Finding Treasures in Valencia
A warm sun shines above us as we walk down the boulevard toward the Mediterranean Sea. It’s a late Monday morning and we unexpectedly decided to go to our favorite eating spot here in Valencia, Spain. Casa Montaña is a tapas tavern hidden away in the Cabanyal, the old fishermen’s neighborhood by the sea. We know when we are approaching it because the twelve and fifteen floor apartment buildings around us make way for two or three story townhouses with very colorful doors and tile work. We are in luck today. At 2:00 p.m., it is peak eating time but they have a table available for us and, once we are installed, we can linger as long as we want. After our fifty minute walk from the old city center, we are ready for a rest and good food. Casa Montaña never disappoints. We order a small plate of dry cured pork tenderloin, thinly sliced, that melts in your mouth to go with their artisan bread and Valencian wine of choice. Then, there’s a small plate of stuffed peppers, some potatoes with two special sauces and scrambled eggs with spinach and local mushrooms. Lemon mousse, espresso with brandy and a local cordial finishes the meal. Our server is very kind and chatty and, at one point, another customer chimes into the conversation. We don’t see phones out and we can tell everyone is enjoying the food. In this taverna, founded in 1836, we are surrounded by barrels of wine and brandy as we savor each bite.
Filled and satisfied, we start out on our way home. As we approach the boulevard, I see a painted wall. It jumps out at me since I recognize it as the art of Disneylexia, a well-known street artist of Valencia. His art pops up all over certain neighborhoods of the city but this is one I haven’t seen before. What fun! After we get back to our apartment, I discover that he is having a small exhibit at a French cultural center in a neighborhood of Valencia we’ve never been to. Since he is one of my favorite artists, we decide to attend the opening on our last night in town.
As darkness falls on the city, we find our way by foot, a thirty-five minute walk through downtown, through the library park, across two boulevards, taking in some of the Christmas decorations already up. Though strangers, we walk into the exhibit and immediately meet the artist. I want to buy one of the block prints he has on display and he does everything he can to make it happen, including sending someone out to get a bubble wrap mailing pouch to put it in and letting us leave with it under our arm though we haven’t paid for it yet!
Every year that we have gone to Valencia, we’ve had these small moments of pure and often unexpected pleasure, little connections that let us know that, even though far from our residence, we have a place. That’s probably what brings us back. As our taxi driver says, the Valencianos are known for their warmth and easy-going style. And we feel it every time.
