Baroque Excess vs. Culinary Restraint

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Last night we were so excited with our day trip to L'Albufera at midnight we enthusiastically set into planning our next outing for early the next morning. We had chosen a nearby town with hillside ruins, but then reconsidered adding an extra day trip when time here was so limited. Instead, we took time in the morning to wash clothes, and then went to the baroque museum we’d set out to see a couple of days ago, the Marquis de Dos Aguas. 
Marquis de Dos Aguas
It was predictably Baroque and exhausting. The palace also housed a ceramic museum, which helped us focus our minds, but also led to a kind of tension between the two parts.
Ceramic Museum
The stern guards did not permit backtracking and would not return Kitty's smiles as we were meant to complete our ceramics before encountering all that baroque splendor. 
Marquis de Dos Aguas

 We tracked with a group of four Americans with flat, mid-western accents. We did not speak to them, nor they to us. Later Kitty and I shared that we'd been oddly repelled, not at all curious. Something about their affect? Or perhaps it was us? 









We had some time before lunch to wander back to the Central Market neighborhood. The crowds felt just right--not overwhelming but still a lot of people taking photos while other shopped. Still others sat and wait.
Waiting at the Central Market

 We had a late lunch at a restaurant near our apartment, "Cinnamon." It was the perfect choice for today, small with inventive and meticulous food. They had an Asian influence and served noodles and amazing fresh mussels with coconut sauce. We were just around the corner to settle into our regular afternoon. 
Cinnamon Restaurant

 We set out again after dark, just around 7:00. The streets were livelier with local traffic than we’d seen, and bustling with energy. It was a transition time between the work-day and a holiday evening out. We went to a bar just down the road for a glass of wine before heading to a store across town. I love the pace of an outdoor cafe. 
Night Streets, Valencia










The streets have such a different feel at night and the lighting was beautiful. We ate at home at about 9:30 and found that the lasagna gets better every time. 

 I work on photos and Kitty watches "Padre Brown" and a series of two-star movies. We watch things we would normally never have patience for because the choices are limited. It's nice to feel free to take a bit more down time in a day. We talk about how Barcelona and Valencia compare in our minds, and mull over pros and cons of these two lovely cities.
Placa Reina

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