This off-season solitude gives us brilliant gifts like entire beaches to ourselves and a chance to see and speak with real people it also guarantees a certain emptiness of some of the more touristy areas that can occaisionally be unnerving and, when in search of food, is very frustrating. The bars are always open, but few serve food, and the spanish schedule involves a late lunch, a long siesta, and a very late dinner. So we adjust, and we eat mostly at home. But still, the desolation of certain seaside suburbs, though presumably full to bursting with people during the summer, is bizarre. Entire towns, strips of apartment buildings and row upon row of empty shops, they feel like ghost towns. But we enjoy it, the strange wandering.

And though we had almost begun to believe that we had seen the great heights of food, Spain held some welcome surprises. Firstly of course there were the oranges, which never ceased to delight, and are the ultimate snack or dessert. But the main specialty of Valencia, (in fact a creation of the Valencians) is Paella, a delectable pan of golden saffron and spice infused rice, piled with various seafood depending on the variety. Valencian Paella is full of chicken, calamari, and green beans, while Seafood Paella is packed with everything from prawns and shellfish to, if you're lucky, scallops. It is an utterly delectable, unparalleled feast, which we often enjoyed in a quiet little restaurant on Gandia Beach. The other Spanish specialty is tapas, but since we rarely went out we only enjoyed this a couple of times. We had tapas ranging from tiny fried octopi to whitebait (little french-fry-like fishies) and the ubiquitous prawns and gourmet fish finger-type things, and piles and piles ordered at random due to interesting sounding names that remain, to this day, unidentified. Not to be forgotten are Bocadillos, quick little sandwiches usually made with the specialty, Jamon Iberico, which is the Iberian version of Parma ham (there are legs of this stuff hanging everywhere, in their hundreds) and a serious specialty and point of pride. It is delicious. And the food that we enjoyed when we ate out paled in comparison to the massive feasts we created every evening at home. Thanks to the incredible expertise of Mary Stubbs who (sorry to those disappointed to hear this) remains the Best Cook in the World (keep in mind we have not seen quite the Whole world yet, but this is one thing I remain quite confident of), and her excellent su chefs, we created massive meals usually centering around seafood (salmon, swordfish steaks, exorbitant amounts of prawns), vegetables (her specialty is baked vegetables, especially cauliflower, courgette, and brussel sprouts), and a salad, and usually a big plate of pasta as well. It is small wonder we needed three movies and a long nights sleep to recoup after this decadence. We promised ourselves that after this sojourn with mom we would fast like ascetics. It was a pretty vague promise.

The open markets, of course, have to be mentioned, as they made the above feasting not only possible, but even more rewarding. Although outdoor markets have been a theme across our adventure (Portobello and Borough in London and Avallon and Noyers and countless others in France), Valencia boasts quite loudly that it has the Best outdoor markets. And though that title is still contested, it did not disappoint. The sheer scale of the market we went to to stock up on our first day as we left Valencia was not even the Mercado Central, but a satellite, and even it was massive, rows upon rows of the freshest most beautiful produce. Especially beautiful tomatoes. Unfortunately my limited Spanish had at that point forgotten vocab like carrots and onions (I remember NOW! Look at me! Zanahorias y cebollas) I was able to be the extremely helpful translator, pointing at a huge mix of vegetables and saying "two of those." There was mild-serious confusion. Also, a word to the wise, you are not meant to touch the produce in Valencian markets, simply to point and have the seller examine each piece for you. Needless to say we didn't find this out until we had fondled and tested each avovado, tomato, and pear in the entire market. Highlight purchase was definitely huge oyster mushrooms that went into a phenomenal pasta sauce that night. And the fish market was an entirely different world. Equally as big as the rest of the produce market combined, the vast hall smelled (for once not unpleasantly, due to freshness) of fish. Crabs squirmed on the ice, who fish glared fiercely up, and beautiful squids of a variety of colors and sizes were artistically arranged in an almost geometric fashion. We were overwhelmed and out of our depth (a really excellent pun that I hope none of you overlook, as we Are talking about seafood here). We launched into a full-scale debate about whether prawns needed to be cooked or could be eaten raw when the man behind the stall informed us that his prawns were "cocinado listo para comer." Deal done, we bought the whole lot, and munched them steadily all day, although there was still a vast heap left for dinner. Easily the best, freshest shrimp I have ever tasted.