We here at Ooh.com were enormously pleased when the guys over at www.hostelbookers.com and www.hostelbloggers.com got in touch asking whether they could write for us.  We, of course jumped at the chance, and the following is our first guest post.

Gastro Guide to Valencia

San Sebastian and Barcelona may be famous for their innovative Tapas and Michelin starred restaurants, but foodies on a budget should flock to Valencia, where food is one of the principal pleasures in life.

Valencians love their food, but don’t take it too seriously – take the Tomatina Festival – where trucks of ripe tomatoes are brought to Bunol for a city-wide food fight under the August sun. This also means that eating well doesn’t have to cost the earth – even if you stick to simple restaurants or cafés, you will be served fresh fruit, vegetables, and freshly-caught seafood.

If you fancy a true taste of the city, here’s a guide to eating in Valencia for cash-strapped gourmands:

Local Produce

Valencia is famous for its exports – juicy oranges and Paella, but there’s far more food to be savored in Spain’s third largest city. Surrounded by fertile countryside and orange groves, the cuisine is enriched with an abundance of fruit and vegetables, and is influenced by centuries of Moorish invaders – seen in the almonds and saffron used in most dishes. The city’s proximity to the sea means that fish is used in a lot of cooking, from succulent shrimp to grilled octopus.

Paella

One of the city’s most famous exports, this rice dish is a must during your stay. Authentic Paella is a mix of long-grain rice simmered with tomatoes, saffron, onion and garlic in a giant frying dish, over an open fire.

Traditional ‘Paella Valenciana’ is cooked with chicken, rabbit and a range of vegetables, such as sweet peppers, artichokes and garden peas. Paella is meant to be served fresh, in a huge dish big enough for sharing (for at least two people or more).

Avoid restaurants with display platters of Paella in the window – servings are usually just spooned out of this lukewarm dish and heated up! Some of the best Paella is cooked outdoors in giant pans during the festivities at Las Fallas in March.

Other Specialities

Rice is king in Valencia, forming a solid base for most dishes. Other popular meals include Arroz Negro, a simplified seafood paella, cooked with squid ink to give the dish an intriguing black colour. Arroz a Banda is paella rice cooked with leftover fish stock (much more delicious than it sounds), and Arroz al Horno is baked rice with potato cubes and chunks of chorizo – sometimes with egg spread over the top. For an alternative to rice, try Fideua, a paella cooked with noodles, or All I Pebre, a tomato-based stew of peppers, garlic, potato chunks and eels. If you like seafood, you’ll be spoilt for choice in Valencia – most restaurants serve it grilled or fried, with delicious sauces on the side – try Allioli (a very garlicky thick sauce) or Picada (made with crushed almonds).

Sweet Treats

Make sure you always leave room for dessert, as Valencia is full of sweet and festive treats. The bakeries roll out an array of cakes and special desserts during festivals and religious holidays – ‘Bunyols’ are a doughnut eaten during Las Fallas. Arnadi is an Arab dessert, a pumpkin and sweet potato pie, flavored with ground almonds, sugar and cinnamon. Other after-dinner sweets include Los Ducles de Saint Dionis (marzipan sweets) Rosegons (a toasted almond cake) and El Arrop I Talladetes (fruit slices with brown sugar syrup).

Drink Up

Valencia is famous for its refreshing summer drink, Horchata, a sweet milky concoction made with ‘chufas’ (earth almonds). It’s served semi-frozen or ice cold and eaten with ‘fartons’ – soft sweet bread sticks. There are old-world Horchaterias all over the city.
A slightly less innocent thirst-quencher is Agua de Valencia – fresh orange juice mixed with a wide range of alcohol, usually Catalonian wine or cava.

Where to Eat

Valencia’s Mercat Central is a paradise for budget travelers, a historic marketplace filled with 1,000 stalls, each bursting with fresh produce. You can almost halve your food budget by staying in a Valencia hostel with a kitchen, buying from the market and rustling up your own versions of classic dishes. The bars or ‘cervecerias’ close by are also a great place to pick up a cheap bite to eat with a cold drink.

The city’s buzzing student population means there are plenty of bargain places to eat by the university (to the northwest of El Carme), around the Plaza Xuquer and the Avenida Blasco Ibanez.

Create Your Own Gastro Tour

Has this guide whet your appetite for a gourmet holiday in Valencia? Check out this competition and you could stay in a hostel in Valencia. Find out about our beach hostels for only 5 cents a night!

Recession seems the worst time to do anything apart from lie on the floor, bash your hands and wail. But there are a few intrepid adventurers breaking the mould. Becca Grossman is one of these hadry few. She’s throwing in her job as an admin assistant and starting a new career as a yoga instructor in New York.

We asked Becca when she first got involved with yoga. ‘I first started a yoga practice when my mother suggested it might help severe joint pain I had been suffering from.’

I was extremely skeptical, having adopted the very Western idea that pills cure all ailments. I reluctantly walked into a basic Vinyasa class at OM in New York City, and was almost instantaneously transformed. There was so much energy and possibility for me in that room…I was hooked.’

Unable to touch our toes without spending at least half a day in a sauna, we were curious to know how long it takes to become a fully fledged flexibility ninja: ‘In many ways it’s taken me all 24 years of my life to become a yoga instructor. More specifically, though, I practiced for two years before enrolling in a ten-month teacher training at Yoga Synthesis in Ramsey, NJ.’

We asked Becca what benefits yoga can bring to recession-drained workers: ‘Yoga benefits practitioners in innumerable ways. There’s a physical benefit, though that is secondary or even tertiary to the mental and spiritual benefits of a consistent practice.’

‘The mind learns to focus, open, and explore the world with more curiosity & compassion. The spirit learns inexplicable, beautiful, terrifying things…’

We asked Becca what kind of yoga she would be teaching and how you can get involved: ‘The style of yoga I teach is called Ashtanga-Vinyasa; it’s an eclectic style that draws on alignment principles from the Iyengar method and incorporates breathing techniques, postures, sequencing and meditation practices from all over the yoga-verse.’

‘It can be rigorous or gentle, but maintains a sense of curiosity & mindfulness no matter what. Private sessions with me are 90 minutes, at a rate of $120 per session. Discounts are available for first-time clients, session packages, and semi-privates. I’ll also be teaching at studios in and around NYC.’

If you want to find out more about Becca’s Yoga practice, you can visit her website, www.beccafaithyoga.com or email her here.

Rebecca Schweiger is one of those rare people who makes you feel that anything is possible. She even makes me feel I could paint.

An internationally renowned contemporary painter, Rebecca’s own work has been displayed in over 50 galleries throughout the world. Of her work Rebecca says, ‘My artwork is a sensitive, intimate, and evocative reflection of this ongoing human journey towards spiritual and emotional evolution.’ Whether you are a believer in spiritual journeys or not, what is overwhelmingly obvious is that Rebecca is an enthusiastic, kind and sensitive person who loves to share her passion for art with others, and who believes that anyone can create and benefit from art, no matter what their ability.

Rebecca’s gallery and creative art school – The Art Studio NY – is based in Manhattan and is open for all ages and all levels. Rebecca and three other renowned artists offer regular courses throughout the year, and there’s certainly something for everyone. Acrylics, oils, watercolours, drawing, charcoal, pastels and mixed media are all covered. ‘Everyone can draw’, a weekly two hour course held on Mondays, should encourage even the most pencil-shy person to have a go; ‘Just 4 Kids’ on Tuesdays sounds messy and fun; ‘Paint your heart out’ on Thursdays sounds liberating, and ‘Creating the canvas of your life’ is intriguing.

Classes are for a maximum of 8 people. We think the classes sound brilliant, and Rebecca the sort of person you’d like to have as a best friend.

For more information about both Rebecca’s work and The Art Studio NY visit the her website.  www.rebeccarts.com

When you’re planning a wedding, there’s a hella lot to remember. Flowers? Check. Venue? Check. Speeches? Check. Drinks? Check. Spouse to be? Check. But there’s one thing you might not think of immediately: the first dance with your newly wedded husband or wife.

A quick survey of the ooh team suggests that we would be, at best, ill prepared for any kind of high profile dance situation involving multiple witnesses. But that’s where Jess Brichto at Start The Dance steps in.

We asked Jess where the idea to give couples-to-be dancing lessons came from: ‘My mother-in-law had been to many weddings where she’d agonised over watching couples step on each others’ toes and sway embarrassingly from side to side. As I was a dancer, I thought it would be a good idea to help brides and grooms shine on their big day.’

We wanted to know what kind of couples Jess deals with: ‘There are two types. The first is the “youtube” type – they want to perform and entertain their guests- they want some serious cheers and whoops. Their dance is most likely to include dips, twirls and even lifts!’

‘The other type couldn’t think of anything worse and merely want confidence. They want to know how to hold each other and move in a natural way to avoid that embarrassing shuffle!’

We asked Jess if there are any other dance classes she runs: ‘a team of us that work for Start The Dance and we cover all styles including Bollywood and Bellydance! We’ve had teachers in peoples’ homes to spruce up a dinner party, at hen parties, offices to add a bit of dazzle to a lunch break, schools and colleges.’

‘We’ve taught single people for a bit of extra confidence before an all important date and huge groups at events and festivals too.’

We wanted to know what people enjoy most about this, save knowing they won’t be horribly embarrassed on their wedding day by their rhythmical ineptitude. ‘People say that the lessons are enormous fun. Planning a wedding can be a huge pressure and dance lessons are often the best way to spend time together amidst the chaos to relax and have fun. At the end of all our classes you can tell that everyone has had a great time.’

We asked Jess if she had any good stories to share and she produced this gem: ‘For a corporate event I had taught a team of bosses to dance to ‘Hot stuff’ to amuse their employee’s. As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough the first time round, their staff made them do it all again at the end of the night!’ We’re hoping to nab Jess for the next ooh party…

We wanted to know how many couples Jess teches a year: ‘Around 1000. About a third of people who contact me are grooms and the other two thirds are brides. It’s the modern day – boys have to do their bit you know!’

So boys, drop Jess and email here or visit www.startthedance.co.uk to save yourself the shame of dancing like a chimp on that special day!