The first stop on our tour of Valencia was La Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias, (The City of Arts and Sciences). According to our tour guide this part of the city was all built within the last fifteen years. In the last years the city has seen a large increase in the amounts of tourists coming to the city largely due to this part of town. La Cuidad is made up of multiple museums including, an aquarium, science museum, observatory, opera house, and gardens. The architecture of each building is beautiful, each of them unique and very aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go inside any of the buildings as we were told that one could spend hours in each of them, and we did not have that kind of time. While we were in La Cuidad we also got to try horchata, a drink that is typical of Valencia. It was very good and I will definitely be buying it in the future!
After our quick tour of La Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias we got back on the bus and until we got to the center of the city. Our first stop was La Lonja de la Ceda, which was built in 1498. This building, which was the silk market, is the only building in Valencia protected by UNESCO. Upon entering we walked into a beautiful Muslim style courtyard with orange trees and a small fountain. Our guide explained to us that even though the market was built during Christian times this style of courtyard had become so popular that it many buildings still built these courtyards. We then proceeded into the building itself which was filled with Gothic columns and chandeliers. The inside of the market area was very cool, with a large space for trading, and also a stairway that led up to a tower, where the people who couldn't pay their debt were sent. There was also a chapel off to the side with a beautiful stained class window, and a an archway with bats engraved in it. We were informed that bats are actually very important to the city of Valencia because they are believed to bring them luck, even the city's soccer team has bats on their jerseys! We next headed to the upstairs area of the building, which was used as a customs house for a period of time. The room was rather plain but the ceiling was absolutely incredible with very intricate designs of dragons and other creatures.
Our next stop was the current central market, which was just a short walk from La Lonja. Walking in we were greeted by the smell of seafood. The market had a lot of fresh produce, plenty of seafood and meat, and other assorted goods. The ceiling of the market was decorated with oranges, which even though they are not native to Valencia have become one of its main exports in the past century.
After the Market we walked through the center of the city, passing many restaurants and shops until we go to La Plaza de la Reina, where the cathedral is. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful inside and out. The first chapel we stopped in supposedly holds the Holy Grail, the chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper. There are four other supposed chalices throughout the world, but according to our guide this one is a likely candidate for the real one as its history goes along very well with the known path of the Holy Grail. We also went into several smaller chapels that had once been privately owned by rich families in Valencia. One of them was even owned by the family that produced the only two Spanish popes. One thing that made this cathedral different from others that I have visited was the art displayed everywhere. I really enjoyed looking at the paintings as I thought they added a unique flavor to the church.
After our Cathedral tour we had free time to eat and explore the city. During our hour for exploring some friends and I went back to some of the cool looking buildings we had passed on our ride through town. Our first stop was the Ayuntamiento, or city hall. We continued on to the train station and Plaza de Torros, which are right next to each other. All of the buildings were very pretty and I really enjoyed walking around the city and taking in all of the new things.
We made a brief stop at an art museum (Museo de las Bellas Artes) before leaving. My favorite part of the museum was the exhibit they had on a local artist Joaqiun Sorroya. His works were more from the Impressionist Period rather that Baroque and Renaissance Periods, which I had seen a lot of that day. The ride back to Alicante was beautiful. To get back we had to drive through the mountains and with the sun setting the views were beautiful.
I'd have to say that my favorite part of the trip was wandering along the side streets of Valencia and getting out of the touristy parts and seeing what Valencians do. I would definitely recommend visiting Valencia and if you get the chance I would take the time to explore La Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias, as I've heard very very good things!
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