With its antiquated residential buildings, seaside location, and laid-back way of life, Cabanyal should be among Valencia's most desirable places to live. But that's not the case... yet. We took a couple days to explore the neighborhood, enjoying the atmosphere of its narrow streets and learning about the long-running political battle which has left it a shambles.
Valencia continues to surprise us. Although we had known about the existence of Cabanyal's Museo del Arroz for years, we had never bothered visiting. It's a rice museum, you know? It never captured our curiosity. But we shouldn't have delayed so long, because this museum is fantastic.
Even if you're the kind of person who refuses to visit a museum, it's impossible to completely avoid art in Valencia. For years, underground artists have been transforming the city into an open-air gallery, covering walls, fences and entire buildings with works of beauty and ingenuity.
Valencia doesn't get a lot of time to recover from Fallas before the next big holiday rears its pointy head. Easter Week is celebrated throughout the city, but the main events happen in the city's beachfront districts. The Semana Santa Marinera fills the streets of Cabanyal with processions, Jesus statues, flying flowers, marching bands, and brotherhoods in scary hoods.
