Photo Diary: A Weekend In Valencia

This weekend the Mother and I headed to the beautiful and historical city of Valencia... my third favourite city in Spain. Sorry Valencia, but Madrid and Barcelona still beat ya! Although I hardly deserved a holiday as I'd literally just landed in Gatwick 4 days earlier after a week of vegetating on a sunbed in the Grecian sun scoffing my sunburnt face with the all inclusive buffet in Rhodes, you can never have too many holidays right? So off to the airport I went to fly to Valencia. 

After miraculously making it to Spain through what was quite possibly the worst storm I have ever bloody witnessed in London, it was time to check into our beautiful hotel and time to get wandering in search of Sangria. 

(So English I know *rolls eyes*)

As you can see, it didn't take us long to find the sangria! And after a very liquidy 'liquid lunch' in Plaza de la Reina, we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Valencia Old Town,  exploring the plazas and the best thing about Spain...the Zara stores of course. (Sorry Mum, you can take the girl out of London...)

After a quick freshen up in the hotel (a blog post will follow all about this fabulous hotel, so keep your eyes peeled), we got the bus to Playa Malvarrosa, where there's a palm-tree lined promenade to rival that of Venice Beach, filled with traditional Spanish restaurants all battling it out to serve the best Paella. I actually had a restaurant recommended by a friend who used to live in Valencia, so dragged my Mum along to El Acoso Restaurant, to fill our sangria-soaked stomachs with some Paella Valenciana (chicken, rabbit & vegetables), as sadly we are that minority of the World who hate seafood boo. Paella is pretty much wasted on us, I know.

After a heavenly sleep in my bed of marshmallows, Saturday was time for a beach day! We headed to Playa Malvarrosa and spent the day doing my 2 absolute favourite things in the world...sunbathing and reading before heading back to the centre to grab some dinner (and wine of course) back in Plaza de la Reina. 

After waking up to Sunday with a very sore head thanks to the Spaniards charging a ridiculous €2.50 for a large glass of wine (I mean c'mon) after some more Old Town strolling we decided to head to the beach again to make the most of the beautiful weather before we had to fly back to London on Monday morning.

On our final night in Spain, it was only right to have another Paella, so yep you guessed it, we headed back to the beach and the Paella Valencia came out to play again. And so did that wine....

I had done a lot of Instagram stalking when researching Valencia and Panorama Restaurant kept propping up. It's a beautiful restaurant located above the sea with stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea and Playa Malvarrosa. 

There's an outdoor terrace area and a beautiful indoor restaurant with floor to ceiling glass windows, allowing you to dine with not only spectacular views of the ocean and promenade, but with the background soundtrack of crashing waves to compliment your meal.
The paella was so rich it triggered a night of heartburn (but oh, it was so worth it) and the wine divine. 

It was a beautiful dinner and we honestly couldn't have asked for a better end to our trip. Valencia is the perfect destination for a relaxing weekend away, with access to beautiful traditional Spanish cuisine, ridiculously cheap wine, a beach to rival those of LA, unlimited amounts of sangria and a city bursting with history and rich Spanish culture. With return flights from London for as little as £70, I cannot recommend a weekend away in Valencia enough.

Thank-you Valencia, you were an absolute delight.

xoxo