Blogs from Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain, Europe - page 9

Geo: 39.4748, -0.375508The plan today was to walk to a place called Plaza de la Virgen and join a walking tour. The tour started at 10.30, by which time I was hopelessly lost at the other end of the city. Apparently I was supposed to turn right when leaving my hotel instead of left. I found myself near the bullring so I figured this was a good place to start the day. First I had some breakfast, unlike my hotel in Madrid, my current hotel dies offer breakfast but its €12, outrageous I say. So I had a coffee, croissant and juice fr €2.50. Then I made my way over to the bullring. Now firstly, for any animal rights activists out there, I did not attend a bull fight. Although in their museum they do have ... read more

Yesterday morning I bid farewell to Josh yet again as it was time for me to move on to Valencia from Madrid. We spent three lovely days together walking the busy streets of Madrid and finding hidden streets where we could catch up on one of his crazy stories or read the morning paper. We popped into several cafés for a morning coffee or afternoon beer and spent hours people watching while sharing tapas. I also allowed myself some "me" time to explore the park and Prado museum and stopped in one afternoon to enjoy churros con chocolate (warm, sugary fried dough with a side of thick chocolate pudding for dipping). It was delightful! On Tuesday night Josh revealed to me that he had booked a place for two days in Toledo and had invited me ... read more

Arrived in Valencia by plane. Our host, Juanjo, was at the airport to greet us. On the way to the apartment we will be staying at, he gave us a great little tour of Valencia complete with recommended places to eat and things to do. Our apartment was a listing on Airbnb.com. This is our first accommodation from that source. It seems to be working out great. We highly recommend it for finding places to stay while traveling. You can get just a room in someone's home or rent an entire apartment, like a vacation rental. We have a problem. We can't go home--unless I can find Valencia oranges there. Jerry has been making fresh squeezed orange juice each morning for breakfast and I think I have become addicted! We had hoped to be able to ... read more

Geo: 39.4702, -0.376804Walked to the Palau de la Musica for a 10am tour. Designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudi's university teacher and subsequent intense rival. In the day (turn of the 20th©), Montaner was The Man and Gaudi was the crazy upstart. Now, of the seven UNESCO heritage sites in Barcelona, two are Montaner's and five are Gaudi's.Drove back to Madrid via Valencia. Was pleasantly reassured to see many orange groves near the city. Cracked €30 for a single road toll payment, but the road systems are terrific.... read more

Valencia on eastern coast of Spain 10 Sept 2013 After driving nearly 380 kms through reasonably flat countryside, we arrived in Valencia on the coast of Spain. As soon as we arrived in this city of Valencia, the city of over 800,000 people, famous for its ceramics has also added the most expensive new multi-building precinct in Europe – the Ciudad De Las Artes Y Las Ciencias named this series of buildings didn’t have a marketing bone in their body!!!!! The 4 major buildings are for Art & Science, Museum for cinema and theatre (incl and IMAX Dome), Science Museum, and a massive aquarium. There is also a landscaped garden with local plants. Most of the buildings appear to float in water as there is water all around them. The complex has several restaurants as well. ... read more