Friday, March 7 – transit from Calpe to Valencia

I’m traveling up the coast today to Valencia. But before I depart Calpe, I big thank you to Mary & Tony for their generosity and hospitality. I had a wonderful stay in their beautiful apartment (with the well-stocked refrigerator!). Muchas gracias!

I’ll be taking the bus to Valencia, with a 10:30am departure from the Calpe bus terminal.

It was a 40 minute walk from the apartment to the bus terminal.

The trip took about 3 hours. It was a very relaxing and rather scenic ride, with 5 stops in mostly small towns along the way. And the bus was basically empty until our final stop prior to Valencia. The seat next to me was never occupied. The cost of the trip was €15.

The bus made a stop at the Valencia North Train Station, and I exited there, as my hotel was only a 15 minute walk away.

After getting settled in, I did a little walking around the area. Nothing significant though, just getting my bearings. I’m still not feeling 100%, so it was an early night.

Saturday, March 8 – Valencia

My mission today is to walk the Jardín del Turia (Turia Garden). Founded in 1986, decades after the Great Valencia Flood of 1957, the garden was established by diverting the Turia River away from the city center. The original plan was to transform the riverbed into a transportation corridor. Congratulations to the city planners though for ultimately choosing instead to create a beautiful green space for leisure and nature.

I’m going to start at the east end of the park and work my way west. The total length of the park is about 9km. It was a half hour walk from the hotel to my starting point in the park.

At this end of the park is the stunning Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. It’s mostly the work of world-famous, and locally born, architect Santiago Calatrava. He’s a controversial figure for many Valencians though, who complain about the expense, and various design flaws that have necessitated major repairs to the complex. Originally budgeted at €300 million in 1991 for three structures, the final cost for the the project was triple that (although additional buildings were added).

Sidenote: An FYI for you Wisconsinites, Santiago Calatrava is the designer of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

This is L’Agora (ca. 2009), a covered plaza in which concerts and sporting events are held. In the background is Assut de l’Or Bridge (ca. 2008), a cable-stayed bridge sustained by a curved pylon, which crosses the Turia riverbed. The pylon of the bridge, at 125 meters, is the highest point in the city.

Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (ca. 2000) is an interactive museum of science that resembles the skeleton of a whale. The building is about 450k sq ft, of which 280k sq ft is exhibition space, making it the largest in Spain. It has 215k sq ft of glass, 2 million cu ft of concrete, and 14,000 tons of steel. The building stands 720 ft long, 260 ft wide and 180 ft high.

In the foreground is L’Hemisferic (ca. 1998). Its design resembles an eyelid that opens to access the surrounding water pool. It was the first building completed in the complex.

This Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (ca. 2005), an opera house and performing arts center.

Two laminated steel shells cover the building, weighing over 3,000 tons.

Puente del Mar – this stone Renaissance bridge was commissioned in 1591 to replace a wooden span that had been swept away by flooding.

Pavilions on the bridge house statues of the Virgin Mary and St Pascual Baylon, a 16th-century friar and mystic.

Approaching Torres de Serranos from Pont dels Serrans. It is one of the 12 gates that formed part of the ancient city wall of Valencia It was built in Gothic style at the end of the 14th century.

Baseball in Spain! Also along the riverbed I passed by games of football (soccer) and rugby. There is a swimming complex too.

This was a fun walk! The weather cooperated (dry, with temps is the upper 50s), and I ended up logging 25k steps. I’m happy with the result, considering my health still is not back to 100%.

2024 Spanish Floods

On October 29, 2024, torrential rain brought over a year’s worth of precipitation to several areas in eastern Spain, including the Valencia region. The resulting floodwaters caused the deaths of over 230 people, and substantial property damage. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in Spanish history. By comparison, the 1957 flood that I referenced earlier resulted in 81 fatalities.

The diversion of the Turia River that resulted in the riverbed park that I visited today ultimately served its purpose, as the Valencia city proper was protected from major damage.

Sunday, March 9 – Valencia

It’s a beautiful day (sunny, temps in the mid 60s)! Yes! Let’s walk around the city center of Valencia.

Plaza de Toros de Valencia (ca. 1859). I’m not a fan of bullfighting, but I do like this arena.

I’m now in the Plaza de la Reina, with the Miguelete Tower and Valencia Cathedral in front of me. Construction of the tower began in 1381 and was completed in 1429. Originally it was separate from the Cathedral, but was joined at the end of the 15th century when the central nave was extended.

Most of Valencia Cathedral was built between the 13th century and the 15th century, and its style was mainly Gothic. However, its construction went on for centuries. As a consequence, there is a mixture of artistic styles, ranging from the early Romanesque, Valencian Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical.

Lonja de la Seda (built between 1482 and 1533) was originally Valencia’s silk and commodity exchange. In 1996 UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site. The listing states that “the site is of outstanding universal value as it is a wholly exceptional example of a secular building in late Gothic style, which dramatically illustrates the power and wealth of one of the great Mediterranean mercantile cities.”

It was such a beautiful day, I ended up taking a seat on the Plaza steps and relaxing here for over an hour. Once again, I was wearing my Wisconsin baseball cap; and wouldn’t you know it, as I was taking in the Plaza scenery, someone walked by with a “Go Badgers” shout out. Crazy!

In the background on the right is the top of the Miguelete Tower. I’ve circled my around to the back of the Tower/Cathedral.

This is the city-side view of Torres de Serranos, which I visited yesterday from the park.

It was such a beautiful day, I had to go back to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias to get some pictures…

Monday, March 10 – transit from Valencia to London

My British Airways flight doesn’t depart until 1:30pm, so I had a leisurely morning around the hotel (still working on getting my health back!).

Public transport to the airport. I love it! The walk from my hotel to the metro station took 15 minutes, and the train ride to the airport was another half hour. The cost of the metro ticket was €5.80.

When I was checking in for the flight, the ticket agent asked to see a copy of my UK Visa. That’s a first! I wasn’t queried about it when I returned from Paris or Tunis. I have a copy of the confirmation email on my phone; no issues.

The 2 1/2 hour, non-stop flight on the A320 was pretty full. However, I had a exit row window seat, with no one in the middle. Nice! And the crazy part is that I went with the super-cheap fare; I didn’t choose the the seat, it was automatically assigned to me by BA! The cost of the ticket was €66.

We arrived at Heathrow Terminal 3, so I was on the SL9 bus back to South Harrow.

This was a wonderful week in Spain. The weather wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t wet either. That was the important part! And after the wonderful two weeks of weather I had in Gibraltar & North Africa, I have no complaints!

Many thanks again to Mary & Tony, I probably wouldn’t have made this trip without their generosity.