Tag: travel
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Requena Wine Fair and Harvest Festival
Two days ago we boarded a train to the wine village of Requena for the Feria Requenense del Vino – the Requena Wine Fair. Requena is part of the Utiel-Requena D.O. (Denomination of Origin), the most extensive wine producing region of the Valencian community. The native red grape Bobal makes up 75% of the…
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Day Trip to Sagunto
The Castle of Sagunto—It draws our eyes up the hillside above the small city of Sagunto every time we take the train between Valencia and Barcelona. We go by in a few seconds, but that’s long enough to inspire wonder in us passengers. Sagunto is an easy day trip from Valencia. It is only about…
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Bioparc Valencia: A little piece of Africa in Spain
The city of Valencia holds some unexpected surprises. We recently discovered the Bioparc Valencia, a unique 25-acre zoo located at the western end of the Turia Garden in the Parque de Cabecera. With friends visiting from the U.S., we thought the zoo would be a nice way to spend the morning. To our delight, this…
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Wine Bars in Valencia
As the third largest wine producing country in the world, Spain produces a lot of excellent wines at reasonable prices. A great way to learn about the different regions and grape varietals is through experience; in other words, tasting lots of Spanish wine. There are plenty of places in Valencia to enjoy a glass or…
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Clóchinas: Pulling Valencian Mussels From a Shell
With the arrival of summer, clóchinas began appearing in the markets and on restaurant menus all over Valencia. These very special mussels are unique to Valencia and only available May through September. Clóchinas (also called clotxinas in Valenciano) are cultivated on 22 floating rafts located in the ports of Valencia and Sagunto. Harvest follows the…
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Avant-Garde Cuisine in the Medieval City of Girona
The city of Girona in northeastern Spain overwhelms your senses with beautiful scenery and some of the best food in the world. These days Girona seems to be best known for two things: as a filming location for HBO’s Game of Thrones and home to the famous Michelin three-star restaurant El Celler de Can Roca.…
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Big Cork Equals Big Wine For Maryland
Wherever we travel, we try to experience the local wine culture. We recently spent some time in our hometown of Washington DC and took a day to see what’s going on with Maryland wines these days. An excellent recommendation from the host of our B&B in Frederick Maryland took us to Big Cork Vineyards, one…
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Layover Near Madrid’s Main Airport
Sometimes our travel arrangements require us to either catch an early flight out in the morning or arrive tiresomely late at night. In these cases, we often like to spend the night near the airport allowing us to get a fresh start in the morning or a reprieve in the evening. Before a recent early…
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Eating Your Way Through The Turia Garden
We love living in the city but I must admit that, now and again, it is nice to escape the noise and the crowds and get back to nature. Fortunately, here in Valencia we can immerse ourselves among the trees, lakes, flora and fauna only a few blocks away in the Jardin del Turia. The…
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Day Trip to Xátiva
Xátiva Spain is a small city with a lot of history. Located about 60 km south of Valencia, Xátiva makes for a quick and fun day trip. It is just under an hour ride on the C-2 regional train (Renfe Cercanías) which leaves from Valencia Nord station approximately every 30 minutes. We recently took a morning train…
Julia Eats 