Valencia is a beautiful city and once again we ended up staying longer than originally planned. The Mayor a woman has just been elected to her 5th term……21 years in the job. Apparently she went to Sydney and saw the Opera House and the idea of Valencia having its own Opera House was created. Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. Certainly a great move for this city as there is now a school for students who want to study at this amazing place.
I knew very little about Valencia before coming here other
than oranges. Lots of orchards. We did a walking tour which covered the old
city where we were staying and a bike tour riding our bikes through the outer areas.
Both were great value. The architecture both old and new is eye catching. We were warned not to eat the oranges from the trees in the street as they can give you a good dose of the Valencia Vapours.....diarrhoea and many tourists have spent their holidays in hospital.
Apparently two Formula 1 races were held in Spain up to
recently, with one in Barcelona and the other in Valencia. The one in Valencia
has now gone to New York with the promise of sharing the last one between
Barcelona and Valencia. Our sources tell us that the 2014 F1 event that was to
be here in Valencia has not happened. Valencia was also a potential contender
for the near recent Olympics, however it was suggested by the powers that be that
all stops be pulled out for one single application by Barcelona, with the two
cities sharing the events. Barcelona got the Games. But according to our source
Valencia did not get one event; they were sorely disappointed. The area is
world class sailing waters hosting the America’s cup qualifiers.
The people are very friendly and happy to assist the
tourists. When we did our personal bike tour (we were the only two) with
Constantine our guide we had the opportunity to eat at a family run restaurant
called The Caves. Mama was very interested in how kangaroo should be cooked as
it was available in Valencia but no one was sure what to do with it. Through
Constantine we explained the method one should adopt to cook the kangaroo (
I should say I explained as Paul only makes spag bog). We returned to eat at
Mama’s restaurant again before leaving and presented her with a kangaroo pin
(thanks Beryl for these). Mama was pleased and we would definitely recommend
anyone travelling to Spain to head to Valencia.
The 245 km train ride to Granada via Madrid is
being executed. |
| A hat for any occasion......one chosen for Ross |
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