Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Mediterranean Magic (2016)
The Old Town revisited
Our last few hours in Valencia began with another breakfast at McDonalds. The plan this morning was to go back to the Old Town, first of all to see the eastern part, as our Saturday afternoon wanderings hadn't taken us that far. Once this initial objective had been accomplished, we also intended to return to the Central Market, in order to experience it on a normal working day.
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| ABOVE: Contrasting squares in the morning sunshine | ||
The first landmark on our walk was the Alfonso El Magnánimo square, which we had passed close to the previous morning. From there, for the second time, we plunged into the narrow, maze-like streets of the Old Town, so wonderfully evocative of the city's Moorish past. We soon arrived in a very different square, dedicated to St Vincent Ferrer and containing the striking baroque facade of the Church of Sts Thomas the Apostle and Philip Neri.
After a couple of brief photo stops, we pressed on towards Valencia Cathedral, initially passing the rather grandiose offices of the archdiocese, built of red brick and white stone. The 13th-century cathedral itself followed in quick succession, offering views of its two octagonal towers: a relatively chunky one above the central intersection of the cruciform structure, and the more slender Micalet belfry, widely regarded as a symbol of the city. Having seen the cathedral from the front (Plaza de la Reina) on Saturday afternoon, we made our way towards the square at the building's north end on this occasion - the Plaza de la Virgen. Other notable sights here were the distinctively pink Church of Our Lady of the Helpless - the first time I'd come across that title! - and the Turia Fountain, featuring a reclining Neptune statue.
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| ABOVE: Valencia Cathedral and the Plaza de la Virgen | |||||
| BELOW: Torres de Serranos city gate and surroundings | ||
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From Plaza de la Virgen, our route then took us north to the impressive defensive bulk of the Torres de Serranos city gate. Dating from the 14th century, it provided an interesting contrast to the slightly younger Torres de Quart that we had seen on Saturday afternoon.
Our final major objective was a return to Central Market. We had seen this briefly from the outside on Saturday just as it was closing for the day, and were keen to experience it from the inside under normal trading conditions. Opened in 1928 on the site of a former open-air market, the building struck me as being attractive as well as functional, and ideal for keeping traders, customers and produce in a more comfortable environment.
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| Valencia North station and the bullring | |
Before returning to the hotel, we had a light, tapas-style snack and
a liquid refreshment at a place just outside the market called
Birra & Blues. And that indeed is where we must leave this
account of another highly successful trip. The rest of the day would
be spent travelling back to London Gatwick with British Airways,
while on Tuesday we would go our separate ways on the final homeward
leg.
Reflecting on the trip as a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this latest adventure with Princess Cruises. My first Greek island and my first new country of 2016 (Montenegro) both provided memorable travel experiences. While I was a little disappointed that Messina had offered a questionable first taste of Italy for Bruce, this was more than made up for by fabulous Naples, a city that had comfortably exceeded our expectations. The cruise itself was as usual a great success, although it did confirm in both of us a feeling that when it comes to ship size, there is a limit beyond which certain aspects of the experience can become a bit too frantic.
As for Valencia, what can I say? Far from being a mere 'filler' or afterthought, this had turned out to be an excellent destination for a short city-break, proving once again that Spain - away from the dreaded 'costas' - can be a wonderfully interesting and enjoyable country, with a history that makes it unique in Europe.