Valencia

What a fascinating city. It is an interesting mix of classical beautiful old and futuristic modern buildings. The river would regularly flood the city and in 1958 there was a particularly bad one with heavy casualties and extreme damage to the city. After that, the river was diverted to the south of the city resulting in one continuous line of parks and gardens running along the old river bed through the city to the sea. The City of Arts and Sciences was built on the flat lands where the city met the sea.

We had booked our hop on hop off bus tickets online beforehand.  We had time to explore the city centre before they started to run. There are plenty of people trying to get money from you in Europe, but we thought these guys were pretty good.

We took the red line loop which covers the historical tour of Valencia. We were at the front of the top deck with another Australian couple from the ship. Good conversation and good scenery with photos to follow. Valencia had many beautiful old building in a different style to the ones we saw in Barcelona.

After the first loop we again explored the city centre and managed to find the bar that Scott  had recommended. I had one of the most unusual beers I had ever tasted. A smoky ale. It was OK but I don’t think that I’ll ever order one again.

The second loop was called the Maritime loop which included the City of Arts and Sciences. These buildings are so amazing that if you dressed up some people as aliens, it would be easy to believe that you were on a futuristic alien planet. You be the judge.

We didn't have time to go into any of the buildings, but just wandering around them was a great experience.

We loved Valencia, it’s well worth a visit. We are also enjoying Spain. The prices in comparison to Rome of food, beer and wine are very acceptable.