#52 A city of modernity and antiquity

January 15-16, 2022: Valencia

F. Valencia used to have a river flowing through it, but it has been nonexistent for many years. However, the riverbed is not built over, but instead houses an endlessly long park that is over 9 km long. The park is usually about 150 meters wide and features numerous meadows, skate parks, playgrounds, soccer fields, running tracks, and bike paths. On Saturday afternoon, we walked through the park and passed by various children's birthday parties with colorful balloons as decorations.

Furthermore, in the park since 1998, there is a city of arts and sciences. It is the work of architect Santiago Calatrava and consists of several buildings that have become symbols of the city. There is an opera house, a science museum, the largest aquarium in Europe, a large partially covered garden, and a huge event venue. The abundant water around the buildings makes the night views particularly beautiful.

But the old town of Valencia is also very beautiful. Here, there are numerous narrow streets and churches. The old silk exchange is the old emblem of Valencia and offers a lot of history to experience. I cannot recommend the audio guide, as it does not focus on the history of the building or the city, but rather on the architecture.

The huge market was recommended to us by several people, but it was closed when we were in Valencia. So we walked to the Torres de Serranos instead. A beautiful and well-restored city gate from the Middle Ages. It is one of the 12 former city gates of the city and offers a wonderful view over the entire city.

Of course, the beach of Valencia should not be missed. Fine sandy beach as far as the eye can see. A paradise for vacationers...

Lastly, something curious: In Valencia, there are a lot of traffic lights, and many drivers here behave like some cyclists in Germany. If there is no apparent reason for the traffic light to be red, it can be ignored. Thus, pedestrian lights with no pedestrians around are crossed, or if you see that the pedestrian signal is about to turn red, you might start driving if there are no pedestrians in sight. As a result, it often happens that on a three-lane road, the first two rows of cars will all run through a red light because the pedestrian signal was already blinking and would soon turn red.

Oh, and parking in Valencia is also quite wild. It is not uncommon to be parked in by cars parked in the second row or to find large transporters parked on every corner, in every marked area, and even at the roadside in roundabouts.

Day 93 - Total tour 5,488 km

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