Paella Anyone?

Shanna on the most charming rooftop in Valencia (aka our really cool hostel)
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FYI...Valencia is the birthplace of Paella, needless to say we had great paella, and fabulous seafood based meals...actually ashamed to admit that I had not ordered paella since Ive been in Spain..oh well, better late then never! Me and my roommate Shanna took an early train friday morning into Valencia, Spain's third largest city. There we met up with her boyfriend Max (who is studying in Sevilla), our friend Alix (studying in italy) and our other friend Danielle, who is studying in Valencia, and our subsequent tour guide for the weekend. We got in and checked into our hostel, which was perfect! Great vibe, really clean, big kitchen where everyone was cooking meals together, and the best part an adorable roof top terrace! Danielle first took us down to the old riverbed, which is now somewhat of a park. I guess there was some big flood a couple years ago and they had to redirect the river, so now they've turned the old river bed into a great place to stroll and take a break with some sangria! For the rest of the first day we just walked around the city to get a good feel for it. Then had some tinto and tapas on the terrace, and went to this great place just around the corner for dinner. Really good seafood tapas for cheap...best part was the mussles...yummy! The next day we went to the cathedral in town, and hiked up the tower to get a good view,and what a hike it was! Everyone we so come through to the top, old, young, fit, were all panting, it was actually kind of funny! Then we went to the big market, which is the largest indoor market in Europe. It was very similar to the kind I saw in Barcelona, and just interesting to walk around and look at all the crazy stuff they sell. For lunch I had my first paella...which was fabulous, and we just walked around doing some more touristy things for the rest of the day. All in all I really like Valencia. It definately has its own vibe that is different from anywhere else I have been in Spain, but the best part was the company I was in, we all had a blast together this weekend, and it was good to see some familiar faces.