The neighborhood directly across the river/park from our Valencia hotel is the El Carmen district. We did not know it before, but El Carmen is the bohemian/alternative/multicultural/cosmopolitan section of the city. Kind of a latter-day North Beach. Narrow cobblestone streets dating from Moorish times crisscross each other and lead from small plaza to small plaza, loaded with restaurants, bars, and pubs, usually the ground floor of four- or five-story apartment buildings. Every age, ethnicity, gender preference, clothes preference, occupation, and nationality seems to be represented, though I must admit it is primarily European (not many Americans, Africans, or Asians). Every third person has a dog. It is a pedestrian zone by default: although cars are allowed on most streets, the latter are one-car wide and one-way, and not much traffic comes through. The district is a great place to wander and watch, especially at night.
Our lunch on Friday was at Taberna de Marissa, on a small plaza in El Carmen with various restaurants whose outdoor tables filled the square. To say that I had a mixed salad followed by grilled salmon, and Jerome grilled vegetables followed by a rice with chicken and rabbit (paella style) does not reflect the lovely flavor combinations of said dishes, which were very well prepared and plated, nor the excellent waitress who served us outside on the plaza.
After a rest at the hotel (my reserves of energy are dwindling, even if Jerome's are not!), we went out again and wandered El Carmen, ending up, to my delight, in a vermouth bar ("We carry over 60 kinds of vermouth!"). I tried a new label and enjoyed another old friend while Jerome had a "gintonic" and a wine, all accompanied by pinchos, another term for tapas. These were bites of bread with hummus, with guacamole, with brie and marmalade, with eggplant and goat cheese. Dinner/supper in Spain.
This morning we returned to the Mercat Central, admiring the displays and inhaling the aromas once again. A costumed dance troupe performed a traditional regional group dance on the plaza outside, to drum, tambor, and castanets. In addition to the tourists, many locals were doing their weekend shopping or were out with their families enjoying the beautiful sunny morning. As we wandered into one large plaza with a cathedral, a horse-drawn open carriage was arriving with a bride in yards of white lace and her tuxedo'd father, to the applause of everyone present as they entered the church. Saturday morning in Valencia.
We tracked down a "dim sum" restaurant in El Carmen for our afternoon meal. The chef had taken the concept of dim sum in the sense of serving steamed dumplings, but the fillings were Japanese in flavor, ordered off of a menu. An interesting twist, and delicious. Then back to the hotel to watch a Saturday soccer game before returning to El Carmen for the night scene. A light rain shower urged us into a tiny bistro that we otherwise would have overlooked, and a delightful experience it turned out to be. The whole place could have fit inside the main room of our house. Run by women, a kitchen the size of a closet, art on the walls, small tables with stools rather than chairs. Excellent salads among otherwise traditional and delicious Spanish small plates. We were among the first to enter (at about 8:30), but by the time we left there was scarcely room to weave our way out.
