Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Valencia, The City of the Lights


Valencia is Spain's third largest city, after Madrid and Barcelona. It has one of the largest tourist influxes in Spain and it is famous all around the world because of Las Fallas festival. It has 470km of coastline with beautiful beaches and a nice Mediterranean climate throughout the year. In addition, it has always been a city full of art, leaving us the legacy of great artists such as Ribera, Sorolla, Calatrava or Marshal.

Every single corner in Valencia is charming, specially the famous El Carmen´s neighbourhood. El Carmen is the historic center of the city: in its streets the most Bohemian traditions are mixed with the last trends. For those who love partying, El Carmen neighbourhood is full of places to go: enjoy the Valencian night under the moonlight in one of its beautiful terraces, have a coffee at mid-afternoon surrounded by friends, satisfies your appetite in one of the delicious restaurants in the area or dance all the night in an avant-garde nightclub.

Besides the El Carmen's neighbourhood, there are other areas to enjoy of the Valencian night: the Avenida de Aragón, the la Plaza de Canovas, the Avenida Blasco Ibáñez, the Plaza de Honduras, the Plaza Xúquer or the Plaza Juan Llorens. In summer the party moves to the Paseo Neptuno and the beaches areas.

We can not talk about holidays in Valencia without mentioning Las Fallas. They are one of the most famous, vibrant, quaint and noisy festivals in Spain. The fires, along with the fireworks and rockets take the streets by force as it were. The origins of the Fallas Festival goes back to an old tradition of the city's carpenters, who before the Festivity of their patron Saint Joseph, burned in front of their workshops on the streets , their useless things during the winter season. This is the reason why the night of the cremà (in which the Fallas monuments burn down) is always on March 19th, the Festivity of San José. For five days, castles, the monuments Falleros and the Mascletàs, mixed with the smell of gunpowder and sweet fragrances of flowers. Las Fallas are one of the most important and spectacular street festivals in the world that nobody should miss.

For the lovers of good food, Valencia is a paradise. The famous Paella comes from Valencia! The diners will not taste better rice in the world! Other traditional dishes are baked rice, "arroz a la banda" (with fish), black rice (with squid in its ink) and Fideuá (made with noodles). For a drink, taste "el agua de Valencia" (orange juice with champagne). And for dessert, drink a refreshing Horchata with fartons (biscuits).

"La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" is a must. It is the reference point to the cultural tourism: the music, the new technologies, the sciences, the ecology, the education, the cinema or the avant-garde art are some of the proposals we can find in this unique space. This incredible collection of buildings showcases Calatrava's exceptional ability to express what is inside a building through its exterior design. It 350.000 square metres surface have become it into the largest cultural Europe's center.

Are you going to miss all these wonders? They are all together in Valencia! Come on! Travel to Valencia, discover it, and fall in love with it. Take a look to these Apartments in Valencia to find the best accommodation in the city!

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