Barcelona and Valencia
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2008
1
40
43
Trip End
Jan 01, 2009
Valencia,
Valencian Country,
Spain and Canary Islands
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Afterward I wandered towards the metro, stopping in to see the market stalls in front of the Catedral I visited yesterday. This time of year the locals are celebrating Fira de Santa Llúcia and the market is the main part of that celebration. It isn't your typical Christmas market though. They do have some trees and some candy and good food, but most of the stalls are selling models of the nativity scene. You can buy all sorts of things to go in and around your nativity scene
The post office
. Religious figures, waterfalls, trees, animals ... you name it, there is a model of it for sale in this market. It was really interesting and some of the work is gorgeous. I particularly like the powered windmills and waterfalls.Finally I got on the metro and went to see Gaudi's Park Güell. By now I was very short on time so I didn't get to take my time checking it all out but what I did see was very cool and unique as you would expect from Gaudi.
Count Güell was some rich dude that hired Gaudi to build a housing community for the upper class. The project was a total failure which perhaps is fortunate for tourists like me because the city took ownership of the park and opened it so the public could enjoy it. It was built from 1900-1914 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After I took as much time as I could spare I raced to the metro and back to the hostel to collect my bags, then walked the 5 blocks to the bus station. I was about an hour early so I guess I could have stayed at Park Güell a bit longer but for some reason lately I am a bit paranoid about being late.
A big lobster at the marina
The bus was supposed to be a four hour journey along Spain's eastern coastline. It was a really nice journey with views of vineyards and mountains on one side and the perfect blue of the Mediterranean on the other side. The only snag was the 1.5 hours of crawling we did down the highway through a very backed up construction site. The delay was caused by two lanes of traffic having to merge into one. Crazy!
Driving through Valencia to the bus station, we passed through these massive roundabouts. They are six lanes wide which as you can imagine is rather chaotic when anyone wants to get out of the roundabout. The centre of these huge roundabouts have fountains and massive sculptures. It made me instantly love the beauty of Valencia.
When we finally arrived at the Valencia bus station my number one priority was the washroom. Unfortunately the men's was closed so they were using the women's and it was the nastiest bathroom ever. It reminded me of the dirtiest toilet in Scotland from Trainspotting. The floor was soaked in urine and I had all my bags with me. I had to crouch over a toilet with my big backpack on, holding my daypack and laptop bag to my chest. It was quite a challenge.
Once that was taken care of I found the bus I needed and got to the hostel
Port Vell
. Actually I didn't notice the hostel until the bus passed it but I didn't have to walk far from the next stop. The hostel is quite nice. I managed to finally do some laundry on the rooftop and they have free wireless yet again. I am really being spoiled by this free wifi everywhere.Today I woke up determined to go see the City of Arts and Sciences. There are three buildings in the complex that make up the "city" and they look really cool. I got lost trying to find the bus stop and found a castle instead. Then I tried to find the bus again and ended up having to take the metro to help me find the bus. Finally I got the bus and got to the area around midday. The admission prices are crazy though so I didn't go in. I think I will go back tomorrow to the Sciences building. The aquarium looks amazing but is the most expensive part by a lot and I have seen a lot of aquariums so I think I will skip it. But I will have a lot of time to kill because I am going to take an overnight bus to Gibraltar tomorrow evening.
As for the rest of today, I visited the tourist information office and got a proper map of the city and found some things to do. I visited the Catedral which claims to have the Holy Grail. I saw the relic in the Catedral and took a photo to prove it. They also have the forearm (including hand) of St. Vincent completely preserved and on display. Certainly a unique relic anyway. I then climbed the 207 steps to the top of Miguelete Tower. The steps are huge, each made from a single stone, and I definitely felt the burn in my calf muscles. The view from the top was worth the struggle though!
