Culture Scout Valencia specialises in architectural tours for English-speaking visitors in Valencia, along with a delightful culinary experience at a nearby rooftop terrace, offering delicious tapas and wine tasting. This wonderful experience combines Tricia’s architectural knowledge and Amanda’s culinary talent, coming together to provide a unique and diverse experience for their guests.

The tour welcomes a wide range of English-speaking visitors; whether you’re on holiday for a few days and would like to learn about the city’s geography and architectural details, if you’re an expat interested in seeing the city’s architecture through a new lens, or if you’re a group looking for an enriching way to spend your afternoon – Culture Scout Valencia covers it all! Welcoming up to 8 people on each tour, this experience is an amazing way to get to know the city and taste a delicious menu of locally-inspired, Spanish dishes – you won’t even have to translate the menu – just relax and immerse yourself in the cultural experience!

The team at 24/7 Valencia were given the exciting opportunity to join this special tour and tasting, to get a first-hand experience of it. The morning begins with Tricia giving a tour of the incredible City of Arts and Sciences campus. The cultural complex of the City of Arts and Sciences, situated in the former riverbed of the river Túria encompasses 6 buildings, designed by architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela. Calatrava’s work is symbolised by his love for forms inspired by the human body and the innovative use of reinforced concrete to create the dynamic structures that now define the Valencian landscape – concepts that are explored further throughout the tour. Tricia does an amazing job at going beyond what other tours may offer – not only providing a historical background on the City of Arts and Sciences, but also delving deeper, giving a simplified-technical tour, explaining the importance of the buildings and their impact today, the current contexts, the technical information and the construction processes.

Once the walking tour comes to an end, guests make their way over to the apartment, and the second element of the tour – the rooftop tapas and wine tasting segment – begins. We were greeted by Amanda and welcomed, with a glass of cava, onto their beautiful terrace overlooking the city, the Sierra Calderone Mountains, and the Mediterranean sea. Amanda prepared a menu that consists of 10 to 12 small plates, each 3-5 bites, all made from scratch and paired with white and red wines from local distributors. Featuring different foods from all over Spain and Valencia, including chickpeas, oranges, olives, Amanda explains, “I wanted to curate a menu that was locally inspired, but that English-speaking guests will recognise and love”.

 One of the favourite dishes was made up of dates, stuffed with blue cheese and spiced pecans, topped with honey, while another focused on a very traditional Spanish tortilla dish, made with mandolin-sliced potatoes and olive oil. After an hour and a half of chatting, learning, and eating each of the wonderful dishes, the tasting came to an end with one of Amanda’s favourite dishes, a lemon and olive-oil cake, topped with lemon curd and almond flakes, paired with a Pedro Ximénez sherry.

Extensive research goes into curating the perfect menu for this experience, Amanda shares, “I talked to a lot of people. I spoke to the local restaurants to hear about how their food is made and prepared, we did lots of eating, lots of recipe testing!” Tricia and Amanda even spoke with the professors at the local Spanish school they attend in order to get pointed in the right direction for the freshest local produce and advice on the best time of the year for certain fruits and vegetables.

Taking a tour with Culture Scout Valencia is a must-do do on any visitor’s list! Tricia explains, “It’s a sort of feels like a destination event – we want people to be able to visit this part of the neighbourhood and have the opportunity to spend time here by the City of Arts and Sciences.” We can confirm that the experience will leave you feeling educated, relaxed and inspired!

In addition to the City of Arts and Sciences tour, Tricia offers other architectural walking tours, such as ‘Architects Valencia’ , ‘Iconic Valencia’, and ‘Essential Valencia’, and Amanda also offers private chef, catering and speciality baking services. More information on this can be found on the Culture Scout Valencia website.

Report by Jenny Grierson

 Article Copyright 24/7 Valencia

Photos copyright Jenny Grierson & Polly Watton/ ’24/7 Valencia’

 Culture Scout Valencia

 Website: https://www.culturescoutvalencia.com/contact

Tel: +34 675 16 94 96

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Facebook : @CultureScoutValencia