Highlights-Valencia Day 3
Lowlights exceeded highlights today. I like to think of such days as the “adventure” part of my travels. My plan to make a day trip to Sagunto (north of Valencia) came a cropper (that’s a fun word). I sat on a bus that didn’t move for several hours (“Any minute now …”). I appreciated roomfuls of retablos at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia (paintings on wood behind the altars in churches to explain the Gospels to illiterates). They are pricey cartoons without captions. No day is spoiled when you can see great art, even biblical comics.
Chopped up?
I’m never going to learn Spanish using this menu
Notable Items
People switch to English (or start with it) really fast here. The sandwich lady and ice cream lady did it last night, the manager behind the counter at Via Dolce this morning. Occasionally, they switch to Spanish when I say I want to practice. Other times, they speak a few sentences of Spanish, then switch back to English.
On the hunt for my first morning snack in Valencia, I was summoned to the head of the line at Via Dolce. That never happens, but I got stuck behind a family of five who appeared to be evaluating each item in the display case. The man at the register lost patience.
Walking back from the bus that was a monument (Sagunto failure mentioned above), I had a second fail of the day. I did not grasp the service model of the Japanese buffet I entered. The menu was app-based. I ordered the Menu del Día, but it didn’t mean what it means in every other Spanish restaurant (fixed price meal with options for the main courses).
I sat. And I sat. And I sat some more. I asked a server, Is my food coming? They checked. You didn’t order anything. That’s how I learned that Menu del Día was their code for buffet. That’s why the man across from me had a table full of food! I got a discount for only ordering two things.
Returning from the retablos, I thought it would be nice to have a pastry. Good idea, poor execution. It wasn’t my fault that there wasn’t a patisserie (Spanish - pastelería) within five kilometers. When all else fails, go to El Corte Inglés. They had sweet stuff there.