All Over Valencia

I enjoyed getting to know Valencia’s Old Town on my 1st day exploring Spain’s 3rd largest city. On my 2nd day in Valencia, I started off in the Old Town before venturing out to see very, very new Valencia.

More of Old Town Valencia

There is way too much of Old Town Valencia to see in 1 day. So I had more work to do in the Old town on my 2nd day in Valencia.

Mercado Central

Valencia’s Central Market is one of Europe’s largest public markets. It was built in the Valencian Art Nouveau style from 1914 to 1928.

Plaça Redona

Plaça Redona is certainly the most unusual “square” in Valencia. It’s a circular structure surrounding a courtyard. Other buildings are tightly packed around it. So you don’t get a sense of the circular nature of the plaza until you enter it.

Another view showing the circular aspect of Plaça Redona.

El Patriarca

El Patriarca is a 16th-century complex comprised of a church, a seminary, and the Royal College of Corpus Christi. Today it houses a small museum.

*Descent from the Cross*, a 15th-century early Netherlandish painting.

*Christ tied to the Column*, 1587, by Valencian painter Juan Zariñena.

Let’s Go to the Beach!

My 1st sight of the Mediterranean since my visit to Italy in 2008!

After spending all of Day 4 and the 1st part of Day 5 in Valencia’s Old Town, I was ready to see more of Valencia. 1st stop: the beach! It was my 1st time seeing the Mediterranean since I visited Genoa and Cinque Terre in 2008. To get there, I hopped on the metro to get out of central Valencia, then I took a tram to get to the water.

The beautiful sea! Yep, dipped my toes in the water.

Oceanogràfic

Oceanogràfic is an enormous aquarium complex. It is located at the southeasternmost end of Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences)–Valencia’s ultramodern cultural complex designed by architects Félix Candela and Valencia-born Santiago Calatrava. (I had previously seen Calatrava’s work when I changed trains in Liège on the way to Aachen from Luxembourg.)

Ever since my visit to the Aquarium of Genoa, I’ve been fascinated by how photogenic jellyfish are.

This octopus looks like he may be praying. Or maybe it just has an enormous nose.

Bright pink roseate spoonbills in the aviary.

Scarlet ibises getting photobombed by a little egret, maybe?

More birds, flamingos this time. But outside now.

It’s hard to resist getting more shots of j-fish.

The longest underwater tunnel in Europe.

In the arctic zone, a happy beluga whale.

The belugas are so happy to be in Valencia.

I wouldn’t want to come across this underwater. The sawfish looks like a shark, but it’s actually a ray. What I didn’t know is that rays are closely related to sharks.

Land shark! Well, technically, it’s the slender-snouted crocodile.

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències

The core of the City of Arts and Sciences: the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, the Hemisfèric, and Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe.

The City of Arts and Sciences was built on the former riverbed of the Turia. The Turia was rerouted after a major flood in 1957. Construction of the complex began in 1996. The most recent component was completed in 2009. Oceanogràfic is an integral part of the City of Arts and Sciences. But the core is really the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, an opera house; the Hemisfèric, a planetarium; and Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, a science museum.