I just read an announcement that Delta Airlines is about to start non-stop service to Valencia, Spain. Woohoo! I've always wanted to visit Valencia, which has a reputation for fabulous food and cutting-edge architecture—like Barcelona but hipper, more authentic, and less overrun with tourists. Food snobs say it's the only place to get authentic paella with a soccarat, the flavorful, dark layer of caramelized rice that forms on the bottom of the paella pan. (If you've been to Soccarat Paella Bar on 17th Street in New York you know what I'm talking about.) Valencia also has some amazing buildings by architect Santiago Calatrava, who was born there.
The flights start on May 28 and run all summer long, four days a week (Delta says they're restarting this service, but I never knew they had it before). I just did a quick fare check and it's coming in at $930 round-trip for a long weekend in June—not great, but not ridiculous either. I'm an American loyalist but I Delta gets lots of props in my book for their non-stops to a ton of really cool European cities—beyond the usual suspects of London, Paris, and Frankfurt. Delta flies the only non-stops to Berlin from the U.S.. That alone makes me love them—Berlin is so friggin' cool—but they also have non-stops from JFK to Istanbul, Nice, Venice, Malaga, Budapest, Copenhagen, Stockholm, etc. etc. For a Europe addict like me who needs a regular fix, Delta is a cherished enabler.
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