Valencia, Oh Valencia!

OK! So we have been here four days and we are beginning to get our “Valencia legs”, and our “feet on the ground”! Al took the helm today, and did a good job of shepherding us around the city. That is not easy, even for a coach, when leading two elementary school teachers and one USAF Lt. Col. We decided to catch one of the city buses that roars down our street, Calle de Cadiz! Every 10 minutes! Speaking of our street… We have made quite a change from our oceanside condo to a busy city street in Spain’s third largest city.

As we sat in a corner cafe eating tapas and drinking cañas (small beers) last night, we noticed the #7 bus roaring past us every 10 minutes. Its lighted placard said it would take us to the central mercado-the large open air market downtown. Since he was up early, Al researched a bicycle rental near the central mercado, and today’s adventure was sealed. He led us from the bus stop through narrow streets between very tall old buildings, and we soon had four bikes rented, two with baskets, of course. Then we headed off, mostly on bike paths that are designated along the narrow streets, but closer to the sidewalks than the streets.

Soon we were on a wide bike path along the Turia dry river bed where all sorts of amenities for the people have been built. We rode the bike path all the way to the Mediterranean coast, (10 miles round trip) to the beautiful beach near the ferris wheel that I wrote about last blog. In a little seaside cafe, we all ate paella, a dish for which Valencia is famous.

We rode near all of the Ciudad Arts and Sciences buildings that we had viewed from the Hop-on/Hop-Off bus tour Norm and I took  a couple of days ago.

I was able to get a snapshot of one of the horticultural buildings from a different perspective. You can see the beautiful cobalt blue and manganese ceramica that frequents Spanish design and architecture over the centuries, except this shows a modern usage.

Here are Al and Ingrid.

They stopped for a quick caña after our bike ride. I snapped a picture of them from our balcony! A pleasing end to another adventure in España!