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A short gastro-cultural tour through Valencia: enjoy it like a real Valencian!
Start the day by wandering through the streets of the Mercado Central, just like the Valencians do – comparing prices, buying local products, and later having a snack in the best tapa bar of the Mercado Central: Central Bar, owned by one of the most reputed chefs in Valencia. The Mercado Central is not only an architectural gem but also a gastronomic and sociological one. After a light snack, leave the Mercado to stroll through the old quarter and get to know the history and evolution of the city from its foundation by the Romans to the present day. Make sure to visit the Lonja de la Seda, the shrine…
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Walk, discover, taste, and feel Valencia in Cabanyal: the trendy maritime district
The Cabanyal-Canyamelar is the fishermen’s maritime district in Valencia by the sea. Its popular and modernist architecture, with colorful low-rise little houses and facades covered in tiles, make it one of the most attractive areas in the city, and it was declared a Heritage of Cultural Asset. The houses were built facing the sea, starting from the fishermen’s huts. Start your day by visiting the Market, which is 60 years old and has become one of the most important buildings. It is regarded as both the nerve center and the meeting point for the neighbors and an icon in El Cabanyal. It is reputed to sell the best fresh fish…
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Fiesta in Pamplona: the fierce and colorful San Fermin festival
In early July Pamplona becomes the scene of bullfighting, bull running, bull talking and memories of Hemingway. In 75 BC the Roman General Pompey the Great established a military camp in the northeast of present-day Spain. But Pamplona only began to attract interest in the Middle Ages, when it became a stopover for pilgrims going to the shrine dedicated to St. James at Santiago de Compostela. At the end of the 16th Century the Navarrese city hosted the first summer festival of San Fermin, who saved the city from plague, and its status changed forever. But the thousands of people who flock to Pamplona between t and 14 July are…
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San Fermines festival in Pamplona: bullfighting and brutality, drink and song, joy and excitement
I remember first reading Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises” (or “Fiesta”, how it is sometimes named) while still at school and from that daydreaming to see and experience San Fermines – a festival of bullfighting and brutality, drink and song, joy and excitement. This year I finally did it – while traveling in Spain, visited Pamplona, where the festival takes place every July. And you know what? Now I have a small understanding why San Fermines was Ernest Hemingway’s obsession. He first came to San Fermines in 1923 and paid his final visit to the annual fiestas in 1959. This festival has everything a traveler can dream off:…
