Author: Ben

Continuing with our summer Top 5 series, Derek Workman, an English freelance journalist who lives in Valencia and has written guides such as Small Hotels and Inns of Eastern Spain and Inland Trips from the Costa Blanca, lets us in on a few of his favourite Valencian getaways:

Five places I’d rather be in Valencia than sitting at my desk writing…

1. Cabañal
One of the old fishing villages that form the Pueblos Maritimos down by the port. It’s full of old modernista houses covered in decorative tiles. After an hour on the beach at Malvarrosa I’d wander in to El Polp for lunch; a real neighbourhood cafeteria with a strange décor that somehow or other brings together American diner and Edwardian elegance. In the evening I’d nip in to Bodegas Montaña, one of Valencia’s oldest, and have a couple of their excellent tapas.

2. The Riu Turia
In front of the Palau de Musica. At least I would if it was Sunday morning. Despite still being called the riu it hasn’t seen a drop of water since the 60’s and is now 9 kms of parks, fountains, etc. (It’s where the City of Arts and Sciences is set.) On Sunday morning the world and his brother while away a couple of hours listening to music and the splashing fountains in front of the Palau; strolling, chatting, playing with the niños on the grass and trying to avoid the cool dudes on their in-line skates. During August it has an open-air cinema which is the bees-knees because the films start at 11pm, when the heat of the day has mainly disapated.

3. Mercado Central
Said to be the biggest covered market in Europe, I love wandering around it even if I’m not buying anything. The ladies will shout at you saying that their fish is the best in the market and you should get in quick while the going’s good. It’s so popular now with tourists that some of the stalls even have ‘No Foto!’ signs stuck up. If you fancy your hand at making a paella there are stalls that sell only the beans that go into it and others where you can buy nothing but the snails you need to make a proper paella Valenciana. I haven’t gone as far as buying a pig’s head, though – yet!

4. Cinquante Cinq
A local French restaurant owned by an Englishman and with an English head chef. Curios combination but excellent food and gets packed out with Spanish. I once had sopa de zanahoria, pastel de buey and pastel de pan y pasas – in other words, carrot soup, shepherd’s pie and bread and butter pudding. The Spanish diners didn’t realising that they were eating a typical British meal and loved it.

5. Sat at a table on the street…
… outside the bar below my apartment, swapping lies with Toni next door about how brilliant we are. It could be any bar, it’s just being able to relax and chat with friends in a Spanish way instead of shouting at each other across a packed British pub.

Image by Derek Workman: Kids with boat, Valencia

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As part of our continuing Spain Top 5 series, I asked Murcia-based Matthew Bennett from The Big Chorizo (which covers news, comment and opinion about Spain and Spanish) to come up with 5 great reasons to visit this often overlooked corner of Spain. Is there more to Murcia than empty lunar landscapes and gated golf towns? Over to Matthew:

Ben asked me to write about the top 5 places and things to do here in Murcia. There are loads more but these would be the top 5 for me right now. If you’re ever down this way, check them out:

1. ZM Nightclub
On the beach at the beginning of La Manga: candles in the sand, outdoor dancefloors, bowls of fruit on the tables to relax away the alchohol, refresh tired bones and watch the sun come up with your friends.

2. Bando de la Huerta
On the first Tuesday after Easter, the biggest traditional Murcian fiesta of the year – half a million Murcians get dressed up in local costumes and start drinking promptly sometime before noon – nobody I’ve met has ever seen the procession which is supposed to be the centrepiece and the party ends the following day around dawn.

3. Easter Week
Semana Santa, both in Murcia city and in Cartagena down the road, is spectacular, whether or not you’re the least bit religious. The solemn, splendid, military-style religious processions in Cartagena contrast with the more lively ones in Murcia where the pilgrims dish out sweets for the kids. My favourite procession is Holy Thursday here in Murcia where the procession is a silent, darkened one because that’s the night Jesus was killed.

4. Calblanque Beach
If you turn right off the La Manga road just before you reach Cabo de Palos, instead of following the road into La Manga, you will completely miss all the tourist beaches, golf villas and throngs of people in the Mar Menor to find Calblanque: deserted natural beaches at the end of a (purposefully, I think) winding dirt track.

5. Mar de Músicas
Every July in Cartagena, music from around the world (this year South Africa was the special guest country) resonates around this ancient seafaring city and, especially in the Parque de las Torres amphitheatre high-up on the hill overlooking the port, takes your breath away as you sip a cool copa to escape the suffocating summer heat.

Image: Two friends at the Bando de la Huerta fiestas, by Matthew Bennett

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Spain Bloggers: got a blog or website on Spain and want to add to the Top 5’s featured on Notes from Spain? Contact me with original list ideas!

As part of a series I’ll be running this summer with help from Spain’s best writers and bloggers, I’d like to start with the Top 5 places I’d rather be in Spain right now (considering it’s too hot to venture outside here in Madrid!)

1. Following a long-distance footpath in the Pyrenees
Years ago I tried to do the GR-11, which crosses the mountains from Catalonia to the Basque country, coast to coast. It nearly killed me and after just 3 days I went back to Madrid for the car. But I’ve never known such incredible vistas and solitary valleys, and I’d love to try it again…

2. Playa de Andrin, near Llanes, Asturias
I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again: foraging goats on steep, fern-covered cliffs, cool wet sand, crystalline waters, cider and a bocadillo in the bar on the hill for lunch… forget the costas, this is a real beach.

3. A Fino Bar in Malaga
Any Fino bar will do, really, just knowing that I am in one of the Andalucia’s most lively cities and that there is glass of cool fino in my hand would make my day. Later I’d take a walk around the old town and finish up with grilled sardines on the admittedly not-so-attractive beach.

4. Strolling along Gros beach
San Sebastian is the most attractive combination of surf, sand and city in Europe. Forget famous La Concha beach, always packed, and check out Gros, full of beautiful people and great waves, and just 5 minutes walk from the old town: Pintxo heaven, the classiest tapas in Spain.

5. Driving across the central plains on my Vespa
In any direction, me and the Meseta, not in any kind of a hurry, and no need to be back for a week.

Image: Fino in Malaga, by Ben.