Paella Valenciana

Posted By Nithin Coca

One piece of advice...don´t go to Valencia, or any part of Spain outside of Andalucia, on Easter Weekend.

Valencia seems like it would be cool. Its pretty, lots of bars, restaurants, famous paella places, not touristy at all, yet large. Beautiful beaches.

But on Easter weekend...everything, and I mean everything, is closed. Most of the bars, all stores, many restaurants. The few that are open have been booked in advance, as me and an Australian found out yesterday after being rejected at 10+ restaurants on a strip known for having the best paella in town. We thought everyone just hated us, but they were rejecting everyone, even Spaniards. All the restaurants were crowded and, strangely, understaffed, so they wouldn´t let anyone else eat even though many of them had some open seats.

Tomorrow I take the slow train to Madrid. I did get Paella, eventually, at a restaurant on the other side of the beach. Then had Spaniards stare at us cause we were the only ones eating food on that entire half of the beach. Ahh, traveling. Hasta Luego!