Day 65 – 12 September 2023 – Valencia, Espana

Away at 8.00 am from Granada, the city is still asleep & the sun is just starting to rise. Around an hour on the road to Valencia we pass the area of Spain inhabited by “troglodytes”. These are people that for centuries have lived in caves, often dug by hand into the sides of hills. The caves are visible from the road, many now with houses near them. Chad tells us that these are Gypsies that settled in the area centuries ago.

We pass by more olive groves, wheat fields and citrus groves with the occasional small town. There are small bare mountains in the distance. Some of the larger towns we pass have large churches that stand out, a few towns have a fortification on a nearby high point. Some of the fortresses we wonder how they even managed to build on top of the rocky mountain peak. After a break for morning tea & lunch we arrive in Valencia around 3.00 pm.

Valencia has some smart looking buildings, very modern & stylish architecture. We are puzzled by the first large roundabout though, sculptures of large fish hooks with a water fountain. Our hotel is across the road from the new Museum of Science & Arts water park that has some amazing buildings & landscaping.  After settling into our room we go for a walk to explore. The buildings are extraordinary, real architectural masterpieces in a beautiful water setting. The complex is situated in the old riverbed, the river was diverted to reduce the flooding effect on the heart of the city. There is also an extraordinary covered garden with palm trees growing & tropical parrots in the branches. We could spend all day here, it is an incredible set of buildings.

Next we are off into the old part of the city, more amazing old buildings with beautiful sculptures & the main squares are paved with red marble. Chad stops outside the Cathedral & shouts us a traditional Valencia street drink, Orxata, made from crushing a local nut called a Tiger nut. The drink is ladled out of a chilled container into a paper cup & tasted nice, a little sweet, but refreshing.

There is a nice fountain in the marble paved square behind the church, a man lounging in a tub of water. We explore a lot of the old city, so many old beautiful buildings, so much marble paved streets, & so many people walking the streets. Valencia has a good feel about it. Our group meets up again outside the Cathedral then we walk up near to the old city gate & “la Cigrona Restaurant”.

The la Cigrona is an old restaurant that specialises in traditional Paella dishes & tonight we all sit at one long table, a plate of salad in front of us & are given a demonstration on how to cook Paella the traditional way. The chef has a huge Paella dish & takes us step by step through the process, it is very interesting. He then starts cooking & the secret to the Paella, once the rice is put in, do not stir.

The Paella was dished out to each of us, traditional rabbit & chicken, delicious & too much, plus a generous serve of delicious ice cream all washed down with vino tinto or blanco, then coffee.

We walk out to the old city gate, it has huge doors & is the only part of the old city walls still standing, this gate is huge. We were going to walk back to the hotel along the old river bed, however, a storm was threatening so we decided to take the bus. Good move, we had only just got back & the heavens opened. The couple that chose to walk got absolutely drenched & had to get a cab back to the motel. Another good day, for us.