'tarta de queso' (Basque burnt cheesecake), all of which was delicious. There were only two things I wanted to accomplish in Valencia: one was eating croquetas de jamón, which I'd already managed, and the other was having paella, since Valencia is the home of the paella.
After lunch, we walked around the Old Town, exploring the bullring, Colón market, the Bank of Valencia, the Ceramics Museum and El Corte Inglés (where I bought my dad a birthday present). By the time we had finished, it was time for dinner so we headed to Marisquería Civera for my dad's birthday dinner. As much as I'd have loved to have the waiters sing happy birthday, my dad hates that sort of attention so we refrained. Regardless, we had our own small room and ordered a huge grilled seafood platter for my parents and I, for which we were given bibs and utensils. The platter was delicious and I'd strongly recommend it. My dad attempted to order a glass of red, however we became suspicious when the waitress declared that 'this is the last bottle - I'll keep it on this table beside you' (as it transpired, she'd understood that he wanted the whole bottle so despite only drinking a glass we were charged for the bottle, which was an unfortunate misunderstanding). The service was incredible and after dessert, we were offered a small bottle of tasty liquor and some mini biscuits, which were delicious. We were absolutely knackered by this point so headed back to the hotel for some shut-eye in order to explore the city further the following day.
The Saturday morning was my opportunity to drag my family around city, seeing recommendations from a friend who'd been only a few weeks beforehand; we saw the Cathedral, the Central Market, Plaza de la Virgen, Plaza de la Reina, and a small bookshop with a unique selection of novels. The city had some lovely spots, with orange trees adorning the city, and the weather was great however I was saddened by the abundant homeless population.
After lunch, my brother had to fly back to the UK due to work commitments and so we dropped him off at the airport, before heading towards Alicante (my parents had hired a rental car for the weekend and love road trips). We saw oranges in huge quantities, as well as one of my favourite autumnal fruits: persimmons. Despite the balmy temperatures of 20°C, it was very cold and breezy. When we arrived at Alicante, we enjoyed a coffee by the marina as my mum wanted to relive her experience from the last time she'd visited, and walked along the beachfront, before returning to Valencia. Here we achieved the second aim of my trip: to eat paella. Interestingly, the seafood paella (which isn't the traditional Valencian one) didn't contain mussels or peas, both of which I am accustomed to, but it was equally as delicious.
On our final day, we went on another road trip, spotting various tumbleweeds in the road, which I don't recall having seen in real life before. It was 25°C and and we were headed for Murcia, a city I hadn't visited before and the home of my favourite tattoo artist. The drive wasn't as exciting as we'd hoped - it was mainly industrial and the suburbs featured huge apartment blocks that looked very run down. That said, we parked the car and headed into the city, noticing that the roads were blocked for an event raising awareness for Diabetes, featuring bouncy castles for the kids and live music. We headed into the Plaza de las Flores, which was pretty and explored the area after eating lunch on the terrace outside. The centre of the city was very picturesque, however the outskirts were less so.
After a very relaxing birthday celebration, we ended the weekend with a final drive to the airport, where we boarded our flight back to reality (and the British cold).
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