To market to market (5/19/2014)

As with each arrival to a new place, our first trek is always to the local fresh market and a supermercado for staples.  In the case of Valencia, we were one glorious block away from the Mercadona Supermercado.  We were also only a few minutes walk away from Mercado Central de Valencia.  You can actually feel the history in this building and its incredible architecture.

It is bustling daily, except on Sunday. There are vibrant fruits and vegetable displays along with meat and prepared food vendors.

We wandered up and down the aisles barely able to contain our excitement over the food experiences we would enjoy in Valencia.

We stocked up on fresh salad items, some olives, bread, cheeses and serrano ham to get us started.  As it was edging close to lunch time, we made a final stop at a beef butcher with an array of prepared all beef patties.  We selected two buey burgers to take home and grill.  We were unable to confirm exactly what kind of beef were used in the burgers.  Translated, it can mean cow, ox or kobe beef.

Well, we did not have a grill, but I pan fried them with some fresh mushrooms, artichokes and fresh strawberries.  We paired it with some crazy good $3 Spanish red wine and we had our first gourmet experience in Valencia.  


The burgers were tender, fatty and juicy so were did not get too hung up on their genetic make up.   After that very large lunch, we needed to walk around some or sleep it off.  We decided a walk through the Jardin del Turia would do the trick. 

The Turia river is a Spanish river which has its source in the Montes Universales, amidst the mountain ranges of the northwesternmost end of the Sistema Ibérico, Teruel province.  It runs through the provinces of Teruel, Cuenca andValencia, and discharges into the Mediterranean sea near the city of Valencia.  After several flood events, the final catastrophic one occurring in 1957, the city re-routed the river and turned its dry river bed into a verdant sunken park traversing nearly the entire city. It is perfect for biking, walking and enjoying immense amounts of green space in the heart of the city. Several beautiful auto and pedestrian bridges cross the park for access to the new parts of Valencia.   Take a really bad thing about your city and change it into a really good thing, pure genius.

The Jacaranda trees were in full bloom on this day.