Valencia - no, it's not where the oranges come from....

Sculpture outside Valencia Hotel

From Barcelona we headed south to Valencia, where we had booked a hotel for 2 nights.  Trev drove, with Bill navigating.  We stopped at Tarragona for a quick lunch, having negotiated the parking meter system - very complicated, where you have to key in the rego number of your car, then enter your money to get a ticket.  That's fine, except that all the instructions are in Spanish - we were lucky enough to have a lady stop and explain (in rapid Spanish) how to do it, so we got there in the end.  Lunch was pretty basic, then we drove past the port and back onto the highway.  

We found our hotel in Valencia easily, and checked into our rooms on the 17th floor.  Nice rooms, I think recently refurbished, with great views out over the city.  We were a long way from the beach, but at least we had a small swimming pool on the roof which was very refreshing.  First order of business, unpack the basics then head to the pool for a swim and a drink.  Lorraine and I had a Caiphirinha, which was very lovely.

Enjoying a meal at the wine bar

Sausage & Beans

Dinner was at Casa Vela, an amazing winebar/tapas restaurant/delicatessen just around the corner.  There were wine bottles stacked all round the walls, literally to the ceiling (about 2 stories high) as part of the decor - the boys had a wonderful time theorising about how they get the top bottles down, whether each bottle had to be turned each day, etc etc!  Our meals were interesting - Lorraine and I both had different salads, and the boys tried a sausage and beans dish which was very tasty.  We followed it up with a lovely dessert - Trev and Bill tried a 'membrillo and soft goat cheese' dessert - the waitress tried (unsuccessfully) to explain what membrillo was, but I looked it up later and found it was quince slices!  Most unusual.

Bullfight arena in Valencia

Protesters outside the arena

Next morning we caught the metro into town.  We thought about going to a Bullfight - we walked to the Bullfighting Arena where a large group of people were protesting against the activity and handing out pamphlets about the cruelty involved in bullfighting.  We did actually enquire about the cost (about 50 euro), and I asked whether the bull was killed, as in some places they don't kill the bull in the ring, and I was told, 'Yes, the bull is killed'.  After reading the pamphlet, we decided not to attend a fight - it was pretty gruesome.

Artwork in the Railway Station

Valencia Market

We had a look at the main railway station, which was amazing and quite beautiful, then headed to the local market to stock up on supplies.  The market was a work of art, with a magnificent domed leadlight ceiling in the centre.  We didn't buy too much here, as we were staying in a hotel, not an apartment, so had nowhere to store food apart from a very small fridge.  But of course we stocked up on alcohol.

Seafood platter for 2

Sand Sculpture

Later in the afternoon we caught the metro down to the beach.  Very efficient, quick and easy to work out.  The beach area was very busy, with a big beach volleyball competition going on.  Sand artists had created some beautiful sculptures, there were buskers everywhere, market stalls, nice atmosphere.  We strolled past all the restaurants trying to decide what to eat, and settled on a beachfront bar where we ordered 2 delicious seafood platters for around 22 euro per couple (around $32) and a bottle of white.   We decided to a 'restaurant crawl' and have dessert at a different restaurant.  Yum!  

Chocolate Fondant

Pannacotta with
Berry Coulis

We hopped back on to the metro at about 11.30, then found it stopped at the terminal 1 stop down, and that was it for the evening!  Nobody actually mentioned that to us, and we didn't think to ask....   So, we found a taxi with a delightful taxi driver who wanted to practise his English, and he deposited us back to our hotel for around 12 Euro.  A good night out, with beautiful food, and a bit of entertainment.

Next morning, check out, then a drive to our next stop in Mazarron.