Life: Idiotropic

When faced with an exquisite piece of architecture, there are really two options for the photo junky like me.  A) To take a photo of the building alone or B) to take a photo with a person in it.  Intriguing architecture is creatively inspiring and fun.  It makes us think and dream and play with shapes and patters and perspective.  These Calatrava's that make up Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences do just that.  They evoke the imagination.  They provoke thoughtful conversations.  They entice the photographer in all of us.

And that, my friends, can be the problem.

Exhibit A:  Valencia's Palau de Musica as the backdrop for some ballerina attitude.  Macaira is a professional ballerina traveling here.  She thought this building would make a fantastic background.  I tend to agree.  This is a good example of where to pose and perhaps, how.

  
Exhibit B:  Yikes.  What is it with the bad wedding shoots this week?  Unless that guy is some serious palentologist, this is a major fail.  Love the dinos, but having wedding shots done in front of a giant mass of B-movie rubber that jiggles profusely as he moves his neck from side to side and roars with the sound quality of grandpa's old LP is not what screams romance and beauty.  Nor love.  Angle it down a bit.  Yes!  Now the dino looks like he's eating the bride.  Perfect!  Photoshop in some gore and you really have something to remember your special day.

Great location.  Great architecture.  Just another spot, may be?  Please.

Ahhh.  Now this is Christmas.  Like candy cane to the USA or a Printen to Aacheners, these turrones bring Christmas home for the Spanish.  They come in all flavors and varieties with each region having their speciality, but no matter what the flavor, locals love them and buy them in slices to take home and share. 
Turron de Alicante is a sweet white crunchy nougat full of almonds.  You'll also find loafs of nut filled chocolate, mazapan, and yema, Spain's answer to egg liqueur.

And in grosser subjects.  Isn't is lovely how the Spanish don't waste anything?  Yes, it's a good thing.  Or at least that's how I'll choose to think about it. 


The fish market isn't quite as disturbing except that several are still quite alive which always makes me feel a little sad for then sitting there on ice out of water.  The fishmongers were at their grouchiest today now putting up signs at several stalls that prohibit photography.  As if a photo will disturb either their business or the flavor of the fish.  Hmph.

Today it rained.  I tell you this because it was the first rain in a month and my feet were ill prepared (in $2.50 Old Navy flip flops).  Couple that with the sad fact that most of Valencia's sidewalks are large squares of slick marble and I was practicing my ice skating skills all over the city much to my fright and embarrassment.  


Our next stop was just a slide away across the street:  La Lonja.

This magestic building that is free to enter is the place where the silk traders met to, well, trade silk.  I've been here a few times.  Didn't bother to take photos until we got to the upper room which I don't always go in.  I'd forgotten how beautiful it was.  The ceiling is all wooden, intricately carved and painted, and made us stop and stare long enough for my feet to dry.



I'd love the know the stories of the characters here.  Both men and creatures mythical and real are depicted here.   The sheer number of different faces is amazing.  There are no repeats.



Ahhh.  This is a taza de chocolate unlike any that I've ever tasted in Spain or out of Spain for that matter.  After living here over a year, I have finally found the best, and rightly so, at the well known Spanish chocolatier, Valor.  Here the chocolate is dark and rich and smooth with added flavors if you want that aren't overpowering, but aren't so subtle you can only smell them.  It is heaven in a cup.  The latte by its side was just about perfect and to go with all this was the perfect order of churros, not greasy like those of street vendors at Fallas, but tender, sweet, and delicious.  The chocolate clung to them just right and we walked away, no I skated away, quite content with my chocolate lunch.

So it's raining.  Not hard, but enough to wet the slick streets making them slicker.  Enough to tread lightly and with great trepidation.  Enough to send us to the shopping district.  What else are two girls to do with time to kill and a need to stay dry?

And I made my friends proud.  I went local.  I walked straight into the store of all stores in Spain, El Corte Ingles, and found a beautiful sleek pair of high healed dress boots and I bought them.  Of course, I had to leave them there, run down 4 floors to buy a pair of socks, then run back up to buy them and put them on straight away so that I could jog to the train station, but it was totally worth it.  I now am the proud new owner of "big girl shoes."  No more rainy day flip flops for me!  ;)

I've found in Europe more than anywhere else, that something strange is about to happen.  Really.  No day is really complete without a good chuckle or shake of the head.  Like the man last month with a real life rabbit riding on his shoulder.  I've found since that he's a bit off his rocker, but still, it takes some talent to train a rabbit, bonkers or not and it does qualify in my book as something a bit odd and rather entertaining.  Yes, I'm easy to entertain.

So, today with a bit of time, I took my newly arrived visitor to Port Soplaya for a quick snack before picking up the girls.  My normal place was closed forcing us to eat elsewhere, but that was fine because we had a good show.


First:  The wedding photo shoot. 

Blue skies.  Aqua Valencian beaches.  Sand.  Palm trees.  Could be amazing and you're picturing it, right?  Ok.  Now move the lovely couple with the handsome man in his nicest clothes and the bride in her long white gown with the train trailing after her.

Got it?  Ok... she has a train trailing after her as she walks and poses all over the beach.  And this is a Valencian beach in November which means that no one has looked at it or thought to clean or take care of it since August because once September first hits Spain, beaches are abandoned except for the occasional pale tourist.  The beach was the dirtiest I've seen it and the sand was wet.

They aren't even posing in the middle of the beach with the sea behind them or near the palm trees growing out from the sand.  No, they are huddled together kissing on a rock sitting among a pile of ugly rocks next to the pier.  Add some large red metal equipment of some sort floating in the sea beyond and the waves not splashing up majestically, but lapping up just enough behind the rock to wet the beautiful silk gown with the buttons up the back.  Photographers gather behind them where they can get her shoulder tattoo and her bra strap and tag as well.  A woman directs, but doesn't think to tuck in that tag.  The poor bride is walking awkwardly in her heels.  We watch them on and off for a good 40 minutes.  The final photo.  Sitting in the surf.  Yes.  Every bride's dream.  I'm going to wear my beautiful $1000 + bridal gown to the beach and then sit in the wet sand and let the waves wash over me.  Oh yes, that's romantic.  Hope she knows a good dry cleaner.



Second and third:  Valencia in not and has never been known for surfing.  To try, well, is like trying to build an igloo in Tahiti.  Not likely to work.  And, thanks to these two men, I think we have proof.  Don't go to Valencia for a surfing vacation.

Guy on the left decided to paddle out past the waves and wait.  May be those itty bitty 2' waves were too big?  Guess it takes real talent to surf the flat.

Or a paddle.  Guy on right decided to use his surf board as a raft standing there proudly with his little paddle working his way out to sea.  I'm not sure why.  Again, notice the waves?  Nope.  I didn't either.

Because you never seen the same thing exactly the same way.  Or at least I don't.  My camera dictates the size of my purse and it is my faithful companion keeping me busy in even the dullest moments.

Today wasn't dull.  Today I was on a mission to help Angie shop.  Well, I didn't say it was a difficult mission. 

And it was a bit fun because I was guided not only by shopping, but by food.  We headed first to my favorite Bar Cafe Mundo for a calamari sandwich and a cafe con leche, the perfect mid-morning snack if you're living in Spain.  Sandwiches aren't proper lunch food.  They are only snack food. 

Saw these two guys on horseback being quite smiley. Too bad the sun was in a bad place.  I've only seen police on horseback in the gardens here and they seemed just as entertained by me as I was by them.

Took a long leisurely walk to the Turia after our snack to find the mall with three Desigual shops, one of my favorite Spanish brands.  The mall actually only has two.  One is a double-wide store, so counts as two spaces.  Both are fantastic and full and so horribly tempting, but I did escape with only a few Christmas gifts for the girls and nothing for me because everything that I wanted was a bit too much.

Walked around the Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences for the umpteenth time which is ok, because like the Eiffel tower, it absolutely never loses it's charm or awe-power.  Anyone with any imagination of love for the camera could spend days there staring at it and imagining it at all sorts of different angles and in different lighting.  The buildings are astounding.


It's amazing how quickly a day can fly just walking and soaking up sun and beauty.  Snapped this window walking back towards the train station.  It's typical here to have a window behind the bar so that people can walk up to the outside of the cafe and grab something quick or stand there right on the sidewalk and have a coffee there.  There's seating inside as well, but people seem to like this.

Our day ended with ice cream at my favorite little place near the train station serving home made ice cream nearly all year round. 

 It looked like just another ordinary day at the Oceanografic.  It was supposed to rain.  We had out of town guests.  The kids were out of school.  We needed something to do.

This was easy.  I expected nothing.  I'd shoot a few photos.  Nothing special.

But that's not really possible, is it?  Nothing is really that ordinary.  Nothing is ever really exactly the same twice.

Today we began the same and followed our same usual route.  It was fairly typical until we got to the shark exhibit where the sea turtle is usually absent. 

Today he was back and busy.  He swam all around the large circular room close to the glass so everyone could see him, then down the long tunnel and around the next large circular room before returning to the first.  We followed him.  The girls were entranced.  Arianna demanded I take photos.  I obliged.

 The route continued.  We saw the walruses and the belugas.  They did their usual laps.  I thought passing through the stench of the penguin room would be quick.  The penguins, after all, are smelly and quite boring.  They either stand there like statues or just float around.


It appeared that I was right... but then these two kept staring at me.  They stared at everyone bobbing their headed up and down in the water to see which view was better, from underwater or from behind the droplet splattered glass.

They kept my attention long enough for the show to begin.  Not one that was planned by the Oceanografic, but one that the penguins seemed to enjoy.  A high speed chase of Hollywood proportions.  Ultrasonic speeds, lightening quick turns on a dime,  up and down with such speed and fluidity that it was almost as if they were weaving the water with long smooth stiches, up and down, in and out.

From there another first:  a bird show in the dolphin area keeping us entertained until the usual dolphin/trainer show began.  That was normal.

But after at the sea lion exhibit we saw three pairs of nursing babies with their mothers.  That was sweet. 

And then more babies in the tropical area... this time a jellyfish the size of a quarter.


And a supersized starfish showing off on the glass.

And the first time that we've ever had the patience to actually stand in line long enough to enter the bird exhibit where you are close enough to these beautiful birds to touch them though you don't, but they stand there next to you and don't even flinch as you get near.  It's really amazing.


 Just another day at the Oceanografic.  One when the lighting was just perfect... for one fleeting second.  And I caught it. 
 

This is a relatively new sight here.  Apparently cruise ships have been successful coming to my Valencia, so this year even more ships are sailing into the port and releasing the hoards of tourists into the old historic center of town.  If you want a relatively "tourist free" downtown, don't come on Tuesdays.  That is when the ships come in and release their bipedal cargo to clog the narrow walkways near the cathedral and mercado central.

So I'll avoid Tuesdays, and continue to enjoy the view.  The lights are pretty at night as the ship takes them all away.  

Valencia fashion is ruled by the calendar instead of the weather. 
Today as I stepped off the train and walked behind a mass of fellow passengers out of Valencia-Nord, I noticed that while I was wearing a darling lightweight short-sleaved summer dress, the rest of the passengers (all of them) were wearing long pants, jeans, or skirts with tights, sweaters, jackets, long sleeved tops, and... SCARVES around their necks!!!  It was not cold then.  By noon, it was sticky warm and humid.


The calendar also rules the beach usage. 
Seriously, from end of June through the end of August, you can barely step foot on the beach and it's not just tourists.  From September 1st onward, the beaches are nearly completely empty except for the random tourist who will still brave the Mediterranean in the wintertime while the locals stay bundled in thick coats and hats.

Smart graffiti:  "Dream your life.  Live your dream."

Valencia has the best graffiti.
It's smart, funny, quirky, and cool.  It is done by a handful of artists who have their own special style.  This one, for example always paints in this color scheme and uses these odd little black characters.  I see his artwork all over the city and have seen him repaint the same wall with another one of his "works."  I don't always understand them... soccer ball heads?  No clue.  But it's cool.





Back to Valencia Fashion... there is no such thing as too many ruffles.

This actually applies to most of Spain where ruffles are reminiscent of the traditional Andalucian flamenco dresses.  Ruffles work themselves into local fashion in a lot of ways both good and not quite so good.



It's in the details.
Valencian women dress well.  That is an understatement of grandiose proportion.  While men also dress very well, women here seem incapable of dressing casual.  I've seen stilletos climbing old cobblestone streets up the hills of mountain ruins and full length fur coats at crowded carnivals.  This is the norm.  Jewelry is big and abundant.  Hair is perfect.  Makeup cannot be forgotten.  Every accessory is there from shoes and stockings to hair clips and jewelry to scarves and handbags.  While I find success in remembering to put on earrings, the complete look is what Spanish women strive for and find without fail.  So, it should be no surprise that an upscale women's clothing shop would also have a bit of bling this time in the form of an uber-fancy door pull not on one side, but on both.

 
Simplicity is for snack time.
Almuerzo in the rest of Spain might be lunch, but here, in Valencia, it is that late morning snack that you grab at your local bar.  It's simple, yet delicious. Before living here I wouldn't even thought of putting calamari on a sandwich, but here, it's something I think about often and this little bar on the corner makes the best calamari sandwich in town.  Bread, calamari, and a thin layer of garlic tinged aioli:  it just doesn't get much better than that.

Coffee is for after dessert.
While a foreigner may get away with ordering a cafe con leche with a sandwich, a local will not.  The waiter will look at you like you've gone completely mad and then offer you a beer or a glass of wine.  That is, after all, what you drink with savory food even at 10am.  Coffee here is offered and consumed not with dessert, but after.  These are the moments I am grateful for my "accent," so that they will just smile at me and bring me the caffeine buzz that I desperately need.  The perfect cup of coffee?  Not quite.  But today, Cafe Mundo did come awfully close.