We’ve had a really lovely day in this truly beautiful city! But first, I should summarize last night. We went for a walk around 9, neither of us being particularly hungry after the large and late lunch (noodles can be very filling!). However, R suggested pizza, so we found an Italian restaurant on a little side street and sat outside on the terrace. (We did discover that oftentimes if you sit outside for your food, it costs slightly more than sitting inside! We had hoped to sit inside, as no smoke problem then, but they were full, so outside (with some smoke) we went! R had his usual pizza marguerite (tomato sauce and cheese) and I had pizza Regina, which had tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms and ham. Both were really delicious; paper thin, and cooked in a real wood fired oven. Just perfect! Then back to the hotel and to bed about 11:30 p.m. Have no idea exactly why we’ve been having all these late nights – just seems like when in Spain, do as the Spaniards do!
Up around 7 and had a lovely buffet breakfast here at the hotel. TERRIFIC orange juice! Then to the metro in front of the train station, to purchase 1-day transportation passes (3.50€ each). Found a nearby bus stop and on board we went to travel to the Ciudad des las Artes y las Ciences (City of Arts and Sciences). This is a brand-new area on the east side of town, filled with the most incredible art and architecture! It was beautiful! R is still trying to figure out how the art building is standing, it looks so improbable with its hanging garden! Beautiful plazas with water and sculpture; lovely to walk through and experience!
A bit more sculpture...
We made our way to the Oceanografic, reported to be home to more different species than any other aquarium in the world! It was about 10:15 a.m. and there was a short queue to get in – as well as what seemed to be every school child and cruise ship person in the country! Wow! What a crowd milling around! We went through the different exhibits, and they were all really remarkable. Our favorite was the artico pavilion, home to the belugas and walruses. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen walruses with tusks swimming before! A real treat! Stopped off before leaving and shared a ham and cheese grilled sandwich. Just enough to get us through to dinner! (big breakfast…)
Our favorite - walruses and whales and one last piece of art!
Back on the 95 bus to the western edge of the city, traveling along the Antiguo Cauce del Rio Turia. According to sources, this is the ancient river bed that had run through the city. It is at a lower level than the rest of the town, and has been developed for miles into a stunning park. There are gardens, running and biking paths, basketball courts, soccer pitches and it is a truly beautiful area! Circled around this once, and then got off the bus near a metro stop. Metro’d back to the hotel for a brief rest, as R had some Caltech business to do.
Out again around 5, and this time took a bus over to the Museum of Prehistory and Culture of Valencia; a FREE museum, which was superb! They have a fabulous collection of 20,000-30,000 year old petroglyphs; saw some beautiful carvings! The collection also featured work up through the Roman period in Spain, and now we’ve realized that we’re going to have to put Madrid on the list of places to see, because that is where the national museum of archeology is…hmmm…Oh! And Otzi! Otzi is the 5,000 year old, male, wet mummy that was found in a glacier in the Alps between Austria and Italy, and has now been determined to belong to Italy. There was a traveling exhibit about Otzi that was very interesting – and now we’re also going to have to go to the South Tirol Museum in Bolzano to see him in person! (May try to work that in next year…we’ll see!)
From the museum, we decided to walk back to the hotel, traveling first through Plaza de la Virgen next to the cathedral, and then Plaza de la Reina, where an open-air craft market was in progress. Stopped for a glass of white wine, but it was starting to get pretty chilly and breezy, so we high tailed it back to the hotel. We’ve decided to try dinner here at the hotel tonight, as it looks pretty good…more details later! Also, we have an 8:30 a.m. train to catch to Tarragona -- Roman ruins galore tomorrow! Yipee!!
A bit more of Valencia!
Much love,
m
x
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