Our last destination East for quite some time was Valencia. The Marina Real Juan Carlos I was purpose built to host international events such as the 32nd and 33rd editions of the America's Cup, and the European Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2008 to 2012.
The marina is vast and the staff offer a complimentary water taxi for its guests to get from one end to the other. At €25 per night including water, electricity, wifi & taxes, this is one of the cheapest marinas we have stayed in. It is also one of the nicest. The staff are incredibly polite and helpful and we made full use of the water taxi service.
We needed this service just to get from one end to the other!
As none of us had been here before we decided to check in for five nights. After giving the boats a thorough wash and catching up on some laundry, we had an early night after our early start. The next day we headed into town to the Tourist Information Office. We came away having purchased a 72 hour tourist card which allowed us free public transport during this time period, and free entry into many tourist attractions. We also booked ourselves on a Segway tour for the following day. Armed with a map circled with the top five 'must see' places, Ian to lead the way.
The old town in Valencia is simply stunning and the Spanish have done an excellent job of restoring many of the historic buildings. A few of our favourites: The Lonja le Seda, the old silk exchange is now a World Heritage Site and dates back to 1482.
The Old Silk Exchange
Fresh seafood
Ham anyone?
Recipe ideas anyone?
La Almoina provides an extraordinary time travel through the urban history of Valencia, from its foundation to the Medieval period. It is a large area below ground level where you can see evidence of the Roman, Visigoth and Arab city.
View over the Old Town
And another
The river Turia used to flow through the city, but it was prone to flooding. After a major flood in 1957 the river was diverted into a canal, leaving a dry moat surrounding the city. In the 1990's part of this dry river bed was turned into the City of Arts & Sciences, incorporating an opera house, science museum, IMAX theatre and aquarium. The designers, Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela, went grossly over budget on the project, which ended up costing over €1 billion, but the end result is truly impressive. The IMAX theatre, when reflecting off the water is supposed to look like an eye. From another angle it looks like a bug!
The eye from the side
The eye from the front
The rest of the dry river bed has been turned into parkland with cycle paths running through it. This was where we were to have our Segway tour. Our guide was a Bulgarian who spoke very good English, and was knowledgeable about the city and its history. I must admit I was a bit wary of the Segway as I thought it would require the rider to have a good sense of balance and coordination, which I am sadly lacking in both departments. However, I needn't have worried. It was so easy to use... Hop on and lean forward to go forward, and lean back to slow down, stop, or go back. Simples! What a fantastic way to see the city and so much fun. I would highly recommend you try one.
Follow the grey brick road
Ian, Steph, Steve and Lynne posing for the camera
We were having so much fun in Valencia that we decided to stay an extra 2 nights. This extra time gave me the chance to make some sun shade panels for the cockpit, using some heavy duty mesh I had. I needed some Velcro sewing onto the panels, and some eyelets to enable fastening to the Bimini. Steph & Ian very kindly came to the rescue. Thank you so much for all your help. I couldn't have done it without you, and I'm very pleased with the result. We were sad to leave Valencia. It really is a beautiful city and relatively cheap, but it was time to start heading west. We wanted to get back to the Mar Menor for an Air Show, after a quick stopover in El Portet.
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