Valencia, Spain Photo Stroll

Valencia wasn't an overly interesting stop originally for me. But once we were out and about I found that Valencia was a nice, warm, charming town. Our guide, Jorge, was knowledgeable and friendly. You can read up in more details on our adventures by checking out the blog I wrote then.

There wasn't much I did with regard to research on Valencia - mostly because I had no idea what to look for there. Instead, I looked at our excursion and what we were going to see there and did research on photos taken in those places. 

After that I went back and did research on the actual stops. 

Our first stop was to the City of Arts & Science. This futuristic place is one of their cultural gathering spots. They have an iMAX, an opera house, a sports facility, and a couple other things I can't recall. 

I was hoping for a non windy day - but by this time in the cruise I knew whatever I had planned for you could bet the absolute opposite would happen.  So, I didn't get my reflection photos like I wanted. Still I think I captured the area pretty well. 

I half expected George Jetson and Rosie to come out of one of these buildings. 

Following this stop, our next was to the Central Market. THIS was one place I wanted to spend significant time.  We go 30 minutes.  That, to a photographer, is not significant time. And because we had so little time, I was thankful I had done my research. It made it easier to try to set up any photo because I knew what I'd be seeing.

It's said to be the oldest market of it's kind in Europe. The building was built in the early 20th century so it wasn't that old (but European standards) and houses shops of all kinds in it's 8,000 square meters.

You could buy you're entire grocery list there. Meats, veggies, fruits, TP, spices, etc.  There was so much to see that I'm sure we missed a few things.

I was most fascinated with the meats they had hanging all over the place. No where in the US would you see hams hanging for sale like this. I wanted to taste them all.

And oh the olives.  The olives in the top right corner...yah some of them came home with us.  I wish I had bought the entire bowl.

Mom snapped this photo of the tomatoes.  If dad was with us we never would have gotten him out of this market. He would have been in hog heaven...almost literally with all the hams hanging around. 

But alas, our time ran out too quickly there and we had to move on to the next stop.

Which was the Silk Exchange Building, aka La Lonja. The building was all Gothic and built in 1548. This was their stock exchange for lack of a better description.  And the building is considered one of the best and beautiful examples of Gothic Civil Architecture. Who knew?

I couldn't get enough of the gargoyles on this trip.  They seemed to be either following me, or were used extensively to decorate Gothic buildings. I'm thinking the latter since I haven't seen a one since I've been back state's side.

Entering one of the rooms of the Silk Exchange I noticed the door was framed in this design.  I snapped a quick photo (cuz every photo I took was done so quickly) and was very happy to see it when I got back to the ship.  My friend Meg-A-Roonie suggested I use this in tile form as a computer desk top. I may just do that.

The inside of the Silk Exchange was vast room with no seats, no chairs, nothing. Very Gothic inside and I could almost imagine all these gentlemen discussing business and exchanging silk for money in what would appear to them as hushed tones, even though they would have echoed throughout this room.

The next room had nothing interesting in it but this ceiling.  Not the original ceiling in this room but instead it belonged to another building in Valencia that was scheduled to be torn down. Some citizens got together and petitioned the government to move this exquisite ceiling to this new location.  I am so glad they did.

Leaving the Silk Exchange we walked to a square that wasn't a square, but round.  On the way there we stopped to see this mildly interesting - something just for the tourist I'm sure - building.

If you look closely you'll see a very skinny building between the other two buildings. That is 1 meter by 1 meter.  Rent, back in the day, was based on square footage and many people couldn't afford much. So this building was built for travelers who came into town to sale their goods and stay the night. Whether it's true or not is anybody's guess. But it made for an interesting tale.

This guy named Hemmingway spent a good amount of time in Valencia it seems. Having recently read The Paris Wife I can attest to this being true. And after doing a little research on Valencia it was confirmed again.  Hemmingway loved Valencia and spent his time at the bull fights and two establishements.

This one where he drank with his  other Bohemian friends who were struggling to be writers.

And this one where he would get his Horchata.  Horchata is a traditional drink that originated in Valencia.  It's made from made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernuts. It's a milky colored drink and is often used in place of milk for those with a lactose intolerence.

We did not get a chance to taste this drink from Valencia. But we have it on good authority that Hemmingway did.

The rest of Valencia was mostly a blur to me. We were again exhausted and I found it very hard to focus on anything the tour guide was telling us. Still I managed to snap a few more photos of part of Valencia that I can't really tell you what they are.

More bridges connecting buildings.

I liked the symmetry of this archway - even though my photo isn't straight.

This church was our meeting place for the tour after we had some free time - in which mom and I found a place for a quick lunch and sangria. Well, mom had sangira, I had a Fanta.

Anyhow, this church is officially called "Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia" - but often referred to as the Valencia Cathedral. Mom and I did not venture in mostly because they were starting some ceremony that had to do with moving water and mostly because we had seen so many cathedrals up to this point that hunger won out over viewing another.

The church was constructed in 1298 and features one of the only octagonal shaped spires in the world. The church was once a mosque and once a synagog - which is why it seems so oddly constructed.

But it's real claim to fame is one of the supposed Holy Chalices (Holy Grails) in the world is said to be in one of its chapels. This Holy Grail has been defended by Christian historians all over the world as most likely being a strong candidate of the authentic cup used during the Last Supper.


 

Oh, did I mention that mom and I opted for lunch over seeing the Holy Grail?

If you want to view ALL my photos of Valencia, you can check them out here.