If you need a bottle of wine and would like an overwhelming selection that would take hours to browse, then by all means head down to Las Añadas de España, close to la Estación del Norte on Calle Xátiva (location).

Añadas means something like “seasons”, or “years”, and it’s not hard to imagine that every year of the last century is represented in their enormous collection. You’ll find bottles from all over Spain, with a special emphasis on wines of the Valencian Community.

There are wines for any budget, whether you’re splurging for a special occasion or just spending a quiet night at home. We just had a great bottle of unfiltered Cabernet, straight from the bargain barrel (literally!)

And besides wines, there’s a large selection of liquors and gourmet food, as well as a small deli and meats counter. The staff is ready to help with any questions — in fact on my last visit, every customer had an employee walking around with them.

This is the biggest wine store we’ve found in central Valencia… and if you don’t find what you’re looking for here, you’re being too picky.

Las Añadas de España: Website
Location on our Valencia Map

Apple.es and Movistar (the carrier of the iPhone in Spain) have just published pricing and information on available contracts. First impression: SUCK! Movistar really knows how to take the fun away from 3G! They cap the maximum download speed to 200MB/s when you sign up for the basic iPhone plan for €15 a month.

€15 a month sounds good, eh? Well, take a look at this:

The big bummer is the minimum amount you have to spend on calls a month. I decided to go for the for the €20 option, which means I have to shell out €129 for the 8GB and €189 for the 16GB. I haven’t decided yet on which one to get.

Now if you decide to go for the iPhone Plus tariff, it’ll cost you €25 per month and give you 1GB/s download speed. But don’t get too excited, because you’re basically fucked:

As you can see, they want you to spend a minimum of €60 on top of the €25 monthly fee. So in order to get the higher download speed, you’d have to pay €85 per month — €60 just for regular calls! I mean, does a person who wants faster 3G usually make more calls? Of course not! What’s the logic there? It’s really frustrating — just a straight-up money grab.

I am willing to pay €25 Euros for faster speed, €20 on calls and €129-189 for the phone. But the €60-90 minimum consumption is too much.

Oh well, tomorrow morning, I’m going to get one anyway . Anyone else?

Link: Apple - iPod Spain

Sorry for using our Valencia Blog to talk about my excitement for the new iPhone. But you must understand - the phone has been out now for a year and I finally have the chance to get my tech-greedy fingers on it. EEEK!

May I introduce the new iPhone 3G:

The information I had before about the Spanish launch date - it’s July 11th now. Oh well, I can wait. Here are some more images:

Source and more information on: Engadget

I am so giddy right now! I just heard about the great news that the new iPhone with 3G will be launching next month probably on June 18th or the next day after. Finally!

There is nothing on the Apple.es page yet but there will be soon so keep an eye on it.

Link: Apple Store Spain

Source: Gizmodo

I like books. And since it was time to buy a new one, I decided to check out the store which had been passing out free paperbacks during the recent Book Fair in the Viveros Gardens. (Free stuff: Marketing that works!)

FNAC is a popular French bookstore chain that has expanded to Spain. It’s actually more of a media store, as I realized immediately upon entering the outlet on Guillem De Castro (location). The facade is pretty nondescript — just a simple black and white sign. I’ve walked by a thousand times, and never noticed it before; I probably just assumed it had something to do with finance.

The store’s interior resembles a train station, with a glass roof spilling light onto 2 floors of books, music, films and electronics. It makes extremely pleasant browsing… and the prices are nice, too.

And what does FNAC stand for? Who knows?! Probably something French.

FNAC
C/ Guillem De Castro 9-11
Website: FNAC.es
Location on our Valencia Map

If you like books, don’t miss this year’s book fair being held in Viveros Gardens (location).

We went today, and spent about an hour wandering about the 81 stands. Just about every bookstore in Valencia has a presence here, from Libreria Patagonia (yea!), to Futurama Comics (hurrah!), to El Corte Ingles (boo!)

Just about every genre is well represented, especially books for kids. There were esoteric books, antique books with gilded pages, and historical tomes about the Valencian Community. With the weather in the city currently so serene (sunny, warm, light breeze) and the beauty of the surrounding garden, I could’ve spent all day browsing. It’s not only buying or reading books… just being around them kind of makes me happy. Kind of weird, I guess.

The festival runs until the 4th of May, so you still have plenty of time to go. Here’s a question to our Valencian readers — I enjoy crime novels (libros negros), and I’m eager to read a good one set inside Valencia. I tried asking a few of the vendors, but was met only with perplexity & shrugs. Can anyone suggest a good crime/mystery novel set in the city?

The Bookstore FNAC gave away free books.

Link: Fira Llibre

If you’re a record collector or film enthusiast, find time within the next three days and make your way down to the Nuevo Centro (location) to the 11th International Festival for Album and Cinematography Collectors.

More than 25 foreign and national exhibitors will be present, giving you the chance to buy, sell and trade vintage vinyl, movies, posters and photos.

And if you’re a film fan, please make sure to check out our website Criticker.com, which is a Movie Recommendation Engine and Community. Support HolaValencia by supporting Criticker!

Link: 11ª FERIA INTERNACIONAL DE DISCOS (spanish)

I love going shopping at the Mercado Central - Everything is so fresh and healthy and just the atmosphere is worth a trip. We try to go at least once a week, and I thought I should share with my favorite stand:

El Racó de Feri

A Greek Delicatessen!

The problem is that I just can’t stop myself from emptying out half the store. Mmmm… wine grape leaves and humus! Delicious!!!

El Racó de Feri - Mercado Central - Tel. 90.382.91.42

Location on your Valencia Map

Both are popular Spanish superstores, which sell just about everything under the sun. Carrefour, however, has the look and feel of a Walmart, while El Corte Inglés is much more upscale. Guess which one we like more?

Yep, we’re cheap bastards who will gladly buy the €6 iron, complain when it doesn’t work right, then go right out and buy another €6 iron. Quality has no place in our household.

It’s a shame that El Corte Inglés (location, location, location) is so much more easily accessible than Carrefour (location), from the city center. Despite ourselves, we end up there nearly every day. It’s the convenient answer to every question: "Where’s the nearest post office?", "Where can I develop film?", "Buy groceries?", "Hardware store?", etc etc.

My love/hate relationship with El Corte Inglés began a day after I moved into the city. I had bought myself a €2 bottle of wine, and the question "Now where can I buy a corkscrew?" had one obvious answer. Moments later, I found myself staring at a wonderful selection of corkscrews (Yay!), the cheapest of which was six times as expensive as the wine (Grr!).

So which gets your vote? Are there other similar stores in the city? Now that our move is complete and we’re relatively settled, I think we’re done shopping at either one for awhile.

Walk down Calle de la Paz and as you near Calle de las Comedias, you’ll start to smell the most delicious scents. You’ll put all your plans on hold, because you just have to track down where the sweet smell of freshly baked goods is coming from.

I followed my nose and ended up in front of a tiny bakery called Las Comedias, with a line stretching outside the door. So I joined the queue to see what all the fuss was about.

.

There’s too much to choose from, so once it’s your turn just buy a little of everything. At least, that’s what the Italian girls in front of me did. They spent €17 just on pastries.

The line moves slowly, and be prepared to have a little chat with the sales ladies - they were super friendly and gave me the feeling I was already one of their regulars.

I might end up there now every morning, when I have to take the dog out.

Las Comedias
Calle de las Comedias, 11 - bajo
46003 Valencia

Tel. 96 351 71 41

Location on Our Valencia Map