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A rather unusual tree in AlfafarWe were pretty tired when we went to bed, so we didn't get up until 8am. There was nothing planned for today except a foot tour of Valencia... and I mean foot! We walked to Alfafar train station and caught the train to Valencia Estacion Norte. We still had a few trips paid for with our metro ticket we'd bought at the Valencia Airport. Manoli bought an 8-trip ticket that would serve for both of us to take the Metro or Train 4 times. It worked fine, except the first person thru the gate had to pass the ticket off to the other. Oh well, it was a lot cheaper than individual one-trip tickets. We arrived just a little before 10am and started checking out the Plaza Ajuntimiento sights. First, we visited the museum inside the ajuntamiento, which consisted of some neat parade characters people wore during fiestas, some other interesting displays and an awesome looking ceiling. It also had a nice balcony overlooking the square. Manoli had me pose on it. As we moved on, we saw an actor wearing a very large outfit looking like one of the Transformer characters, standing near the fountain. We stopped at the Granier
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The Bull Ring and Museum next to the train station Cafeteria for a sort of breakfast. We both ordered cafe con leches (sort of like a strong cappuccino), and I ordered a chocolate pastry. While we ate, we were entertained by some pigeons, like the one in the photo eating out of a cupcake container. Not only would they not just eat it, but they pecked at it, and one time it flipped up on its head. We passed the Eglesia de Santa Caterina with its neat looking tower, then headed for the Cathedral and Miguelete Tower. We'd decided to climb the 200 steps to the top of the Miguelete Tower, so away we went. It was tough, having to stop a couple times to rest and catch my breath, but it was also awesome. I've included some photos from the top. Next we passed the Plaza de la Virgen with its Basilica Virgen de los Dasamparados, but Manoli didn't want to go in. Again, we passed the Palau de la Generalitat, but it was a government building, not a tourist site. Finally, we reached the Torres de Serranos. We thought about going up, but we were still tired from the 200 steps of the Miguelete. Heading back towards the
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The Palacio de las Communicationes Estacion Norte, we decided to check out the Mercat (market) Central, hoping to eat some lunch there. Manoli had read how you can pick your food and the places will fix it for you. Well, we didn't see any such thing, and the only sit-down place had a line a mile long. After seeing all the fresh produce, meat, and seafood, we were even more ready for lunch. We ended up eating at a place nearby called the Portolito. Here, Manoli decided to try the patatas bravas that I'd raved about on the Camino, and I decided to try a type of Croquetas that sounded interesting. Well, Manoli like the patatas bravas and I loved the croquetas. The flavor was just awesome!
Next, we had to visit the Eglesia de San Nicolas, since it was considered a rival to the Sistine Chapel. Though I usually don't visit churches on vacation, since I don't like seeing all the gold and silver surrounded by a lot of poor people, I figured this was special. We both entered, got outfitted with earphones and an electronic box for the audio and started our tour. The tour was very informative and the photos were
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The Ajuntamiento Museo truly awesome. After the tour, we decided to continue towards the Estacion, and look for a museum Manoli had read about called the Museo de Seda, or the Silk Museum. We finally found it, and decided to go in, since we found out that showing our ticket from the previous place, gave us free entry. The museum had quite a selection of silk fabric and machinery to make it, plus a lady had a station where she showed us how they make silk, live silkworms and all. That in itself was worth an entry fee.
Since it was almost 5 o'clock, we continued on the Estacion de Norte, passing the Bull Ring, its museum, and an actor dressed as an elephant. We reached the train station, found our track for the train back to Alfafar, then walked the long walk back to the hotel. After resting for a while, we went to Lidl supermarket to get something for dinner. I got some special ham and a small block of interesting looking cheese. We went back to the hotel, ate dinner, and nodded off. Tomorrow we'd signed up for the tour to the Coves de San Josep. See you then.
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