Life: Idiotropic

Just south of Valencia lies Europe's largest freshwater lake, or at least it used to be.  I'm not sure if that claim by locals is figured off of the current lake size or what it used to be before much of it's circumference became home to the rice paddies that grow the regions paella rice.  Which ever the case may be, it's still an impressive lake and a different kind of way to spend your day while visiting Valencia.

Only 15 minutes from the city, it's an easy escape from the crowds and the noise.  The only crowds you'll see here are the birds.


I've been here before with the aid of my handy dandy GPS, but a wrong turn and a missed turn led me to the other side of the lake where there are no access points except by small fishing boat navigating the tiny canals and rice paddies.

My impeccable sense of direction led me in the right direction (of course), towards the lake through a maze of narrow dirt roads raised above the flooded rice paddies below.  The only problem with my sense of direction is that while we were absolutely going the right way to get to the lake, I didn't realize then that there was no way to actually connect to a main road or access the lake from that point.  So, with an empty tank of gas and fumes pulling us along, we really did enjoy a magical drive through the paddies enjoying the reflections of the traditional white triangular homes in the water and the dance of the great blue heron as they startled one by one and crossed in front of my van in flight to another paddy opposite.

I found myself at two dead-ends today, one forcing me to back track and the other causing an amusing "off road" moment when my van went Rambo and powered over a little hill between roads.  This mini adventure in route to our final destination taught me two things.  1) Getting lost in the rice paddies is a great idea, but only 2) if you are not out of gas.  Thankfully, I didn't have to learn the latter the hard way.


El Palmar is a tiny fishing village with rice paddies in one direction, the lake in another, and a wide canal on the other that leads to the sea just a couple kilometers away.  It was once filled with these quaint little homes called barracas.  Now just a few exist among the fields of rice and along the edges of the lake.




The only way to see the lake is by boat as there are no paths around it to walk.  A typical 45 minute boat ride will cost about 10 Euros/person.  We arrived in El Palmar and parked by a sign advertising "paseo en barca."  The gate was open, but we didn't see anyone, so we cautiously walked down the long narrow path from the street to the edge of the water looking around for any sign of someone working there.  As we arrived, so did the boat that belonged there.  The middle-aged man invited us on as a group of college aged girls got off and we began our tour of the lake making our way through lanes flanked by tall reeds and bamboo with birds nesting along the edges.  The heron here took off as they saw our boat giving us ample photo ops of birds in flight.




Though this is Europe's largest fresh water lake, it is certainly not the deepest.  At the deepest point, according to our guide, it's only a couple meters deep, but that is deep enough for the fish that live there.  Along the sides of the lake strung up on rows of posts lie these tubular nets made especially for catching sleek, black freshwater eels that are popular here.  Called anguilas,  you can find them at all the local restaurants and sold alive at local markets.

One of the small islands is marked off as a nature reserve providing homes to thousands of birds who apparently can read the signs because they are thicker there than anywhere else.  It's a great place to park the boat just on the edge and watch fuzzy headed ducks and other fowl with binoculars and a telephoto lens., but my favorite place is the quite among the reeds.  This is where our guide was quiet as well, just steering the boat and listening to the gentle hum of the motor and the distant call of birds.  The reeds rustled in the wind and we watched for the heron who are quickly becoming my favorite bird.




Puntillas are tiny whole squid battered and fried.  It may sound strange, but they are delicious and the batter covers them up enough that you aren't overly aware of each little hood and tentacle.  With or without lemon juice, these are my favorite local fish snack and would be a great movie snack - like popcorn shrimp. 

















A fishing village, if you're not catching the fish or cooking the fish, you're making nets or repairing boats.  El Palmar has character and is a beautiful place to spend the day and enjoy some quiet.  I think next time I'll bring the girls and may be even bring a paella on the boat with us for a lunch out on the lake!