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We celebrated Alex’s birthday with donuts before we went to town.  The girls went down Calle Colon to the department stores, and the boys and I wandered around looking for guy souvenirs.  We met at 2pm to eat lunch at a nice little place near the Theatre, and went back for our much-needed siesta, buying a nice piece of art on the street on our way back to the bus stop (a black and white of the Torres Sorrento).

We’ve noticed that double parking is very common here, and the double parker leaves his car in neutral.  That way the driver that is pinned in can push the other car out of the way if he returns first.  Quite novel – I’ve not seen it anywhere else in Europe.

Other items we’ve noticed that seem typical of Valencia: a pharmacy on every street, beer at lunch (San Miguel), hanging cured hams sold everywhere, body piercing, exposed butt cracks, and dodging dog poop on the sidewalks.

Dinner was at the beach at the 100 year-old La Pepica, famous for being a favorite of Hemingway’s.  There are photos of him on the wall, sitting at a table drinking red wine.  We got there at 8:30 and were among the first, but when we left at 10:30 the place was humming.  Seafood paella, peas and ham, grilled artichokes and wine.

We’re moving into the Spanish pace of day – late lunches and dinners, and the kids love sleeping in late.  I’m very impressed with how much fish the kids are ordering on their own, and I’m extremely impressed with the amount of Spanish Alex and Paul have been able to wield as we move about town.  They have truly been very helpful, particularly in restaurants.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2012 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Travel with tags Spanish dining, Valencia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.