2 August 2006: Today we want the schedule to be relaxing in order to save strengths for Andalusia. Hopefully, Valencia is a small town and all the sights are located in the centre of the town.
At 10:30am we get ready for our walk and we head for the Plaza del Ayantamiento square. We have already visited the square the night before, but with the day-light is different. We take some shots and head for the Plaza de la Reina square where we ate tapas yesterday in a tavern. We decide to drink our coffee and try 2 cheese pies and one croissant.
After an hour we keep staring the buildings to the area and the various churches that exist in some points. The town is friendly and because many of its citizens are away for vacations we can move easily.
We return to the main square and head towards to the train station –Estacion del Norte. The place is clean and the decoration is new. I notice that there is a sign saying “Kalo Taxidion” in the Greek language. With a quick look I see that this message exists also in other languages. Nice decor!
By exiting the station and heading to the Arena of the town we found a kiosk which was selling a juice. We ask the seller and tell us that this is a drink which is produced in the area; it is white and full in nutrients and called “orxata”. Ploumisti wants to try some and actually the drink was very refreshing.
Arena is closed and will open again at 9 and 10 of August for bullfighting. We will be at Morocco at that time so we hope to see the games in another town. Our next destination is Mercado market. We are very close to there and it is pity not to visit it. We found some good comment s in the tourist guide. It is very big and clean while you can found whatever you like. At the time we visit the market it was closed so there isn’t much crowd there. We bought the fruits of the juice that we tried earlier. There was shortage on this type of fruit, since it is very famous. The lady who sold us the fruit told us also how to prepare it. We will try it when we will return to Greece. We walk to the hotel to take our motorcycle to visit the place called “The Town of Art and Science” which is located on the riverbed of Turia River. The place was developed by the famous architect Santiego Calatrava-famous for his creations in the Olympic Games of Athens-and it is very attractive.
We went there using our GPS device. It is only 6km away from our hotel. We park our motorcycle and head for the construction site. This unique in architecture buildings constitute the museum of Art and Science, the Hemisferic (planetarium) and the Parc Oceanografico which is place with different sea exhibits. The ticket cost 22euros for two persons and can be used for two days. We couldn’t enter in the buildings because we have not enough money so we saw only the buildings.
Before we decide to return to the centre of the town to have something to eat we passed from an area called: La Albufera which is located 10km south. There is a man made lake there and the tourist guide says is marvelous. We found the place very easy but there was no lake. We drove around the place but we couldn’t find it.
We decide to go back and choose the coastal road to see the place. Actually I was disappointed after what I saw in Valencia. We returned to Valencia and went for a coffee at Plaza de la Virgen square where the Cathedral is located. Upon arrival I was impressed by how much clean was the place. We sat on a cafe opposite the temple called Cathedral. We had the chance to see a bride and a groom who were taking photos to get marry at the specific church.
Our stomachs become "angry". We head for the Plaza de la Reina for a restaurant that found from the tourist guide. We order 2 "Paellias Venenciane" and "sagria". We sat there until 12:30pm talking about how beautiful is the town of Valencia.