Last full day

Another walking tour of Barcelona that included Parc Guell, La Rambla, La Boqueria and the Gothic Quarter.  We ended with a tasty meal at Cerveseria Catalana.

Valencia to Barcelona

We said goodbye to Valencia, boarded the train that rides along the Mediterranean coastline, and checked into our hotel in Barcelona.  We toured the city and watched the World Cup finals.

Horchata and Calatrava

Last night we had the famous Valencian drink, Horchata, at the most famous maker, Daniel.  They opened up a new place in the beautify Mercado Colon.  The boys enjoyed them with the pastry that best goes with horchata, the farton.

Today, we walked through the ex-river which is now a long park.  Our destination was the City of Arts and Science, mostly built by Valencia's world renowned modern architect, Santiago Calatrava.

Paellas at the beach

Last night, the boys had a choice of watching the World Cup semifinal game or the Spanish movie, Ocho apellidos vascos.  The half that saw the movie thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the scenes filmed in Sevilla.  Today, after classes, we went to the beach and enjoyed two types of paella that they have not had yet, arroz negro (black rice with squid and its ink) and fideua (noodles instead of rice.)  We also had the local mussels, clochinas, as well as razor clams and baby calamares called chipirones.  It was a fantastic Mediterranean meal right steps away from the Mediterranean Sea.

Artisanal cheeses of Spain

We have learned that one generalization of Spain is that they tend to keep a low output of their great products.  If you want them, then come to the region they are made to get them.  They tend to not mass produce for fear of lowering the quality.  Cheese is no exception, where Spain has the best cheeses that nobody has heard of.  Today, we went to the Central Market to one of the stalls we know well.  Pilucar gave us an assortment of Spanish cheeses and explained the importance of artisanal cheeses as opposed to industrial ones.

We then had a great dinner at one of our favorite spots, La Francesa del Carmen.  Spanish food with a French touch.

Magic show

For the fourth year in a row, we had a private magic show and paella dinner at Valencia's private magic club.  The food was fantastic and the show even better.