Valencia.. a beautiful little seaside city on the Mediterranean.

We arrived by train from Madrid mid-day, took a quick uber ride to our AirBNB and, since we were too early to check in, dropped off our bags and went to do a bit of exploring of the local area.  

We were staying in the older part of the city, inside the old gates, and the area had cobblestone streets and wonderful artwork (buildingside murals) everywhere. Not too far from our AirBNB, we found one of the main, old gates to the city from when it was completely walled. We found out this was the gate to the road to Madrid. It was a massive stone structure with huge doors. Amazing that people built these giant walls to keep people out….and I guess to keep people locked in.

Next, we found a really nice restaurant that had vegetarian paella on the menu. This was the first time that any of us had paella. Of course, the normal paella has shellfish as one of the main ingredients, but since Jos is allergic to shellfish, we went with the vegi. It was delicious!!

After checking into our very nice 2 bedroom (extra nice to have the second bedroom when your mom is traveling with you! 😊), we headed out to explore more of the old town. Every street had cool artwork and little shops and restaurants. We also saw some really neat record stores and lots of bookstores. Unlike the US, Europe still has a lot of neighborhood bookstores; very cool. We even saw a sex (toy) store…my mom was little shocked, but also could joke about it.   

There was fantastic architecture in this city that was thousands of years old. We also peeked into a few old churches along the way, including the Valencia Cathedral. We spent a little time exploring the Le Seu area (open gathering place). We stopped by a funky cocktail place, with a nice bartender who asked all about hiking trails in California. He was hoping to get to Cali someday to do some hiking, see Venice beach, and visit San Francisco.

The next morning, we visited a vegan coffee shop around the corner and got some yummy baked goods at another shop. My mom, of course, wanted Starbucks. We spent a bit of time walking around the same areas that we had been the night before. All the shops and restaurants were crowded, with a lot of street fair activity. We even saw some Spanish folk dancers in the big square. We then made our way over to another one of the old gates, a watch tower at the other end of the old town. We walked up a lot of steps, but it afforded wonderful views back into the old town.

Next, we rode a local bus and headed over to the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciudad de las artes y de las ciencia). This place was massive and futuristic. It was probably a mile long and a quarter mile wide, with different spaceship-like buildings, water features, and artwork everywhere. The city must have spent a fortune on this place. 

Our last stop of the day was the beach!! We all wanted to get down and touch the Mediterranean. After a nice bus ride, we hopped out and started walking along the well-maintained concrete walkway. The place was fairly crowded with some beachgoers (even though it was still a bit chilly), rollerskaters, skateboarders, etc. Lots of great fashion around as well, including the overweight 70-year-old man in a tiny little speedo. Yes, I have a picture!!! Meanwhile, my Mom got to finally touch the sea and enjoyed talking to a nice woman about the beach, the water, and a little bit about traveling. My mom has no problem striking up conversations. We were all hungry, so we sat down at a nice beachside café. We had some good food and mom got a couple more virgin mojitos, which she had fallen in love with. I kept trying to help her with a few Spanish phrases, especially on the right way to order a virgin mojito. 

After our lovely late afternoon lunch, we headed back to our Airbnb. After relaxing a bit…. I was still fighting off my really bad respiratory virus that I picked up in London, so getting rest was nice. We headed back out that evening for a good Italian dinner and a nightcap at a place called Saint Jaume. It was a very funky, small place with some really good cocktails…. including a virgin mojito for my mom.

Unfortunately, we had a short visit to this wonderful little city by the sea. I would love to go back someday to do some more exploring.

The next day we headed off early to the train station. Next stop: Barcelona!!