Valencia and its modern arts buildings

Trip Start Feb 15, 2008
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Trip End May 31, 2008


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Saturday, March 29, 2008

I arrived at Valencia by train at about 3pm. The city is beautiful; especially by night when you can enjoy the site of the city's many historic buildings and fountains being illuminated. Arriving by train put me practically straight in the city centre. I then made my way up to my hostel which involved a 15 minute walk up the city's main street, through a couple of its plazas or central squares then on through a couple of its narrow streets. The old part of the city is fantastic for getting lost; even if you have a map. This is great because you always seem to find interesting little things in these kinds of cities when you get lost. Valencia is home to nearly 2 million people and being on the Mediterranean it normally enjoys a warm to temperate climate, though it was pretty cold while I was there, with top temperatures of only around 15 degrease.
Valencia has its share of old buildings and churches like many other cities in Europe, but what is really cool here are the new arts buildings. They are called Ciutat de les Arts i les Cičncies in Catalan, which means 'City of Arts and Sciences' and they are located in the dry river bed of the River Turia Madrid's main rail terminal
Madrid's main rail terminal
 . The river has been diverted creating recreational spaces and making space for these really cool looking buildings for tourists to look at
I hired a bicycle from a bike shop in the city and set off to the 'river'. First thing of interest I passed were the Serranos Towers. I took a photo of these towers without traffic and it looked somewhat unbelievable, so I took a second with the traffic. The towers are considered to be the largest Gothic city gateway in all of Europe, and were constructed at the end of the 14th century by Pere Balaguer as part of the city's fortification. They previously housed prison cells and served as a triumphal arch on many festive and solemn occasions. For about 3 € you can climb the towers and view the museum located inside.
The River Turia was diverted following a disastrous flood in 1957 and a 7 kilometre long promenade was then created which cuts right through the city centre and now contains parks, walking and cycling paths plus the odd cafe. But of cause the main attraction are arts buildings. The City of Arts and Sciences, developed by Santiago Calatrava, is a large-scale urban recreation centre for culture and science covering an area of 350,000 square meters. The first element, the planetarium, of the centre opened to the public in April 1998. The Science Museum followed in 2000. There are a number of other elements in the park and still others were under construction at the time of my visit.
I then made my way to the beach, which is of cause the Mediterranean, though my cycling experience in Valencia came to a bit of an abrupt ending when I got a punctured tire. But this gave me an opportunity to try out Valencia's tram/metro system. They call it a Metro but it's really a series of tram routes, two of which converge and enter an underground subway as they reach the city centre. The tram ride was neat, smooth and relaxing and what's best is that you get a view out the window as opposed to a view of the inside of a tunnel.
Next stop Barcelona, by train.
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