Quick trip, part two

Because we were on foot we saw only a small part of Valencia, but it was a nice part!

Plaça de l'Ajuntament

Also on Plaça de l'Ajuntament.

Torres de Quart
We saw a lot more Spanish flags when were in the autonomous region of Valencia, one of seventeen regions. It has its own language, Valencian, but I am not clear how much it is used.

Plaza de la Virgen
with a statue of Neptune

We did not see the Holy Grail when we were in Valencia,
but we read about it and watched the Monty Python movie!

Guarding a bridge

Poseidon near the skatepark

The most visited site in Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences, a twenty-year-old complex of stunning buildings housing the science museum, aquarium, and theater.

If we hadn't narrowly missed being caught in a thunderstorm I would have taken even more than twenty pictures. Here is a small sample.

We chose to visit only the science museum, which was a good choice since it filled all our time.

I was surprised that this entire exhibit was entirely in Castilian and Valencian, although the translator asks if I want to translate from Catalan, so the languages are similar. I just looked at the pictures.

It was a quick trip, but really felt like a vacation. Maybe we
should do the same thing when we return to California.

Quick trip, part one

A. had a long weekend because of Whit Monday so we decided to take a quick trip.
The destination was listed in Castilian and Catalan.

We took an express train, but not this kind of AVE train.

We did not arrive at this beautiful station,

but this more modern one.

There is also a street named after Sorolla, a painter born in Valencia.

I used a lot of self control and did not photograph every tiled street sign.

From the train we could see groves of Valencia oranges.

This restaurant used one as a weight to hold napkins.

The oranges are definitely part of the identity of the town.

I wonder if people pick the ones growing along the sidewalks.

I am not sure why there were so many Moreton Bay Fig/
Australian bayon trees in town, but they looked great!

Great tree mural!

Jacaranda trees made us feel at home.

The first day we spent a lot of time in the Garden of the Turia, a former river bed converted to an enormous park after the river was diverted to prevent another enormous flood.

The entire green area is one park without any road crossings because the cars use the bridges built before the flood of 1957. Within the park are futbol, football, and baseball fields,

walking paths, running paths, cycling paths,

and several playgrounds including one based on Gulliver and the Lilliputians.

Nice to be on vacation!