Valencia

Finally a part of Spain that I love. Again, I left Murcia before it got too hot and had a nice drive across to Valencia. When I got here, I was given a map of the city, a bus pass and detailed information and advice about what I should do while I was here. (Very helpful concierge!) I gave him a bit of a surprise/challenge when asked him where I could find a laundromat. It completely floored him. I explained that I resented paying 2euros to get a pair of knickers washed by a hotel and regularly used laundromats in my travels. Anyway, he did his best and located something he thought would do the job. Sadly, it turned out to be a drycleaners so I went online and found the only laundromat in Valencia, located in the old town which is some distance away from the hotel. So I packed up my dirty laundry and caught the tram to the old river (which is no more) and headed into the old town. I found the laundromat which turned out to be a great place. It is called 'The Laundry Shop' (Baja, 6) and is very small - only 3 washers and 3 dryers but it also has 6 computers for internet access. You can get coffee and there is plenty of good reading matter there, even if a lot of it is in Spanish. A very pleasant way to while away a couple of hours. I have found that Valencia is very easy to navigate round and despite the heat wave is a lovely part of the world.
On Saturday, I decided to spend the day in the old town to see what it had to offer. I wanted to check out the Mercado Central and the Plaza Rondo amongst other things. So I hopped on the metro and bus and eventually found myself right in amongst it. It is quite a pretty city too compared to some I have seen since I have been here. I went wandering (I've done a lot of that) and found all sorts of things. I found the bullring and discovered that there was a bullfight on that night so I bought a ticket - not that I am particularly in favour of bullfights but I thought I should expeeience one so I had something to go on. It was an interesting experience - one that gave me a few frights but I now have a much clearer picture of how it works. I won't need to do it again.
On Sunday, I spent the day at the Cuidad de Artes y Ciencies. It is a truly magnificent structure and includes the Palau de Musica, the Oceanografico, the Umbracle, the Hemisferic and the Museu de Ciencies. I was particularly interested in the aquarium which was huge and definitely worth a trip. I enjoyed all the exhibits and even enjoyed the dolphin show - about 10 dolphins and 6 trainers. The dolphins really seemed to enjoy themselves playing with the trainers, although I can't really explain what it was about the show that gave me that impression. I boarded the Titanic and spent a couple of hours listening to stories about the voyage and seeing many artefacts dredged up from the seabed. Finally I spent a couple of hours in the Museu de Ciencies playing on all the scientific gadgets/experiments. It had taken me all day so I was ready to head back to the hotel. On the way back, I saw a parade getting ready to start so I hopped off the bus and went and watched that for an hour or so. I found barbecued corn on the cob so had to have some of that. All in all, a very long day. The tram was very overcrowded on the way home, a very tight fit but we made it and I was relieved to finally get back to the hotel about 9.30pm.
I tried to go to the beach on Monday, which was supposed to be a bit cooler and overcast. I have to say, the weatherman lies over here too! Not only was it not overcast, it was also much hotter - 38 - 39 degrees and windy. It might only sound like a couple of degrees but 35 - 38 is huge in terms of manageability! I got down to the beach but I couldn't handle the heat and the wind meant that I ate quite a bit of sand so I headed back to town in search of a few air conditioned buildings. (I couldn't even handle the hotel swimming pool because what little shade there was, was being used up by other people). I have a very good understanding about why people die in heat waves now. I've said it before and I'll say it again:- how do people live here and actually do anything?!?!
So Tuesday rolled around and it was time to leave Valencia - a sad farewell - and move on to Barcelona. I was a bit worried about this because I have heard some awful stories about Barcelona being the crime capital of Spain but I'll let you know how I get on.
Til next time....