Valencia

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We had a full day of exploring Valencia, and we discovered the oranges are ornamental only, and are extremely sour!

We spent the morning wandering around the old area of town and were helped by a very nice local Valencian. The plaza del ayuntamiento and all the little florists booths were lovely. Our favourite place was the Catedral (St Mary of Valencia) which was absolutely stunning and we felt honoured to watch a beautiful service. One of the supposed Holy Chalices, present around the world, is revered in one of this cathedral's chapels, this chalice has been defended as the true Holy Grail. WOW! We hiked up the narrow tower stair case and came across some amazing views of Valencia.

For lunch we jumped on the tram and went down to Las Arenas which is at the port. Valencia is we’re paella was first made, so we were excited to try some. We had an awesome mixed paella, and also a local Valencian paella which had chicken and rabbit. It was a fantastic setting for lunch as we were overlooking the beach towards the Mediterranean sea. We then went for a walk up the beach and had a paddle, but it was way too cold to swim.

In the afternoon we went to Valencia's city of arts and sciences. The interactive science museum was excellent and we enjoyed watching a doco in the hemisferic IMAX theatre. The buildings in this area are a total contrast to the those of the city centre we saw this morning.

We finished our day with tapas in a local bar and are now relaxing before we head off tomorrow. We hope everyone is well.

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