An Epicurean Odyssey: Valencia part 1 (incl. Ciutat Vella)

Spain's third largest city is nowhere near as well-known as the huge metropolises of Madrid and Barcelona, yet it has much to offer travelers that can't be found elsewhere in the country. I remembered the beauty and energy of the old town from my prior visit seventeen years earlier, and not much else. We'd carefully selected an Airbnb at the edge of the Ciutat Vella, close to the Mercat Central but not deep enough inside the historic district to make our arrival logistically difficult. As it was, we had our usual trouble locating the apartment but eventually coordinated with our host to find the special route that would bring our car to the entrance. I chose the simplest and most expensive option of parking the car in a public garage a block away, rather than trying to negotiate with the owner of a ramshackle private lot inside the Ciutat Vella.

The Airbnb was a significant upgrade over the one in Cuenca, both in terms of space and air conditioning. There was also a kitchen one could move around in, which was an important consideration given that we were a hundred yards from the largest market in the city. We immediately set off to discover the Ciutat Vella. We walked northward on the western edge of the old town until we reached the Torres de Quart, an unusual-looking fortification that looks as though it was chopped in half by a giant cleaver. The tower is one of the few remnants of the wall that once encircled Valencia when the old town was the entire city. The flat, inner side of the tower is a complex display of arches and narrow staircases reminiscent of an Escher print.

We turned inward to wander the narrow streets of the heavily graffitied ancient neighborhood. Despite the cobblestone streets, the area was not pedestrianized and I had to keep a close eye on the kids as many blocks had little in the way of sidewalks.

Valencia is well-known for street art, and we were amazed by the sheer size of the pieces that covered the entire walls of some apartment buildings. The paintings stood out for their vibrant color and powerful, graphic imagery that was accentuated by the antiquated setting.

We gravitated naturally to the Barrio del Carmen, the most bohemian and scenic part of the old town, where we fortuitously encountered a quite large and noisy parade. Soon afterward we lucked upon an excellent restaurant where we had squid ink paella and other dishes with a view of the amazing Baroque facade of Parroquia de la Santísima Cruz. Even the smell of urine wafting in from Plaza del Carmen couldn't dampen our spirits as we enjoyed our al fresco dinner in the energetic square.

After dinner we took a different route back towards the Airbnb through the gathering dusk. We soon encountered the other remaining fortification of the old wall, Torres de Serranos, at the eastern edge of Barrio del Carmen. The major buildings were illuminated by streetlights that reflected off the paved squares to give the walls an attractive golden hue. At this time, people were beginning to flood into the old town and the energy level was palpable.

We were almost home when we heard the loud music in the opposite direction from the Airbnb. After some brief debate, we decided it was still too early in the trip to turn down potential adventures. We turned and walked in the direction of the music, and after a block found ourselves at Plaza del Ayuntamiento. the home of the architecturally magnificent Town Hall and Central Post Office. On this evening , it was the site of a cultural fair and a band was playing on a ground level stage. Some of the people dancing were Frenchmen celebrating their country's World Cup victory earlier that day. It was an entertaining scene in a breathtaking setting, and we were glad we'd taken the extra hour to experience it. When we finally returned home, we felt like we'd squeezed everything we could out of our first full day on the road trip.

Even though Monday isn't the best day for markets in Southern Europe, we attacked Mercat Central as soon as we were able to get out of the apartment. You may have noticed the word "mercat" for market instead of the Spanish "mercado". Valencia claims to have its own language, although many consider it indistinguishable from Catalan. It's probably not advisable to say that in Valencia, however. The market has an unusually elaborate Art Nouveau exterior with Moorish designs and a cathedral-like dome.

The market was large and busy enough that it seemed to be in full swing on a Monday, with the exception of the seafood section. Most of the stalls selling freshly-caught fish were closed, but there was still a good selection of shellfish including percebes (goose barnacles), one of our favorites.

There was a good variety of produce as well as a decent amount of gourmet offerings. One thing that epitomizes Spain for me is the sight of endless rows of jamón hanging from the ceiling of a market deli.

After whetting our appetites walking around the market, we were thrilled to find a busy tapas restaurant within the market where we enjoyed a solid brunch. The last thing we did before leaving the market was buy a small black truffle, despite the fact that it was well out of season. For the relatively low price, we decided we might as well give it a shot.

Once we had explored every corner of Mercat Central, we returned to the parking garage and drove to the Valencia Aquarium at the southern end of Jardín del Turia. Turia is one of the most unique urban parks we've encountered on our travels, the end product of a huge engineering project. The space now occupied by the park was once the site of the Turia river, which would often overflow its banks and flood the surrounding neighborhood. In the middle of the 20th century, the Turia river was diverted south of the city center and the dry riverbed was converted into parkland. Jardín del Turia looks just like a snake slithering over a large rock, the Ciutat Vella.

The Oceanografic Aquarium sits at the very tail end of the snake. It's Europe's largest aquarium by square footage, but I suspect they're counting the enormous cafeterias, shallow ponds, and sizable expanses of concrete walkways with no sea life in sight. The layout of the aquarium is very inefficient, and we were surprised by how little there actually was to see. When we arrived at the dolphin show an attendant told me it was just about to begin, and then we waited 45 minutes before there was any sign of dolphins. Once we finished with that, we were so tired of the place that we left without seeing the sharks and beluga whales which were probably the top highlight. Overall the experience fell far short of the Lisbon aquarium, regardless of square footage.

Just north of the aquarium are the enormous, futuristic structures of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. The complex contains a science museum, a planetarium, an IMAX theater, and an opera hall among other facilities in three separate buildings that were designed by Valencia's native son Santiago Calatrava. One of the coolest things about the buildings is that they look completely different when viewed from different angles and heights. There are also three large rectangular ponds within the complex in which one can go rowing, waterbiking, or even waterballing. What's waterballing? Cleo and Spenser are doing it in the video at the bottom. Ian sadly fell asleep and missed all the fun.

One thing that was in short supply at Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias was shade. We held out as long as we could but eventually the heat sapped our energy and we retired back to the old town for dinner. The touristic center of Valencia is Plaza de la Virgen, a wide open square lined with cafes and restaurants facing the stunning Cathedral de Santa Maria and the Fuente del Turia. This was a good spot to let the kids run around for a bit and soak up some of the pure energy of the old city. This time we didn't find an impromptu late night party and we got to sleep relatively early.