We had allotted three days in Valencia itself. We were staying for two weeks an hour outside the city so we thought it would be plenty of time to get acquainted with the town. Mistake! Clearly not enough time. We never made it to the Jardin du Turia, the 9 mile long river park, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias with its space age designed buildings, the port and its beaches. Instead we ate, drank and laughed our way through the city with expat friends who now live in Valencia.
It all started with Peter’s former colleague who just two weeks ago moved to Valencia with her husband, her mother and three dogs. We reached out and set up a rendezvous with her for our first full day in the city. Next thing we knew, she had arranged an “American luncheon” with four other formerly Seattle based expats. We arrived at restaurant to a warm welcome — hugs all around — and quickly after exchanging names, establishing we had friends in common back home and had visited the same restaurants and neighborhoods in Seattle, the laughter and stories started. And we certainly took advantage of their knowledge of the city. One couple had been here for over two years and knew the city well. Where do we go to buy kitchen knives? (Our travel kitchen knives had been confiscated by the train security people on our trip from Madrid.) Where can we get good coffee? (Spain offers lots of great food and wine, but the coffee is spotty — particularly for coffee obsessed Seattlelites.) What should we be sure to see? We learned the morning discount at the local gym went from 9am to 3pm! Noon is Seattle translates to 3pm in Spain. We asked for advice on a good food/city tour. One of our new friends, David, a very knowledgeable amateur historian, offered to show us around the next day instead. Bingo! We were delighted by his generosity.
We met at 9:00am the next morning at a favorite local coffee shop with breakfast foods. Decent cappuccinos as promised.
David approached Valencia’s historic core from a chronological perspective — from Roman times to modern day so we started at L’Almoina. This square was dead center of Roman Valencia where the two main Roman roads intersected
Beneath a square through a reflecting pool you can just make out the Roman, Visigothic and Islamic ruins.
Once down the stairs inside the museum, you can see the remains of the baths, forum and city life on what was once an island in the Rio Turia. Fascinating glimpse into the city’s ancient past and a reminder of how extensive the Roman world was.
From there we hit to top medieval tourist sites – at the Palace of the Marquis of Aguas we laughed at the over-the- top baroque decorations, including a statue of the Samari on the top of building, the grand Cathedral with the “real” Holy Grail, Plaza de La Virgen and so much more.
The biggest oh’s and ah’s were probably reserved for the Silk Market, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Beautiful twisting columns, originally painted to look like palms beneath a blue sky (you get mere glimpses of the colors today) and the second floor of the Consulado Del Mar where the merchants’ court sat beneath a fifteenth century carved ceiling moved into the structure after it was constructed. And the gargoyles!
We ended our tour back where most start, between the city hall and the post office and telegraph building.
We skipped the Central Market — a not to be missed site — as we had seen it the day before. The largest covered market in Europe—over a 1,000 stalls. Foodies that we are, it was almost our first stop in Valencia and worth every crowded moment we spent among the tourists and the locals doing their shopping.
And while we mainly purchased cheeses and cured meats for snacking, the vegetables, fruits and fish made us wish we had time to cook a couple of dinners.
And in true Valencian style, we ended city tour with a three hour lunch with our friends. More good food, more good wine and more good laughs as we sat and enjoyed the company of these old and new friends. Quite an introduction to the city!
We managed to squeeze in a few other special moments in Valencia. Just happened our temporary home was right next door to a restaurant recommended by our host and we discovered attached to the restaurant was a Pelayo court—a game that is a cross between tennis and handball. We bought tickets for an amateur match. The mother of one of the players explained the game to us — the scoring was like tennis, but the rules were wildly different. Every surface of the court was playable, including any spectator who got in the way of the ball, as long as the ball fell back onto the floor of the court. Wild!
Historically, the game had been played in the streets of Valencia and still retained a bit of the rough and tumble feel of a street game. With mom beside us, we cheered on her son to victory.
Our three short days were not enough to fully enjoy Valencia! We are beginning to understand why our new and old friends have chosen to make this place their new home. We will be back for a much longer stay.
Chasing the Good Life 
Great post Peter. Higher on our list after reading. So, about the knives, what was the rule? I expect you had your bags with you, so not checked. Was there a blade size limit? Did they take them all?
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Steve, we had our usual knives….chef, paring, serrated and scissor. But in Spain now bags must go through security even on the train (not people). Knives were in Peter’s bag (which we checked on the plane, of course) anything bigger than a small pocket knife was confiscated. No way around it. No way to check bags where they are separated from you as on a plane. Sad, sad, day.
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It was a real pleasure to spend time with you and share with you the history of this beautiful city. You all were so engaged and interested in the history. It was a highlight for me and has inspired my next blog posts, coming as soon as I refine my photos.
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