day 31

tuesday 8 june 2010 valencia

Y and i wore the customised shirts that J gave us (they said "we love bofis" and had his handsome face on them!) and attracted more stares than desirable around the city. incidentally, J, a finalist in the pilot season of the spanish version of peking express, is a reality tv star in his own right. we found EUR3 paella outside the market and aimlessly moseyed around, walking to the edge of the city in search of meringues :) when Y left in the evening, i made my way to J's and he horrified me with gaga's alejandro video. one of the catchiest tunes this summer, by far, but the video was repulsive on so many levels. interestingly, despite my personal apprehension, i think it's a great video nonetheless. visionary, even. hah. so take that! 

J had a surprise up his sleeve and he booked us for dinner at valencia's best restaurant for paella. i say it's a surprise because i knew we'd be doing a paella dinner, and real paella, but i didn't expect it to be at the granny-sanctioned best restaurant in valencia! entrusted the ordering to J and was so so pleased with dinner. by far one of my best meals on the trip and truly 'the best or nothing'. we began with iberico ham (i'm drooling at the memory) and calamari, and then came the paella.

BEST. PAELLA. EVER. 

CANNOT. EAT. ANY. OTHER. PAELLA. EVER. AGAIN.

yep - that was for 2 people! and J eats less than i do!

(but we still licked the platter clean)

after dinner and quite a few digestifs, we visited C at the bar he works at and he gave me a G&T with the best gin i've ever had. hendricks ftw. C was busy working so we hung with his beautiful girlfriend and a former colleague before heading back to J's to watch the french version of the peking express. 

crossing the bridge on the way home