Valencia

Good morning everyone,

I'm sitting in the accommodation with a view of the sea and I'm finding and finding a few quiet minutes to give you a short update on the last week or my visit to Valencia.

After the Sunshine travel group arrived at the accommodation on Monday evening, I didn't want to disturb the "arrival" of the crazy people on their vacation and snowed past Valencia on Tuesday, since I passed here anyway on the way south were.

So I reserved a parking space for half a day and then took the bus to the city center for €1.50. The principle of a park and ride hasn't really arrived in Spain yet, so I made my own P&R.

After an older lady tried to explain to me in Spanish which bus I could take and how the payment system works here, we went to the main market in Valencia. I have to say my Spanish is far less good than my French, but with hand and foot and a little improvisation I can make ends meet.

After visiting the market hall and admiring all the goodies, I made my way to the free walking tour, which started at Placa de la Virgin.

Around the starting point are some of the major sights of Valencia: the cathedral, the church of the city's patron saint, the water court, the fountain of the 8 inlets and the first city walls of the Roman colony.

Here I burst into a church service.

It hardly ever rains in Valencia, but rainfall is more common in the area. For this reason, the rivers have always been particularly important in Valencia. Since the farmers in the area cannot all irrigate their fields at the same time, there are certain allocated times when the sluices on the fields can be opened and the fields can be irrigated. If there are problems with this irrigation (eg a neighbor who opened the sluice instead of one himself), this problem can be brought before the water court (Tribunal de las Aguas de la Vega de Valencia) and solved. This court is the oldest legal institution in Europe and meets every Thursday in the Apostle's Gate of the Cathedral of Valencia.

The river that supplies the fields is divided into 8 different branches and is represented in the Font del Túria fountain. The main river here is the male statue in the center and the 8 branches are represented by the 8 ladies with jars.

This is just one of the many interesting facts and stories that Free Walking Guide Mario was able to tell us about each building and monument.

From this important main square we went in the direction of the "river bed" of the city.

Since the river is artificially routed past the city due to a natural disaster with countless fatalities, the river bed has now been transformed into a true green oasis, in which the most important and architecturally most impressive buildings are located. But I only looked at them after the tour, because we went back to the city center for the time being:

After a few food and drink recommendations, the tour ended after 2.5 hours and it was a really exciting and very informative tour of the city.

After Marion clearly recommended us to drink another Horchata and Fartons, I made my way to his recommendation. The Café David was in the direction of the parks and the various museums anyway.

I also took a look at the old maritime trade building for €2.

The Gothic ceiling fresco made of wood carvings and gold is really worth seeing.

In general, there is a little piece of art to be discovered behind every corner in the city centre.

Arriving at the Mercat de Colom, I sat down to rest my feet and treated myself to an ice-cold tiger nut milk.

This tiger nut milk is a classic here and you can find it on every refrigerated section in the supermarket. It's vegan and tastes like a mix of vanilla shake and soy milk. I find them extremely delicious and I've become a really big fan in the last few days. After this short break we continued towards the park.

These buildings are so intricately designed and constructed that a visit is truly a must. Also, the whole design reminded me a lot of Pandora from Avatar, because I think it's also very futuristic and based on nature.

After this eventful visit to the city center, I made my way back to my vehicle(s) and walked the 30 minutes. In the heat, I tried to stay in the shade for the most part - it was still hot.

I also noticed when walking back that the city center is separated from the outer ring and that there is a large gradient from left to right or from the border between rich and poor and town and country.

Land, farmland and small cottages are to the left and rich, ornate structures and concrete are to the right.

Valencia is definitely worth a visit and I felt very comfortable in the city.

After that I went to Denia with the Sunshine travel group and I've been here for 6 days now and the time flies by in no time. But since I really enjoy interacting with friends and fooling around, I've put the blog on hold for the last few days and I'll probably only give 1 more update on Denia until next Thursday.

So stay tuned and feel all very pressed.

Your Britta