Valencia, Spain revisited

To begin our trip here, I need to mention that we were here 3 years ago, pre-pandemic in the month of January which was a bit cold but very doable for us.  After being here for one month we knew  that we had to come back,  if just to repeat what we did then. So here we are now, back at the beginning.

OK, Valencia is a GEM of a place - very flat and walkable with much to do and you will never get bored. If we finished our travels here today I would just say  WOW!!! which is just how I felt the last time. Life slows down here, people are very friendly and willing to help with so many things to stimulate your senses and provide knowledge of this area. I would recommend Valencia to explore with only one caveat. In the summer months, I was told that the temperature can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and for me that would be too hot to even walk around this magical place. The suggested best months here are March & April and for us the weather has been perfect, with no rain. (It would be welcomed now as there is currently drought conditions.)

Susan will clue you in on all of the things that we did while visiting in this part of Spain. Thank you for traveling with us.

Ricardo

We are grateful to be traveling again and visiting a favorite city that we visited in Jan, 2020 just before the pandemic. Having 2 weeks gave us a great chance to see places we loved the first time. Nothing disappointed us. 

I have been posting pictures on Facebook and so many friends have seen them but many have not so I am repeating some as this is my diary to remember all that we have done. 

The street where we live
Juan de Austria 4

We are back to our typical travel life which we enjoy when we are in the same place for a long enough time to feel like we live here. Each day includes meditation and chi kung and a daily outing for a decaf coffee for us and croissant for Ricardo. We enjoyed the outdoor tapas spots with our favorite papas bravas (the Spanish version of French fries). A specialty was vegan paella and we often ate home, cooking in our little kitchen. During this two weeks we took an online class – Sketchbook Revival and both learned from the 2 different people every day with different ideas for creativity. Our materials were limited but we did many experiments. We are happy to be back to some artwork daily.

Mostly I will list the places we went and include photos of some of them. There is so much to see and do in this “big city in a small, intimate package” (quote from an online tourist site). Valencia is Spain’s third-largest city. It’s just a fraction of the size of Madrid or Barcelona. It has a population of less than 800,000 in the city proper, and about 1.7 million in the great metro area.

·     Walking tour of Carmen street art

·      Jardin de Turia – the 6 mile former riverbed park that has been converted into a greenway for outdoor activities, museums, etc.

·      Fallas Museum – we learned about this festival last visit – the building of these giant sculptures that can take over one year to make and which are all (except for one) burned. The best is saved for this museum. We arrived on Sunday, Mar 19 which was the night that they were all burned. We saw two in the city from a distance and listened to firecrackers all night long. There were MANY people in town that day.

·      Tour and boat ride in L’Albufera. This is the area outside of the city that is home to many rice fields and is the reason that paella has become so popular in Valencia. The small village is home to this scenic area and to 35 paella restaurants. Definitely worth a visit.

·      Bioparc (zoo) – our second time – this zoo allows the animals to roam free and to live in their natural habitats. It felt like the animals were happy there.

Baobob tree

·      Cuevas (caves) de San Jose – also a tour and new for us. This is supposedly the longest underground river in Europe and the boat ride through a small part of the river was interesting and beautiful.

·      Institut Valencia de Arte Moderne

·      Oceanografico – a large aquarium which is part of the Arts and Science complex of the Jardins de Turia. The building are all designed by the architects Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela.

 

Our street corner

Needless to say, I would recommend this city to any travelers. There is something for everyone. I think it is better knowing Spanish but without it you would still find it interesting.

 

Now we are off to Alicante. Thank you for joining us on our travels.