Our Travellers of the Week - Oscar Fernandez and Susi Csikos : Nuestro Viaje a Madrid y Valencia, España

Nuestro Viaje a Madrid y Valencia, España

As many of you know, we are planning our move to Valencia, Spain, and hence, we recently went there to explore the different neighborhoods to find our ideal place to live.  This trip convinced us that Valencia will be an excellent city to reside in over the next year, who knows, maybe longer. One step at a time!

We were so enthused because of many reasons, a few of them being: 

-  Even though Valencia is the third largest city in Spain and offers a high-quality level of cultural activities, universities, multitudes of architectural sites, and a healthy dose of dining and shopping, it never felt stressful. 

-  Our experience with the locals was that they are very friendly and helpful. 

-  We also found the city to be very walkable, 

-  yet, when it became too hot or we got too tired of walking, the city transportation was right there and accessible. 

 We look forward to learning more about this impressive city.

Umberto and Oscar

Alicia and Susan

We started this memorable trip on a high note. Upon our arrival to Madrid, we met with my good friend Umberto Cancellieri and Alicia. We had dinner at a remarkable and elegant roof-top restaurant in Madrid. I would highly recommend it when you visit there: (https://www.picalagartos.com/galeria.

Both, Umberto and Alicia, threw the red carpet for us and gave us a very warm welcome to Spain. They offered us many tips and valuable advice going forward with our move. Our get together with them was a moment to remember.

Through our XUNICEF group, we were introduced to three XUNICEFers living in Valencia now.  

We met Clara and her husband Valentin. Clara is from Colombia and Valentín from " un lugar de La Mancha," España. They both worked at our UNICEF Geneva office. They also introduced us to another great restaurant in Valencia “Alqueria de Pou.” It is located within the boundaries of the city, yet it felt like the countryside.

We also met Christine, who was Chief of Education, and worked in South America and Africa. She is French from a small town in the Alps, and now lives and spends her time between Valencia and her other home in Barcelonnette.

They were heartily welcoming, and we truly enjoyed our time spent together.

This paella was from the restaurant Civera - really tasty

https://www.marisqueriascivera.com/marisqueria-valencia.htm

We had the best Paella ever, with Tinto de Verano and Sangria. 

Arroz nego - Rice with calamari in its own ink

 

I will never forget the octopus’ dish. To die for! (if you find yourself in Valencia, you must try this place: https://alqueriadelpou.com/). We enjoyed every moment we spent with them. We got along superbly, and at the end of our trip they felt like good old friends. 

We took many pictures of narrow alleys, old churches.

 

And photos of the City of Arts and Science designed by Valencia’s own famous architect, Santiago Calatrava, 

 

Restaurants, tapa bars, etc.

 

Valenica truly is a beautiful, modern city with a great transportation system.  

I was very impressed with the beach, and pleasantly surprised to find that the water temperature was a balmy 30 Centigrade, just like here in Florida.

These are just a few of the many pictures we took.  You can find more on these links:

https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/Xc3QZJVVSP-7U0JfoG7eVg.1Td55RmcOEX72ACZ9YXJZE

https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/S_hmhS4VQ4WyTmz2vOccPQ.5mCYq-7l-2LzsRdfwR3x6Z?pageIndex=0&sort=sortOldestToNewest

Let's not forget our current UNICEF staff who are being transferred to Valencia. I know many of them very well and look forward to spending social time with them.

Also, on the upcoming agenda will be to find a pied-à-terre in Manhattan. Susan already started her search.

By the way, I am entertaining the idea of organizing an XUNICEF reunion in Valencia, with a follow up trip to either Madrid or Barcelona. We'll have to wait until the Canadian reunion and propose the idea to our XUNICEF group. Would you be interested in a reunion in Valencia, Spain?