On New Years Eve we arrived in Oliva early afternoon and found the central car park where Alex suggested we park. As his and Miriam’s house is on a steep narrow street in the old town, we wouldn’t be able to park nearby. It had been a nice drive from Denia along country roads bordered by orange trees and passing lots of cycling groups.
The centre of Oliva felt less touristy than many of the other places we’d passed through in this corner of Spain which we know is why Alex was attracted to Oliva when searching for a Spanish property. Alex and Miriam weren’t due until late afternoon (having flown from the UK at lunchtime), so after recceing where their house was (a steepish walk winding up the attractive narrow whitewashed streets of the old town) we jumped on our Brompton’s to explore the beach area. This area did feel touristy, although quiet being out of season.
We all met up with them where Lo11y was parked and headed up to the house laden with our overnight bags,Alex & Miriams luggage and several bags of food we’d bought for New Year with the shops shutting early on NYE.
Their house is lovely – it had been renovated by a Canadian couple who’d owned it before them and had quirky furniture and fittings that suited it totally. It also has a nice outdoor terrace with lovely views. Then there was the decorations Alex has added – around 7 bikes, hung on hooks on the walls and ceiling. This is in addition to his extensive fleet in the UK.
The town had fireworks planned for midnight followed by a band. We were all wandering if we’d manage to stay up for this. We enjoyed some tapas picky bits to eat, and somehow managed to get ourselves to the street where the celebrations were taking place on time. We were geared up for the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight – one for each chime of the bells – not as easy as it sounds – somehow I failed having one grape left over at the end - that’s an accountant for you!
After the fireworks the band started. We have to say we didn’t recognise any of the songs (all Spanish) – mind you unless they were 1970’s and 80’s classics that’s not unusual, but the rest of the crowd of all ages seemed to appreciate them.
We had the latest night we’ve had in a long time (probably a year!) and slept like logs in the comfortable bed with the treat of a heated blanket – bliss.
We woke to a bright sunny morning on New Years Day. Alex had booked lunch at a local restaurant, so we had a leisurely morning, including a walk up to an old castle at the top of their town. Lunch was fantastic in a lovely local restaurant full of Spanish families celebrating New Years Day. The food was all delicious – the entrees alone were a meal in themselves. Platters of pates and cheese, fresh seafood, and a pot of hot octopus. We all had cod in aioli for the main, and a chocolate dessert. Superb. After the meal to help it go down Miriam, Colin and I cycled to the beach area on Brompton’s before chilling for the evening.
The next two days were all about cycling. Alex has always waxed lyrical about the cycling in this area, so we were looking forward to experiencing a couple of his favourite routes. The first ride was a 43 mile ride up and back down the Vall de Gallinera. It was a fabulous ride - like a perfect pyramid shape of 20 miles gently ascending to 2000 feet, then a swoosh back down to sea level.
The next day we did a 57 mile largely circular ride to a town called Xalo. As we approached the town the number of cyclists, some in big groups, multiplied. We went to the most incredible Dutch owned cycle café where the courtyard was rammed with hundreds of flashy bikes. We refuelled with tasty bocadillos before continuing. Alex had agreed to meet some of his Spanish cycling companions for a punchy ride mid-afternoon. Colin turned down the offer to join them, as he felt after riding 50 plus miles, joining some fresh legged cyclists for another 30 might be a bad idea. So while Colin opted for a gentle last few miles back via the beach area with Miriam and myself, Alex went off and for a further pacey lumpy 30 miles. We felt quite relieved when he returned looking a bit dazed and confused – he is human after all!
We bade farewell to Alex and Miriam the following day – we thank them for their first-class hospitality and showing us their beautiful part of Spain.
Our next port of call was Valencia, about a 90km drive from Oliva. We parked up at a Camper Park in a northern suburb of the city where we could catch a metro train into the centre. The metro stop was only a 5-minute walk from the camp site. We were conscious that this weekend was an important holiday for Spanish to celebrate Christmas, so worried places would be closing early on the 5th as locals prepared for family get togethers. We took ourselves into the city on late afternoon of the 4th to get our bearings. We had a good walk around the central areas and a bite to eat before heading back to the campsite.
We’d booked a city cycle tour for the following morning, so got ourselves up early to get into the city and get breakfast in the central market hall. Maybe we were too early, but we couldn’t find anyone doing breakfasts in the actual market so ended up in a basic café just outside. Colin enjoyed a healthy tortilla butty while we marveled at the Spanish drinking beers with theirs at 9 am.
We met up with the cycle group consisting of a Dutch couple who live in China and a French guy and Kazakhstani girl couple. Luke the tour guide was British although had the accent of someone who has lived abroad for a long time. He has lived in Valencia with his Dutch wife and daughter for some 8 years, and his passion and enthusiasm for the city was infectious. We thoroughly enjoyed his tour which took us from the old town weaving around the backstreets looking at street art and pointing out monuments and bars and restaurants to visit, then past some of the main squares in the city and shopping streets, then onto the old riverbed that runs for 9 km through the city to the beach area. The old river was diverted following a flood in the 1957, and now this space is set aside for gardens and various venues including a music hall, and Oceanography Museum, and the Museum of science. It’s a great space for walkers and cyclists. We ended up at the Marina area where the Grand Prix used to be held, and our final stop was at a beach bar where we had hot chocolates – although mostly sunny this day it was cool. We all cycled back into the centre – a great four-hour tour with lots of interesting facts – one that stuck with us was that a German king and queen visited Valencia at Christmas and loved the colour of oranges in the trees and the following Christmas decorated their tree with coloured baubles – hence the tradition of baubles on Christmas trees.
We decided to get a late lunch, so headed back to the Central Market Hall where Luke had recommended a Michelin starred eatery. It was full when we arrived and when we put our names down, they said it could be up to an hour wait. We decided we didn’t want to hang around that long, so went to another restaurant Luke had recommended called TagoMago which served Fusion-Spanish cuisine – three courses just €13.95. There was a 45-minute wait for a table but at least we could go off and look at other things in the meantime. The meal was very tasty – Valencian with a twist. After lunch we visited a couple of monuments we'd only seen from outside on the cycle tour.
The city was filling up for the late afternoon. The 5th January is the eve of Kings Day (El Dia de los Reye Magos) which is considered to be Christmas Day for the Spanish. Most children receive their Christmas gifts and most towns and cities put on a parade (known as a Cabalgata) through the streets on 5th Jamuary with dancers, musicians, and other performers. In Valancia people had been gathering to get front line positions early in the day, and by 5 o’clock the streets were packed with families and excited children with bags in hand ready to scoop up goodies thrown out to the crowds on the parade. It reminded us of the Caravan in the Tour De France. We stopped to watch a little of the parade, but after a while decided to head back to the campsite before the Metro got too busy with families returning home.
With sadly only five days before our ferry is booked back to the UK from Santander (10th January) we needed to start heading North. We have ear marked a few places to call in at enroute, although we're not liking the temperatures on the weather forecasts – freezing at night and only four or five degrees during the day – oh well – it gets us acclimatised for the UK.
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