Last day in Valencia

Before heading to Barcelona, we decided to walk around the 'old' part of Valencia.  This included a huge Moorish 'Gate' at the edge of town.  It was a mini castle, and of course, I enjoyed it thoroughly.  We wandered into town and found a stand that sold the tools to make Paella - a very famous rice dish which is the signature of Spanish food.  I was itching for some authentic Paella and it is understood that 'real' Paella is made on Sundays.  I decided that this would be a good place to start in search of the perfect Paella.  I asked the clerk where we could find a good Paella place and without hesitating, she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the name of a restaurant - El Forcat -  along with the cross streets of where it was located.  She then told me how to get there, in Spanish.  I nodded as though I understood and walked in the direction she had pointed.  Now would be a good time for me to point out how bad I am with verbal instructions in English I am a very visual person and without a map, or at least all of the words written on paper (in English), I am pretty much lost.  As we walked around for a while, I realized we weren't going to stumble upon it so I stopped at a Souvenir shop and asked how to find the place written on my slip of paper.  This guy also gave me instructions in Spanish.  Another lady in the shop and pulled out a very small map and showed me where to find it in a sea of interwoven and seemingly circular streets. 

We finally managed to locate it and walked in.  The restaurant was empty.  We asked if they were open and she said that they would open in a few minutes.  We quickly found out that she spoke English and asked if we could get a table.  We explained that the woman from the Paella market had given us their name as the best Paella.  She told us that usually people need a reservation on the Weekends, but that they would make an exception and fit us in.  This was one of the most wonderful meals I've ever had.  It was about 5 courses, including Paella of course, and we enjoyed it as families on Sunday gathered with their friends after Church and casually dined.  Afterwards, with overly full bellies and heads full of Spanish wine, we went to the nearby park and fell asleep in the sun.  It was by far the most wonderful day I've had in Spain!