Valencia

Valencia is where paella was invented, and the rice still comes from the fields around Albufera Natural Park, a lagoon a few kilometres south. It is eaten at midday, facing the sea, on the city sand of Malvarrosa Beach. The river was diverted long ago and its bed turned into a long green ribbon, the Turia Gardens, where people run and cycle under the old bridges. At one end stands the City of Arts and Sciences, a set of white buildings floating on shallow pools, home to the largest aquarium in Europe. The old town keeps its medieval gates, the Torres de Serranos, and its silk exchange, La Lonja de la Seda, a Gothic masterpiece. At the Central Market of Valencia the stalls spill over with oranges, fish and cured ham. Every March the Fallas festival burns giant papier-mâché figures in the streets, in a din of firecrackers and brass bands.