It is now time to think what a true "scene from Spain" is. The only issue with this rather broad title is that Spain consists of a fair number of regions, each with its own unique scenes, foods, dialects and climates. Regions like Andaluc?a the south of Spain include the cities of Sevilla (its capital), Granada and C??diz - one of the oldest cities in Spain. This region includes both mountains and beautiful beaches, along with places to surf, ski and watch daily bullfighting and flamenco shows.
But not too far from here are the Canary Islands to the west, offering a tropic paradise all year round on a number of different islands - one of which was supposedly the early stomping grounds of Christopher Columbus when he left Spain to discover the Americas.
The north of Spain is a whole different breed, with a slightly cooler climate and a host of other delicacies from which travelers can choose. And you can't forget Madrid, the large, cosmopolitan, around-the-clock capital located smack in the middle of the country. As many Spaniards say, "Todo en Espa?±aesmuy bonito" (which means "Everything is Spain is very pretty") - but "Todoesmuydiferente" (translation: "Everything is very different").
Although I don't believe that we can call one particular part of Spain the most truly "Spanish," I will say that Valencia's traditional foods, warm climate, delightfully ornate street signs and other aspects make it a very good jumping off point to understanding la culturaespa?±ola - Spanish culture.
At a restaurant on a sunny corner of the Plaza Ayuntamiento in Valencia, the older, yet agile waiter asked us what we would like to order. While the smell of fried banuelos (basically a Spanish zepolli filled with pumpkin) was tempting, we decided to go with some paella Valenciana. But paella Valenciana has meat in it, and, because we are environmentally-conscious Tufts students, some of us wanted it without meat. Needless to say, this was a relatively foreign concept to our waiter, as paella Valenciana is the traditional dish of Valencia (hence the name) and after approximately five solid minutes of describing what we were looking for, he finally understood: we did not want the paella Valenciana; we wanted it without meat. Finally, we received what we were looking for.
A real slice (pun intended) of Valencian life would not be complete without mentioning horchata - a milk-like, white drink made of chufas, the Spanish word for the tubers of the nut sedge plant (generally called the tiger nut or the earth almond). The tiger nut is typically grown in Valencia, which explains the association. Not only do the Spanish create this strong, nutty drink to be consumed mostly in the summer months (although horchatacaf?© are open year-round, of course), but they often add a dollop of horchata-flavored ice cream to go along with the already cold drink! Horchata with extra horchata - because, to those who like the drink, the more, the merrier. No wonder horchata shops are open year-round ... and no wonder Ezra Koenig decided to base the first song off of Vampire Weekend's sophomore album, "Contra" (2010), around the tiger nut drink. To the Spanish, it's just that good.
A similar dining experience to our paella dilemma occurred when ordering at an old horchata joint in Valencia, called El Siglo; the waiter had thought we wanted helado de chufa instead of helado de chocolate. "Why wouldn't these tourists want the more traditional drink?" must have been the thought process. We decided to bag our original order, and - despite the fact that we were not particularly excited about the chufa - we sucked it up and ate tradition. Not my favorite, but it wasn't half bad.
Dani Bennett is a junior who is majoring in English and spending this semester abroad in Spain. She can be reached at Danielle.Bennett@tufts.edu.
