Hola Oviedo, and hasta pronto Valencia. In a few days, we’ll be packing up our things and moving to the beautiful capital of Asturias for three months. August, September and October will be spent drinking cider.

Since we won’t be here, Hola Valencia will be taking a little breather. But you can follow our Asturian adventures on a new blog:
http://oviedo.for91days.com/ and twitter account: http://twitter.com/for91days

The name “For 91 Days” might give you a hint of the direction in which we’re taking our lives. Basically, we’ll be keeping our furniture and permanent address in Valencia, which will be our base. But for most of the year, we’ll be spending 3 months at a time in random cities around Spain, Europe and the rest of the world. Our jobs are totally mobile, and we’re both born travelers, so we’re really excited to get out there.

We’ll pick the blog back up when we return to Valencia. But right now, we’ve got to start packing for our temporary move to the northern coast! In this heat, the cool Asturian climate is sounding really good.

What are your thoughts about Oviedo? Have we picked a good city to live for a few months?

- Car Rentals in Oviedo

This must be the kind of discovery that anyone who gets into the field of restoration hopes to one day make.

A dusty, dirty old painting in storage at the Church of San Andrés was cleaned up and restored by The Light of the Images, the same group responsible for the marvelous renovations of the Glory of the Baroque. Underneath the grime and neglect, workers realized that they were holding a painting by the 16th century Valencian master Francisco Ribalta.

A crucifix scene now christened “El Calavario”, the painting depicts Christ on the cross with a kneeling Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary and a few others surrounding him. The painting has been dated to 1620, eight years before the artist’s death, when he was already respected and firmly entrenched in Valencia. Ribalta was of the Baroque era, and one of the first Spanish practitioners of Carvaggio’s tenebrist style.

You can see his newly discovered painting in the church of San Juan de la Cruz, as a part of the Glory of the Baroque exhibition.

- Great Car Rental Prices fro Valencia

Every cloud has a silver lining, after all! The ashes emitted by the explosions of Iceland’s Mt. Eyjafjallajokull wreaked absolute havoc on European air travel, and now it looks as though another effect will be to lower temperatures this summer.

(Quick! Without thinking, say Eyjafjallajokull out loud!) EDGY-CHAFFA-COOLIO!

In Northern Europe, this won’t be welcome news, but here in the Valencian Community it certainly is. Especially in late summer, any drop in temperature is appreciated. So, I’m sorry for all those mean things I was saying about you, Iceland. A cooler summer is worth a lot — let’s do it again next year.

ETCHY-ALA-JALK-ALAL!

[via Levante, image Boston.com]

- Car Rentals in Valencia CHEAP

Hmph, try not to look too happy, bub

Death. Taxes. The departure of David Villa. There are just a few things in life that are unavoidable, and the dreaded day has finally arrived in Valencia. An era is over. But everyone knew it was coming, so it’s better just to remember the good times. The world’s best striker no longer plays for Valencia, but for the world’s best team. There’s something fitting about it. Sigh.

My buddy’s girlfriend just left him for another guy. It’s rough. But the other guy is really cool, successful and good looking. Totally the right move, from her perspective. And as much as I want to comfort my pal, she was too good for him. It was just a matter of time.

So, Mr. Villa, we won’t be angry. At least it’s Barcelona and not Real Madrid! At least you’re staying in Spain, and not being shipped off to the Premier League! Best of luck in the future, hope you’re happy and win all sorts of championships, and blah blah blah.

What an incredible turnaround this season for Valencian Football. After the disastrous 2008-2009 campaign, when the club was mired in debt, with a huge new stadium they couldn’t afford to complete, VCF looked likely to be relegated. At the very least, experts agreed, they’d have to sell off all their stars — top-tier teams across Europe were eager to swoop down on Valencia’s stinking corpse and snatch up their stellar talent for pennies.

Los Che & their fans deserve to celebrate [Alberto Iranzo / David González - as.com]

But Valencia ignored its debt, stubbornly kept all its best players, and this year has played incredible, inspired football, likely saving the club. With last night’s 3-1 victory over Xerez, Valencia has qualified for the Champions League. And the cash which will flow in from that competition (€3 million, just for qualifying) is sorely needed.

The Guardian has a terrific article explaining how Valencia was able to bluff its way back to life.

With Levante UD likely to ascend to the top flight next season, this is turning out to be a banner year for Valencian football.