Valencia

So this past weekend was extra long: Tuesday was the “Día de la Hispanidad” or “Día de la Raza,” which basically celebrates Columbus’s (Cristobal Colón) “discovery” in 1492 of the Americas. There are huge parades everywhere in Spain, particularly in Madrid, more or less like our Fourth of July parades but perhaps a little more political and historical. (I.e. no crazy parade floats, no fireworks that I know of, no groups of fifth graders carrying homemade patriotic signs.) Anyway, since Tuesday was a holiday, they decided to give us Monday off as well, and since we don’t have class on Fridays, it was a five day weekend (bless Spain and their mid-week holidays). So three friends and I decided to go to Valencia for four days.

From las Fallas this past year in 2010
(this is from Wikipedia, I didn't
actually see this one, but just so you
have an idea)

Valencia is the third biggest city in Spain, located on the Mediterranean coast. It’s known for its oranges, its paella (which originated there), the City of Arts and Sciences (more on that later), and las Fallas, a huge celebration that includes a big parade of ninots, or papier mâché dolls (more like statues really) based on a predetermined theme. There is a competition for the best statue  and all but the winner are burned on the last day of the festival. Anyway, that takes place in March so we didn’t see any of that. However, there is a museum that houses the winning ninots, and we did go there (it was pretty cool but you’re not allowed to take pictures unfortunately so just google “las Fallas” if you’re curious – and you should be).

Aaaanyway, on Friday we woke up at 4:30 am to get to the airport for our 6:40 am flight. Ew. The flight itself is only about 50 minutes, so that wasn’t too bad. We spent our first day in Valencia first at the City of Arts and Sciences, which practically is a city itself of several futuristic-looking buildings devoted to science and the arts, including a huge aquarium, a science museum, an IMAX/planetarium, and more. Friday we went to the aquarium, which is pretty impressive. There are tunnels that go under enormous tanks filled with fish, sharks, and other ocean dwelling animals, so you can basically watch them swim over or around you. We also saw a dolphin show. After the aquarium, we explored a bit of downtown Valencia, including the cathedral (I’m pretty sure that the cathedral is the biggest tourist attraction in ANY Spanish city). Then we had a menú del día lunch, which included croquetas (basically fried balls of cheese and meat), paella (of course), and dessert. [Sidenote: every restaurant in Spain is obligated by law to offer a “menú del día” which is a three course meal of an appetizer, main course, and dessert, and also includes bread and a beverage. It’s wonderful because it’s also usually relatively cheap for the amount of food that you get – usually around 10€.] Later on Friday we explored a bit more and went to the beach in the evening before it started raining.

Saturday was a Valencian holiday, which we didn’t discover until that morning. It was Valencia’s founding day, essentially, which celebrates when the king Jaime I conquered the city. There was a parade and a special mass in the cathedral, and I think a few other celebrations. We also went inside the cathedral before the mass to check it out and also to see the alleged “holy grail” that they claim to have (see pictures). Later on Saturday, we walked a little bit through the Jardín del Turia (huge gardens/parks that surround a good portion of the city) and went to the Museum of Fine Arts.

Sunday we were going to go to the flea market at the Plaza Redonda (a round plaza), but for some reason they weren’t holding it that Sunday, perhaps because of the holiday the day before. So instead we went to the Fallas museum, and then after that back to the City of Arts and Sciences to go to the science museum. The museum itself was ok, though geared a bit more towards children. Also some of the exhibits were a bit strange in that they didn’t really seem very cohesive…but rather just some semi-related science information thrown together in the same exhibit. However, there was a temporary exhibit devoted to Star Trek, which was pretty good, especially considering that I’ve never really been a fan (that isn’t to say I dislike it per se, just that I never really watched it aside from when Aria had it on freshman year). The rest of the day consisted of exploring various parts of the city.

Torres de Serranos

Monday was our last day and we started at the Central Market, which is an inside market with fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and other fresh food products. It reminded me a lot of the Boquería in Barcelona, if you’ve ever been there. More exploring ensued, including of the Torres de Serranos (one of two remaining doors or gates to the medieval wall that once surrounded Valencia) and the royal gardens. Our flight back to Madrid was supposed to be at 9 pm, but naturally, it was delayed about an hour, so that was fun. All in all it was a fun weekend!