June 23, 2018

This morning during breakfast Silvia suggested that I visit the Albufera Natural Park, which is he largest lake in Spain, and where the paella was invented. It is situated about a 30 minutes bus ride from the centre of Valencia.

Getting there was easy from Pedro and Silvia’s home. Once I arrived there, I visited the local tourist centre to obtain information about the park and also the boat rides available in the lake. The staff there suggested a walk around the park which last about 1 hour prior to taking the boat ride. According to the brochure that I was provided, the Albufera Natural Park, is a Mediterranean ecosystem with unspoilt dune beaches, forests, rice fields and a huge lake where you can enjoy boat trips.

I completed the trail, in about 50 minutes and have included here some photos of this wonderful place.

Afterwards I joined other people – a mixture of locals and tourists- for the 45 minutes boat ride around the lake. The pescador – fisherman and guide, provided an excellent commentary along the way. He told us that this place has a great ecological importance with rare species of birds and a rich variety of wildlife. Its waters have been traditionally worked by fishermen and rice growers, supplying ingredients and for many of the regions most succulent dishes.

He also spoke about the meaning of the word Albufera, according to its origin al-buhayra, derives from the Arabic word small sea. Furthermore he said that in 1986 this area was declared a Natural Park.

The fauna of Albufera includes a variety of species of fish, such as the tooth carp, eel, grey mullet and sea bass. However, Albufera National Park is known for its rich diversity of birds, including the red-crested pochard, Northern shoveler, heron, common tern, white stork and gulls.

The guide also spoke about Cañas y barrio, a celebrated novel by Valencian writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, which was set in the Albufera region during the beginning of the 20th century. The story accurately portrays the social reality of this time in a countryside setting. This novel was produced for a TV series in the 1980s and was shown in SBS at that time.

I returned home to Pedro’s and Silvia’s place in time for a late lunch.

We ended my last full day in Valencia by going to a well known Argentinian restaurant in Valencia. This place is well known fo its sweets – similarly to a Melbourne’s Brunetti. The main ingredient is “dulce de leche”, condensed milk. The place was packed with tourists ass well as locals, all of whom have a sweet tooth like us.

We finished the day with a stroll around the city, and a drink of Clarita – beer with lemon at a local bar. It was by now 11 pm and the cit was packed with people having dinner on the many open restaurants with outside tables, Pedro indicated that as it was Friday night many of the shops are open late and then people just stay around and join family and friends for dinner, to see a movie or to go dancing.

I will be very said tomorrow to leave my friends Pedro and Silvia, as well as this vibrant Valencia. I will travel to Madrid in the morning..