Valencia

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I first heard of Valencia as a good place to visit when I was in Budapest. From there I found that many would agree. Since it seemed to be a good stopping point on my way to the southern tip of Spain, I decided to give it a try. I arrived in the afternoon and walked toward my hostel. I had seen from the map that I would be crossing a long stretch of park into the inner city, or old town. Once there, I saw that the park was actually a bit lower than the surrounding city, and had bridges crossing it at consistent intervals. Looking at the map, I thought it was as If there had been a river here at one point, perhaps that dried up in time. I would later learn that I was half right. There was a river that flowed through the city, and right around the old town, but it didn’t dry up. Quite oppositely, the river was prone to flooding. In the 1950’s the river flooded so much that it caused a lot of damage and claimed many lives. After that the city decided to divert the path of the river. The fertile soil that remained in the old river bed proved to be perfect for growing trees, flowers, and, of course, grass. A stone wall held the earth from the former river bank, and old boat ramps are now used as walkways down to the park. The park, called Turia Park after the Turia River that once flowed there, was also home to many fountains and sporting fields, including an outdoor arena. After a short walk I found my hostel in the city center.
The first night I explored the nearby square, Plaza de la Virgen. A fountain took a large portion of the square, while the rest was covered in tile mosaic. A large Cathedral abutted one side while restaurants formed the other. I found a small place to get a crepe for dinner. While eating I noticed a large amount of people using rollerblades. People of all ages seemed to be out on their rollerblades. Some were performing tricks while others seemed to be racing each other. I watched for a while before turning in.
The next day I set out to explore the city. I started by walking around the city center. There used to be a fortress wall surrounding all of the city center. It was dismantled long ago, but two pairs of towers remain. One on the north side and one on the west side. The cylindrical towers rose about 5 stories high, and were capped in a most castle-like overlook. From the northern towers, I walked south through the center city. There were many squares along the way, many featuring statues and bordered by churches. The roads were mostly narrow in between buildings, some too narrow for cars. Many of the buildings had well-kept faces of detailed design and vivid color. After a while I came to Plaza Ayuntamiento. This was a large square which seemed to have a train station one the south side, and a Coliseum-like parking structure to its side. Many richly designed buildings were seen around the square, with a small park in the middle. From there I went north to the Plaza de la Reina. This square was sided by many restaurants and shops. Many of the restaurants had large sections of outdoor seating leaking into the square. At the north end was the same Cathedral in the Plaza de la Virgen, which was not far. From here I exited the city center into Turia Park where I set out to find the beach.
The beach proved to be farther away than I had originally thought. My walk through Turia Park led me past an amusement park complete with a Ferris wheel, octopus, bumper cars, and more. It was small, and so I assumed it was a temporary setup, but it wasn’t operational at the time. I continued through the park until it changed direction, where I took a ramp back up to find a road that led to the beach. I asked a man for directions, in Spanish, and I barely managed to understand from him that I could take a bus to the beach a couple blocks south of where I was. I walked south and found a bus stop, which had a map on it. The beach was far, but not too far, so I decided to walk the rest of the way. The city nearest the beach was not what I expected. I guess I expected to see larger buildings, hotels, and condos. What I saw was the same very old buildings as were in the city center, except not in as good of shape. When I arrived at the beach, I did see a single hotel to the side, in between a large port and the public beach. The beach was wide, and I could only barely see the ocean from where the sand met the concrete. I walked down a wooden path to get a close look. The water looked about the same as it did in Barcelona. There were a lot of people at the beach that day. Just on the other side of the beach was a pedestrian boulevard covered with palm trees and lined with markets. I walked down the beach for a bit, then decided to head back to the city center.
I looked at a map as I was planning my route back. I happened to be on a very wide boulevard that led back to Turia Park. The boulevard was wide because it had its own strip of park down the middle the whole way. Much like Turia Park, this boulevard had many trees and flowers, benches, and even some statues. Just before Turia Park, I arrived at Jardines del Real. The garden had many manicured arrays of flowers, many surrounding fountains and statues. From here I crossed Turia Park back into the city center. For dinner, I ate at Taberna la Reina, a tapas restaurant in Plaza de la Reina. All the tapas at the restaurant were served on top of bread. They were stored behind little glass windows on the bar. Patrons opened the windows to grab the tapas, for a completely self-service experience. Each of the tapas had a toothpick, and at the end of your meal they counted the toothpicks to determine what to charge you. It made for a very fast meal. After dinner I went back by the crepes place, but this time to get one filled with chocolate. While eating by the fountain I spoke with some kids from Algeria. They had come to Valencia to study, but without knowing a bit of Spanish. Of course, this was 3 years ago, and they gotten pretty good at it, not that I am the best judge. I spoke to them a while about my travels and they shared some stories about Valencia.
The next day I found a few things to explore in Valencia. I started at Parc de Capcalera at the western side of Turia Park. Once inside, I walked up a hill for a nice view of the lake below. This Park marked the westernmost entrance to Turia Park. From here, I could walk through the entirety. As I walked I spent as much time looking out at the buildings above as at the park scenery. The buildings looked so much taller from in the park. It was also surreal passing under bridge after bridge. Some bridges were old stone bridges with pillars every 30 feet or so, while other bridges were much more modern and supported completely at the sides. I stopped at one point to go briefly back inside the city center to tour the Cathedral Museum, which was basically a tour of the Cathedral itself. The Cathedral had quite a history to it. It started out as a mosque when the Moors (from North Africa) ruled the area. When they were driven out, the mosque was purified and became a Cathedral. The Cathedral was redesigned in gothic style, but in the 17th century, was redone in neoclassical style. Finally, in the 20th century, some of the neoclassical style was removed, and the gothic style brought back. The backdrop of the altar was most impressive, with murals covering the half-domed ceiling, a golden closet displaying paintings, and marble pillars and statues. There were many chapels surrounding the main alter and down the aisles. Tombs of saints, political figures, and even the designers were inside the church. In one room lies the holy grail… literally. It is supposedly the very cup Christ used to give the first Eucharist. Seeing this spawned memories of Indiana Jones. Of course, upon noticing the cup had detailed design, I was reminded more of the general who “chose poorly” than the “cup of a carpenter”. The Cathedral bell tower could be ascended for a small fee, and so I opted to do that next. After almost 300 steps, I arrived at the top, where I could see the whole city. Most of city center was covered in rooftop terraces and terra cotta roofing. Outside the center were the tall buildings. Behind them on one side was the ocean, and on the other I could barely see the beginning of a small mountain range. Far to the southeast I could see the epic buildings of the Center for Arts and Sciences, my ultimate destination for the day. I had to wait for a green light to descend. Because there is only one narrow staircase you have to obey traffic lights when going up or down from the tower.
I walked back through Turia Park towards the Center for Arts and Sciences. On the way, I passed a Gulliver’s Travels themed playground. Children were climbing on top of a giant fiberglass man to ride slides down on all sides of him. After a while the first building of the Center for Arts and Sciences came into view. It was extremely uniquely shaped, as were all of the buildings. The first had a shape somewhere between a fish and a football. Pure white walls with blue windows and a couple balconies full of flowers decorated the outside. The next building was much smaller and with much less detail, but was the same basic shape as the first. The next building was a long triangular corridor covered in glass. A large pool of water ran in between these buildings. On the other side of the third building was a very modern bridge, which, with its single off-center pillar, looked a lot like the bridges in Podgorica and Dubrovnik. On the other side of the bridge were two more buildings. One looked like a purple circular saw blade stuck halfway into the ground. The other, the Oceanography Museum, had waves encircling a center point. I took many pictures of these architectural marvels. This was something I definitely did not think I would see in this city.
Valencia had much more scenery to offer than I expected. Where I thought the beach would be the highlight, I found the river bed turned park to be as great as it was unique. It made me try and imagine what Kansas City might look like if the Missouri River were diverted, and parks were built between the north and the south. The creativity of the buildings in the Center for Arts and Sciences continues to leave me in awe. It’s all placed in a small package, however, and I think I spent just the right amount of time there. Although, it would not be a bad place to live, except the city center can be a bit smelly sometimes. I assume the river served as the sewer system as well, and that they haven’t found quite as good of a solution yet. However, the city really does have a lot of good things to offer.

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Photos

Towers
From the old fortress walls

Turia Park
And one of the many bridges passing over it

Valencia
View from the Cathedral bell tower

Turia Park
Featuring the quintessential symbol of Valencia. View from a nearby bridge.