Valencia, Spain… Day 1and 2

Valencia – Tuesday-Wednesday, April 21-22, 2015

Our first morning in Valencia, we settled into the condo and met with Gina, our host, to find out where things are and how we could organize our lives. We found a large Mercado – market only a block away and stocked the larder. It felt good to get settled and have a quieter more restful day. We decided to buy salad ingredients and have a salad bar for dinner here in the condo. We repeated that idea the second night also as there were enough salad ingredients for another meal. Norm and I fixed cod with our salad the first night and salmon the second night.

Today, Wednesday, April 22, Norm and I hiked across the old city to the Hop-on, Hop-off bus stop and rode both routes in order to see a bit more of what Valencia is all about and how it is laid out.  As we walked we came upon the Apple Store. I was looking at the super modern building, thinking that looked most like the vision of Steve Jobs. But no, it is the old decorative building where Apple has established itself. Notice the black and white Apple signs on the narrow end of the building. I may need to visit them, as my mini iPod slipped off the bus seat and now has a crack in the screen. Still works, and hardly shows, so … Moving on…

The most interesting to me is the Turia River bed which runs all across the city. It used to be a full-fledged river that frequently flooded. The last time it flooded in 1957, the city fathers re-routed it underground, and following the wishes of the people, used the riverbed for parks and entertainment facilities.

This is a more formal park area on the riverbed.

This areamof the riverbed is allowed to be more natural. Some had sports fields with bleachers etc.

Near the port end by the Mediterranean, they built a complex of arts and sciences facilities. They are beautiful facilities. Here are some photos taken from the top side of the bus… Moving at a pretty good clip with a lot of bounce thrown in for good measure.

Before we headed out on the bus for a look at the western end of town, we shared an order of chicken paella. Then climbed aboard to see the residential, business, and collegiate area of Valencia, all very attractive with wide avenues and much floral color, as usual.