We had an early start today to get our 8am train to Valencia, luckily we had bought our tickets the day before as when we got to the train station it was jam packed.
We joined the crowds of people who all seemed to be confused and unsure of where to go. Our biggest confusion was that even though our tickets said we were going to Valencia, the train didn't. So we put some faith in it all turning out ok, and luckily it did.
The train was a great way to travel as the route followed the coast all the way south to Valencia. The beaches were stunning and the little villages we passed through were also really beautiful. Hamish didn’t find the scenery so stunning; he managed to watch the movie 'Salt' in Spanish. A hidden talent.
We joined the crowds of people who all seemed to be confused and unsure of where to go. Our biggest confusion was that even though our tickets said we were going to Valencia, the train didn't. So we put some faith in it all turning out ok, and luckily it did.
The train was a great way to travel as the route followed the coast all the way south to Valencia. The beaches were stunning and the little villages we passed through were also really beautiful. Hamish didn’t find the scenery so stunning; he managed to watch the movie 'Salt' in Spanish. A hidden talent.
We arrived in the baking heat, and I mean baking. Something like 38 degrees at 11am. The main train station was pretty impressive though, the detail they put into making it look pretty was incredible. And it's just a train station.
We had talked about sorting our transport to La Tomatina the day before as we had heard so many different ways of getting there. So we made our way into town to find the tourist information centre to get some answers. We found one and the very unhelpful lady told us that as it was the Valencia tourist office they couldn’t give us any information on what was happening outside Valencia…(Bunol, where La Tomatina is, is about 40 mins on the train from Valencia). Quite annoying, considering Valencia essentially gains about 30,000 tourists mid-week for this event.
However we soldiered on, and found our hotel. A sweet last minute deal, slightly out of the city centre but with all the mod cons (air conditioning and sound proof windows-result!) that we were missing in Barcelona. We did a quick clothes change and headed out to see what Valencia had to offer.
First stop was lunch, like Barcelona, Valencia has a central food market where all sorts of yummies are sold. We headed to Mercardo Central which is supposedly the oldest market in Europe still running (let me make it clear that that was a Wikipedia fact, and maybe untrue). It was a great market, but to be honest, another lunch of fresh bread, parma ham, cherry tomatoes and cheese did not appeal. So we grabbed some fruit and headed back to a little café we had passed on the way in where Lou got her craving of a fresh tuna salad. We also sampled our huge Valencia oranges which were really yum, although I have to admit I was expecting more.
First stop was lunch, like Barcelona, Valencia has a central food market where all sorts of yummies are sold. We headed to Mercardo Central which is supposedly the oldest market in Europe still running (let me make it clear that that was a Wikipedia fact, and maybe untrue). It was a great market, but to be honest, another lunch of fresh bread, parma ham, cherry tomatoes and cheese did not appeal. So we grabbed some fruit and headed back to a little café we had passed on the way in where Lou got her craving of a fresh tuna salad. We also sampled our huge Valencia oranges which were really yum, although I have to admit I was expecting more.
Nicely full we went to La Seu Cathedral (Venice Cathedral) where we climbed the 207 very steep and winding steps up the bell tower for the best view in Venice. It was pretty stunning; all the buildings look all jumbled up, and because of the really bright sunlight all the buildings with mosaic roofs just sparkled.
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| Horchata, yum |
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| Lou is not naked on top of a church |
Valencia is unique in that a river used to run right through the city. The floods of 1957 resulted in the Turia River being diverted south of the city and in the 1990s the entire 7km which winds its way through the city was transformed into a beautiful park.
The city itself has had heaps of different rulers, from Roman to Arabs to English and Spanish. It is a city of inventions – the first printing press in Spain was built here and it is the birthplace of Paella and Horchata which is this crazy milk kind of drink made out of tiger nuts (kind of like a potato), water and sugar. It was surprisingly yummy and really refreshing.
The city itself has had heaps of different rulers, from Roman to Arabs to English and Spanish. It is a city of inventions – the first printing press in Spain was built here and it is the birthplace of Paella and Horchata which is this crazy milk kind of drink made out of tiger nuts (kind of like a potato), water and sugar. It was surprisingly yummy and really refreshing.
So we meandered our way through heaps of little squares and past churches that were dotted around the place to the gardens which were pretty but nothing special. Apart from these rose gardens we came across which were amazing, especially when we saw the naked hippie having a bath in the fountain and washing all his clothes. We were also noticing increasing numbers of cats everywhere, literally everywhere. Can't think of a reason for this but there were cute!
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| Biggest nectarines in the world |
For dinner that night we did the picnic thing again, getting a bit over it by this stage but it's cheap and cheerful, and sitting outside at 7pm in T shirt and shorts is just the bee's knees.
Highlight: Valencia itself is a really beautiful city, and really well presented.
Lowlight: Trying to get the food that you want at the time that you want at the price you want to pay for it…
Interesting Fact: Valencians use the word paella for all pans, including the specialized shallow pan used for cooking paellas.
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