A weekend without leaving Valencia
And that is that Valencia concrete, cashmere and visa gold is giving way to a fireproof city , full of creativity, talent and emotion. Since I was little I was told that Valencia was a land of “artists, flowers and buccaneers” ; I never believed it. Today Yes.
DAY 1. FRIDAY
3:00 p.m. start the weekend in Valencia in the only possible way: around a table. Friday lunch is more than just the beginning of the weekend in the capital of Túria, it is the first excuse for a drink, coffee and a chat. Where to start? For example in Saiti, by Vicente Patiño. The one from Xàtiva has rounded off his proposal in the Ensanche and it couldn't be more appetizing: Mediterranean-based cuisine but with nods to the world, fantastic work with product, backgrounds and stews. Sensitivity and technique in one of the gastronomic proposals with the best relationship value for money from Spain Impossible more for less.
Fantastic product; unbeatable atmosphere
5:30 p.m. Just cross one street (Old Kingdom of Valencia) and you are already in the fashionable neighborhood: ** Ruzafa **. Two excellent places to enjoy coffee are the Ubik bookstore-cafeteria (Literato Azorín, 13) where thousands of books decorate the walls —and you can't miss the carrot cake; and Slaughterhouse, which turns five wonderful years in the best possible way: giving away a book. Here you can also see exhibitions, go to cheese tastings or perform at impromptu acoustics . They define themselves better than anyone: "Over time, our butcher shop-bookshop-cafeteria has evolved uncontrollably into a bookstore-restaurant ".
7:00 p.m. It's time to go shopping. One of our favorite corners is **Gnome**; they are pure Ruzafa for their attitude, open and cosmopolitan. Also for his sense of humor (what is intelligence, but) ; Do you sell “Absolutely essential objects for contemporary survival” , such as the blue Besugo Purse or the Karl Marx piggy bank. We also like the Bartebly bookstore; the House of Lucia Romero and David Brieva where it is easy to run into an exhibition or the presentation of a comic (they are very comic), we end the ruzafero walk with Pepita Lumier, **the youngest art gallery (illustration and comic)** in the neighborhood.
all attitude
9:30 p.m. We move up to the bar Jomi House (or better, about the pinball machine), but first: a clarification. I am a big fan of absolute heterodoxy — chaos magic , the trendsetters call it; I call it something else: mix everything as it comes out of the papo. The highest with the lowest, the blue with the yellow, the old and the new, the most posh and the most seedy. All. Voucher . I say this because after Rufaza's trendy, his thing is a dinner in a club (I say it with affection) like Casa Jomi (fantastic product, eye) in the worst neighborhood in the city, to later go for drinks at the Westin, why no? That beautiful chaos is also a bit Valencia...
western
**23:00. A Manhattan on the leather sofas of the H Club **. The truth is, the subject of cocktail bars is screwed up in Valencia; little and bad An excellent option for this first night is one of the few that are saved, the Westin's H Club: here the bar is made of wood and one's buttocks are safe, away from the madding crowd and the Facebook timeline . Only leather and jazz and drinks. His thing (also) is to spend this first night at the Westin; Straight to the point: There is no such hotel in Valencia. And if it's nice, the last drink in its interior garden ensures half a breakfast. Ahem.
1:00. Partying in the XL. If you're young (in spirit, I mean) a good option to give it your all on the track is the XL (Ruzafa, again), and if you're bored by so much hipster, you've got Nylon or Play very close by. I think the second floor of Play sounds like the most lewd electrolatino on the planet: Farruko, Don Omar; Henry Mendez or Tito “El Bambino”; I think. I have been told. hehehe .
There are no nights like the H Club
SATURDAY
10:00. Breakfast at La Más Bonita. As much as queues tire us (always full), even though sometimes it seems a bit expensive or a little too much Mr. Wonderful: "The worries are carried away by the sea breeze", it must be admitted that few breakfasts are as pleasant as a Saturday morning on your terrace. It is fundamental in this route, and in any.
11:30. We move. In the first place, a walk in front of the sea, crossing the walk of the patacona (you will see the surfers on the spur that separates Alboraya and Valencia ) to then line up the Malvarrosa promenade . It's not a bad idea to rent a bike and ride part of the River Turia to our next stop: the Central Market. We have written so much about one of the most spectacular markets that there is little left to say: it is im-pres-cin-di-ble.
12:00. Since we're here, it's time to make a stop at the ** Central Bar of Ricard Camarena ** and stick a sandwich between chest and back (loin, onion, mustard and cheese). Later, kick the stalls, from the Manglano cheese with fish from Los Malageños , from the peas in Carme Catalá with Puchades fruit and Margarita ; or from the varea meat to nuts in Carrasco. The paradise of enjoyment.
Here people know each other by name
13:00. More stores. Just four steps from the market is Sebastián Melmoth, another little surprise whose flag is good taste and absolutely essential things (and necessary, for exactly the same reason) as the mythical Victoria soap and Dr. Bayard's candies . A little further —near the essential Mercado de la Tapinería, a space/gallery that deserves a visit— is Simple. As you can imagine, how the guy who wrote live with little . They are defined as follows: “Simple claims real and lasting objects in which you can appreciate a history and a way of life, ours. Simple returns to the simple and honest origins . To purity in the ways of doing and living”. We say yes.
2:30 p.m. What do I like about bars? To eat, I say. It is a more direct way (I think) of experiencing gastronomy and everything that happens in a restaurant; In other words, it's all about bars: in the center of Valencia three essentials are Rías Gallegas (recently refurbished), Vuelve Carolina and Civera. Life at the bar!
Cabinet of curiosities to the Valencian style
4:00 p.m. It is not a bad idea to have coffee in the MuVIM cafeteria (Museu Valencià de la Il.lustració i de la Modernitat), see some of the films that are scheduled to be broadcast in the promising Cinema of the 50s cycle and of course stop by the Dada bookstore (of my admired Inma Pérez) to buy some of the wonderful magazines that are returning to paper all the shine it deserves.
five pm. Since we are here, his thing is to cross the street and stop by futurama , the oldest comic book store on the coast; and wear, why not, La Casa de Paco Roca. You'll cry like a child without Pokemons—but it'll be worth it. Three more recommendations? big questions, fudges of love Y the man without talent ; no problem. We finished the ration of shops this weekend with Linda flies to river, maybe (well, for sure) one of my favorite shops in Valencia. His are the fragrances, candles and niche perfumes. They have everything from Aesop (I love it), Dyptique candles and aromas as unique as those of the Mona di Orio “nose”.
18:00. Pajama nap, potty and Our Father.
8:30 p.m. We dined soon at one of my (new) must-sees. This Clandestine Origin of the great little Junior Franco; flavour, intensity and daring. Colombia, asia and the mediterranean without prejudice or nonsense —he is a newcomer, but his tiny space is already always full. After dinner, we went into the Carmen neighborhood to the best jazz venue in the Cap i casal : “Blue Note blue walls dressed in jazz images, low light, stretches that widen or narrow like the tube of a wind instrument. You are in the Jimmy Glass , in the heart of the Carmen neighborhood, the favorite place for Valencian jazz fans and musicians”
24:00. You have to pick yourself up, friends. That Valencia (despite what it may seem) is a city during the day —there are cities during the day (such as Cádiz or Venice) and cities at night (such as Madrid or Berlin); an excellent option to sleep in the center is Hospes Palau de la Mar, a stately home from the s. 19th three steps from Colón street and with a wonderful interior garden with an organic vegetable garden that serves its Ampar restaurant.
Do not miss its wonderful interior garden
SUNDAY.
9 o'clock. Breakfast at Bluebell Coffee, perhaps the coffee shop of the most coffee lovers —we already talked about it and everything was good: “Coffee is our mission and the rest is fun!” Marian Valero's house is the only coffee shop in Valencia that works with specialty coffees (from Honduras or Kenya ), plus memorable eggs benedict.
11:00. Tap IVAM. The Institut Valencià d’Art Modern is active and brilliant, more than ever (and it was about time…). Exhibitions such as American Documentary Photography, Years 30 (Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Carl Mydans) or Harun Farocki, What is at stake; they bring the museum closer to the people and the street, which is precisely what all museums should do, Do not you think?
The perfect breakfast to say goodbye to the city
**14:00. Paella in Dune **. Obviously, it wouldn't be so mean not to plant a paella lady on this hedonistic route: habemus paella! For example, the one with lobster and vegetables in Dune rice shop. I have experienced so many (so many…) beautiful things in this oasis that how to be objective; anyway, the Brandez family embroiders rice dishes and desserts but perhaps the best of all is the after-meal conversation on the beach, with the aroma of saltpeter flooding laziness and silly days.
18:00. The end. From cocktails watching the sunset at Marina Beach Club. He's a newcomer, but what a newcomer.
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Lobster and vegetable rossetjat at Arrosería Duna (Pinedo)