Days 48-50 (16th-18th Oct) - Valencia

Day 48 (16th Oct) (14.72 km) - Valencia: The sun was out shining for us today and we decided therefore it would be a good day to explore the Garden of Turia (Jardim de Turia) and the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de las Artes les Ciencies).

On our way towards the City, we came across a park with the most incredible Moreton Bay Fig trees.

The Garden of Turia was created along the original course of the river Turia which frequently flooded. In 1957, the flood was so devastating a decision was made to divert the river south of the city. Imagine trying to make that decision these days! There were all sorts of ideas for the old river bed but the one that gained public support was for it to be turned into parkland. It extends for nine kilometres.

There are numerous bridges that cross the park ranging from historic 15th century ones to very modern ones.  Some are ugly, others beautiful. 

We enjoyed our walk through the park watching people exercise, play, do yoga, cycle and sit. 

We found Gulliver, an exceptional playground formed on an oversize human body! Lots of young children enjoying it during the day and teenagers enjoying it later in the afternoon. 

Our final destination was the City of the Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de las Artes y les Ciencies). An architect called Santiago Calatrava, also an engineer. One of the building in this area in particular would be one of my buildings-to-see-before-you-die, the Palau de Las Artes or the Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts. From every angle it is different. Here are a few views.

We walked past other buildings that we would revisit later and went on to the Arena, another building by Santiago Calatrava. This building can house small forums, exhibitions and seems to be a multifunctional space.

When we went, there were two exhibitions, one about mirrors (partly fun, partly scientific), the other a visiting exhibition from Madrid’s Prado Museum, portraits done by Spanish artists or of Spanish people and arranged by portraiture type - funereal portraits, self-portraits, portraits of famous people, etc. Some were beautiful but to be honest, most of them weren’t to my liking. Pete took pictures of two beautiful pieces.

Un fraile difunto - a funereal photograph by the Italian firm Fratelli Alinari

 El zapatero del viejo by Spanish artist Francisco Domingo Marqués

Next we decided to venture into Hemisferic, an iMax theatre, except the films are shown in a domed structure and you watch virtually lying down. We watched one on oceans. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t feel as immersed or as close to the action as I had imagined I would be. The building was another cool one by the same architect as the Palau de las Artes.

The skeleton-like Palace of the Sciences (Palau de les Ciencies), also designed by Santiago Calitrava, next in line. 

The actual museum was wonderful and very interactive. I could have stayed for hours but there is too much else to do in a short visit. The main stated objectives for this particular museum are to arouse curiousity and encourage critical thinking - both of which I think it does incredibly well. So well I didn't take any photos. Just took a couple of the interior on my way out. 

We thought we’d then have a look at the buildings of Oceanográfica, a major European aquarium, but unfortunately little could be seen from outside. They were designed by a different architect but don’t appear, from the little we could see, to be so inspiring.

We dawdled back to our accommodation and dinner through the Jardim de Turia, seeing different aspects than before.

This is the emblem of Valencia designed to be viewed from one of the bridges

Day 49 (17th Oct) (12.98 km) - Valencia: On this day we decided to explore the Ciutat Vella (old city) of Valencia where our accommodation was. Unfortunately, we had to move on from this place as we had changed our minds and decided to spend more time in Valencia but there was no extra vacancies here. Fortunately, the managers were happy enough to store our luggage for the day.

I love wandering around just seeing all the things we never (or rarely) see in Australia. There are hidden plazas everywhere. This one, Plaça Redonda, is unusual even here since it is round.

There are wonderfully mysterious doors everywhere - who knows what lies beyond them?

There are unseen-by-many decorations on buildings.

One of the many interesting old buildings in Valencia is the Silk Exchange (La Lonja), built at the end of the 15th century. The main trading hall is gothic in style and beautiful. Valencia was an extremely wealthy place at the time and trade in cloth, particularly silk, very important. 

Of course, since Christianity permeated everything, the building also contained a chapel.

Also in the complex was the Consul del Mar, an authority that had some sort of jurisdiction over law at sea and at least settled maritime disputes. This room was in quite a different style. The ceiling was covered in intricate woodwork while the floor was a tile tessellation.

After visiting the silk exchange we headed to the Central Market, a very busy place full of people buying their food and full of gawking tourists like us! The building itself is worthy of gawking at.

Of course, nothing beats the stalls though.

A fruit stall

A meat stall

A beer stall

An egg stall

A cheese stall

A mushroom stall

A pickles stall

After the market, we wandered around some more, coming across part of the old wall of the city. 

And always, we find the unexpected little things - a tile here, some graffiti there, a ornate carving, lovely flower boxes on verandas, unused doors.

We found the Sorreno Towers which were used during the Spanish Civil War to hide treasures that could have been lost to history.  As usual, there were good views from the top.

Everywhere you go there are interesting buildings. The first photo is of the narrowest building in Valencia, the second of a random tower, the third of a building with a lovely facade.

And the Church is ever-present.

Pete and I had toyed, for a minute, with taking ourselves to a 2-Michelin-star restaurant for dinner, but when we learned that the chef, Ricard Camarena, that ran that restaurant also operated a no- bookings tapas cafe/bar in the Central Market we opted for that instead. We joined the queue (not for too long), then sat down at the bar stools designated to us. I rarely take food photos so you will understand that these really don’t show the deliciousness of our meal. 

I'd already served myself a bit of this special salad before I remembered to take a photo

There was also a plate of the most delicious croquettes I have ever tasted, but for some reason the photo just doesn’t want to join the blog.

Unfortunately, we had to make time to move to our new accommodation so we did that next.  Although it was quite a way from the old city it was close to the City of the Arts and Sciences which was good because we'd booked a tour to see inside the Palace of the Arts, the Valencian equivalent to the Sydney Opera House. 

I was a little disappointed.  The Opera Theatre was certainly a 'wow' moment. Gorgeous. The architect used tiles for all the walls, something you wouldn't normally associate with good acoustics.  But the tiles on the side walls are shaped like sticks of bamboo tied together and in the back wall there are humps and bumps which move the sound around in an appropriate way.  Ingenious. The overall effect is to make you think of the sea. 

The concert hall wasn't quite as spectacular but still good. The amazing thing here though is that it built directly on top of the opera theatre. There is no leakage of sound between the two so concerts can be held in both theatres at the same time. The stages are at opposite ends to each other.

The lyric theatre less so. There was a beautiful staircase and some lovely outdoor aspects.  Speaking of doors, the exterior doors of the downstairs floors have handed that are human torsos without heads.  The heads can be found on the doors of the top floor only. 

Day 50 (18th Oct) (7.87 km) - Valencia: We had a relatively relaxed day today starting with the obligatory - washing.  We have become adept at finding little local cafes for a simple coffee and croissant sort of breakfast and we found one near to the laundromat.  Not really my sort of breakfast but when in Spain ...

I had been waiting to have a real Valencian paella since Valencia is supposedly the home of paella.  Imagine my surprise to find out that the original paella has no seafood, but instead has rabbit, chicken, lima beans (or other similar beans) and snails! Nevertheless, I was determined to eat the traditional one which incidentally is only ever traditionally eaten for lunch.  We found a place on the edge of the city, surrounded by vegetable fields that specialised in paella. Lots of artichokes were being grown around. 

The paella was delicious but quite salty. I was craving water for the rest of the day. 

As the City of Arts and Sciences was nearby we checked out the one remaining area we had not visited, a garden above the parking lot. At the start there was an area dedicated to sun and moon dials. Lots of people were trying to work out how to use them. 

The gardens were very pleasant and we even saw some parakeets nesting.

On the road side of this garden was some interesting mosaic work. They look like seats but they are too high up to sit in. I think they are there just to look good.

The only other thing we had on for the day was a sunset boat tour on the Albufera, an area that includes a large freshwater lake, nature reserves and important rice-growing wetlands just south of Valencia. This is the true home of paella.  What was once a bay had been transformed by glacial sedimentation then later man-made barriers into a freshwater haven for flora, fauna (especially birds) and rice-growing farmers.  Now also for tourism operators.  

We had a little bit of time to look around before the tour started.

Although we didn't have a whole day to take one of the nature tours we did see a few things. We saw some of the traditional houses of the area, the roofs being made with the reeds that fill the edges of the lake, lots of ducks and a few of the Grey Heron.

We enjoyed a lovely sunset, although not a long-lasting one, then headed back to the town where we had begun before the light ran out. We were lucky enough to see a flock of flamingos heading off to roost for the night (there is a flamingo reserve in the area). None of the traditional boats have lights and only traditional boats are allowed in the area. 

The public bus ride to and from the Albufera was horrendous.  I had been hoping for a pleasant ride but the passengers, including us, were packed like sardines the whole way.  They have obviously not increased the number of buses to this area to cater for the amount of people who now visit it. We were lucky enough to grab seats on the way home but even so you felt squeezed in.  Our seat was only big enough for one and a half people - a very odd size, maybe designed for a parent and child. 

We had hoped that the City of Arts and Sciences would be lit up at night because that is where we got off the bus, but unfortunately it wasn't really, so we just went back to our accommodation after a small wander around. 

Valencia was wonderful.  There is so much more to do and see here and it is such a wonderful mix of the old and the modern.