SPAIN: Valencia – More than just oranges.

I took the overnight bus from Granada and came scraping into Valencia with very little sleep due to the rather bulky and ripe passenger next to me. I was blessed to arrive at a hostel that actually let me into my room at 8:00 am (Unheard Of), after which I got some much-needed sleep and woke up in the early afternoon, and booked a Segway tour of Valencia so I could at least take advantage of some of the day.

Luckily sundown is around 9:00 pm, but I was to find that the next two days would be mostly consumed with blog catch-up, travel plans, and sleep. Thus, my Valencia adventure was limited but not entirely uneventful. I managed to get a lot done, catching up on four cities, making travel plans to two, and setting up an Airbnb account and making my first booking. So forgive the limited commentary as of late due to delays because of a dearth of good wifi, and my crappy memory.

Here is your recharged intrepid voyager on the aforementioned Segway embarking upon his first Segway city tour with a Swiss family consisting of a mother and two daughters. Those are the Torres de Serranos behind me in case you were wondering.

Here’s the opening I’m blocking in the previous picture.

Here is the Swiss Family with our guide.

For you cat lovers, a truly elegant pet door that actually gives access to the feline directly from the street. When you think of it, they better have a cat because I think that rats would find that access equally appealing. Just saying.

Carrying right along with the curiosities, this is a section of the facade of the narrowest home in Europe. 107 centimeters. Yep, they beat out that skinny little place in Amsterdam.

Plaza de la Virgén                                             Hi Danny!

A nice view of the Cathedral for some afternoon diners.

Jose Iturbi was a famous Valencian conductor and pianist who starred in a number of Hollywood films in the Forties playing himself. Some of the films were quite good. Many of the films of that era did inject a little nourishment into the sometimes culturally starved medium that emanated from Tinseltown. Opera legend Caruso also made a number of films during that time, and it is nice to have such well-preserved performances available to us.

 

It’s getting darker, time for dinner.

My first Paella Valenciana made with chicken, rabbit and assorted vegetables.

Num Num Num

There’s that sky I love so much.

I took a walk in the park and ran into a family festival with all kinds of food and this quite good Spanish rock band. A nice prelude to three nights of working on this blog until 4 am.

A very old bridge.   13th Century I think.

City Hall

On my way to the Central Market.

The Central Market

THE CULINARY MAELSTROM INSIDE

I picked up a packet of that thinly sliced Valenciano ham, and bought a small fresh baguette, and made myself a sandwich since I was starving. Then I had a pastry of course.

Truly a palace of food.

Adjacent to the Central Market is one of the oldest and most important Gothic structures in Europe. It is a Unesco World Heritage property.

Valencia’s Plaza de Torros

Estación Del Norte – Art Nouveau Design

Even getting a railway ticket is an experience to be savored.

This is truly a Cathedral of Travel.

Time to leave for Barcelona.

I just hate to leave this station behind.

Have A Good Trip

Off to Barcelona to wrap up this whirlwind tour of Spain – See you soon.