Valencia

 

Basilica and the Cathedral

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It was settled by the Romans in 138 BC on an island in the Turia River. The people here speak Valenciano, a dialect of Catalan. From the Serrano Gate, we walked to the Plaza of the Virgin with the pink Basilica of the Poor and the Cathedral of Valencia. It was built beginning in 1238 over the site of the mosque after the Catholics recovered the city in 1238. From the Plaza de la Reign, we could see the St. Michael’s bell tower. We wandered further to discover the Silk Exchange, a Gothic building built in between1482 and 1533. The city had become the end of the silk road from China. Then we went to the central market where each of us was challenged to buy an assigned item in the market. We had to ask 4 different folks before we found ours – Fried pig rinds.

Silk Exchange

We then took our bus to the pride of the city, the Art and Science Center. After a disastrous flood in 1956, the city rerouted the river and turned the dry riverbed into a park. The center was designed by Santiago Calatrava, it took 11 years to build the complex at a cost 3 times the budget of 400 million euros.

Art and Science Park

In the afternoon, we visited a vegetable town only 20 minutes outside the city. We could see the irrigation canals used to flood the fields. Shares are adjudicated by a water court that meets every Thursday at the cathedral. Here we watched the father prepare the traditional specialty, paella, meaning frying pan, because of the pan used to cook over the fire. We also learned about growing Tiger nuts, a tuber, that is used to make the local drink Orchota. We had our Paella meal and after lunch we had orchota with a piece of bread.

Father and Son with Paella

That evening we had dinner with the Captain and learned about his colorful life. Born in Cuba, most of his family lives in Florida. He started sailing the route from St Petersburg to Cape Town. He met his Romanian wife while working for Royal Caribbean. Today, they live in London with their 3 sons and daughter.