Valencia, Spain: places & memories of a Mediterranean city

Hello people!

I'm ending my travel posts here, really at the starting point. I'm finishing sharing them all at a special time, a couple of days away from my third anniversary at Hive. And also unfortunately in difficult days for a beautiful region in Spain, and for its capital, Valencia, the so-called capital of the Turia.

A Turia river that has been overwhelmed and due to too intense rains there has been a terrible tragedy. I already mentioned in a previous post that this has also been conditioned by the very poor political performance for years, and that has consequences, not to mention the miserable attitudes of today's politicians.

But let's talk about the past, about the beautiful, about the memories of a wonderful city, we'll stay with the good. In a quick visit to some areas, traveling through the city, and through time, from the present to the past, and wishing it a happy future.

Downtown

A place with a lot of history, where everything converges, the past with the present. Different styles in a square that is now different. Once again the bad, self-interested actions (for money and ideology) of politicians have ruined this beautiful square. But I remember how it was before...

The Plaza de la Reina (Square of the Queen), with the Micalet, which is the tower of the Cathedral of Valencia that we have in front of us. The fountain, some vegetation, shops and the facades from not so many centuries ago but many decades ago, everything merges.

And on the other side, to the left, another tower accompanies it, the Torre de Santa Catalina (tower), and below it many people around this tiny square added to the other, and in it more shops, one very sweet, famous and popular, where you can have the famous local drink, horchata. I recommend the old Horchatería de Santa Catalina, a mythical place to visit and enjoy.

As we walk down San Vicente Street on our way to the Town Hall Square, we see iconic businesses from another era that are unfortunately disappearing now. A renowned Spanish fans shop.

Plaza del Ayuntamiento & Plaza de Toros (Town Hall Square and Bullring)

We arrived at the current city centre, where there is the town hall and a large fountain, a large space, a building clock that chimes every half hour and every hour. And all surrounded by elegant buildings from a century ago...

And as we continue our journey, another symbol, controversial, but the building itself is a monument, the Plaza de Toros, but we continue to tour the city quickly.

Views of Játiva Street and Colon Street

We are lucky enough to rest a bit, and to see all the vibrant movement of the city from above, from one of those large buildings at the junction of two large streets full of life, large shops, traffic and lots of people. The union of two of those streets of large cities.

After an intense day, you have to replenish your energy with local food, Spanish tapas.

Churches, palaces and towers

There is so much to see, and almost without realizing it we see wonderful places, historic buildings with beautiful facades or imposing walls. Ancient churches, and also an incredible and unique baroque palace, the Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas.

And beyond, one of the towers that once protected the city, together with a now-disappeared wall. The Torres de Serranos, with the flag still flying high.

La Lonja

Another very interesting place, opposite the Central Market, is La Lonja de Valencia. It was one of the first places of commerce in the city, where one of the oldest maritime trade codes in the world was drawn up. It was also used as a prison, specifically the tower. And even now, under its arched roof, curious products are exchanged and sold, such as stamps, on some days.

La Ciudad de las Ciencias y de las Artes

Now, let's go to the area that has made the city most famous, where all the tourists go, where commercials and television series are filmed. This is the City of Sciences and Arts complex, with various futuristic buildings: a planetarium, a science museum, an opera house, a park and, in the distance, Europe's largest aquarium. It's well worth a visit.

Beach & Mediterranean Sea

And after all that, we should also relax, breathe fresh air, and look at the Mediterranean Sea. My place, where I like to be.

So we approach the beach, crossing the well-known El Cabañal neighborhood, we arrive at a large beach, well, actually there are two: the Arenas beach, and the Malvarrosa beach, which was once the natural setting for the wonderful paintings of the painter Joaquín Sorolla.

Nowadays, the beach fills up in summer, and becomes emptier as the weather changes, but we can always enjoy that sea air, that peace that Valencia offers us even now, in sad times like these.

Vixca Valencia