Marisa’s abroad in Madrid, Spain, until Dec. 19.

Spain is famous for two types of food: tapas and paella. Up until last weekend, I had consumed more than my fair share of tapas but had yet to try authentic Spanish paella. Let’s just say the crap my señora makes from frozen paella mix doesn’t really cut it, despite how “rica” she insists that it is. But on Friday I more than made up for my paella-less weeks by traveling to the city that invented it and enjoying the delicious dish for lunch and dinner.

I hopped an early-morning bus with my friend Sara, and we made it to Valencia by 11 a.m. Within the first hour we completed our quest for the Holy Grail by visiting the Cathedral of Valencia, which houses what is supposedly the chalice Jesus used at the Last Supper. After nearly dying slipping on the wet steps on the way down El Micalet, the bell tower of the Cathedral, we drank some fresh-squeezed Valencian orange juice and made our way to the tourist center for some maps and information.

The Last Supper chalice. Probably way cooler than whatever’s in your church.

And that’s when we saw it: a giant pan of incredible-looking paella, just sitting in the window of a restaurant, calling our names. How could we resist? This was Valencian-style paella, which has chicken, rabbit, wide green beans and some other unidentified legume, along with the standard rice, olive oil and saffron base. It was incredible and we had to resist literally licking our plates. Thus, our quest for the real Holy Grail of Valencia was complete by 2 pm. We were on a roll.

It looks like a spaceship, but really it’s all in the name of art. And aquariums.

Next came a visit to the Ciutat de les Artes i de les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences), an über-modern complex featuring a planetarium, aquarium, science museum, garden/ sculpture exhibition and art museum — all housed in some of the most bizarre-looking buildings I have ever seen. We paid a brief visit to the science museum but spent most of our time in the aquarium, which is supposedly the best in Europe. It was interesting to go from the Medieval cathedral at the center of this historic city to this space-age style complex just outside it, and to see the contrast between tradition and modernity in Spain. It’s a country full of contrasts: I notice it every time I see a traditional old woman on the Metro sitting next to a teenage girl with overdone makeup, a skanky schoolgirl skirt, and the oh-so-popular (and oh-so-unattractive) lip stud.

Paella! The quest is complete!

We wrapped up our day by heading back into the historic center, taking a break to drink horchata and snack on a delicious almond pastry, and ambling through Barrio El Carmen, which is a hip neighborhood full of bars and crazy shops. Finally, we made our way south toward El Mercat and La Lonja, the huge indoor market and the silk market. This is where we found paella number two, at an arrossería (rice restaurant) near Plaza Negrito. (Yes, that means little black man. And yes, the bars and restaurants were themed as such. Odd.) This time we picked seafood paella. It was made to order for two, and was just as delicious as the first. Needless to say, we were pretty satisfied when we hopped on the 11 p.m. bus back to Madrid.

This weekend will be full of more travels, as our program is taking a trip to Córdoba and Granada in Andalucia. I’m excited to see yet another region of Spain because they really are so different. The Valencian language, for example, is almost nothing like Castilian Spanish at all. And I hear that Andalucia is completely different from Madrid. I can’t wait!

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