August 20th - 23rd
Valencia, Spain
From Portugal we returned our rental car and headed to Valencia, Spain by train. We had enjoyed our time in Spain and we were excited to re-enter a familiar country. Although when we got to Valencia, we did not realize that the weather would be so different from the south of Portugal. We crossed along the south of the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. The weather in Valencia was extremely humid! It felt like we went from British Columbia to Ontario in the summer!
In Valencia, we took our touring a little bit slower as Jenna had gotten a cold and Steven had burnt his body on the beach in Portugal. Neither slept well, which made short visits into the city each day, but good thing we spent 3 nights there!
Steven chilling in the chairs at the hotel
August 21st - Exploring the City of Valencia
Today we spent the afternoon exploring some of the sites of Valencia. Just outside the hotel was the City of Arts and Science, designed by engineer/architect Santiago Calatrava. Valencia was Calatrava's home city and it is amazing how much land the city gave him to design...almost too overwhelming.
Jenna outside of the newest creation added to the city of arts and science
These structures look like trees with the bushes on top!
Calatrava's work...he designs in a way that expresses the bones of the structure, giving the impression of ribs
Steven looks like his is playing the harp
We were just so overwhelmed with how big and how much space these structures took up.
Along the top walkway there were these candies that represented different countries...
So proud to be Canadian!!!
Representing in Spain!
Enjoying the different trees...loving Steven's dance in the jungle, and look how Massive the tree is that Jenna is in...how old must that be?
The market in Valencia...the smaller one that offers drinks and small cafes
Steve is VERY excited that MacDonald Restaurant in Spain serves BEER!
Evening shot of Valencia
August 22nd
Today we had high hopes of more exploring. We decided that we were going to rent bicycles, and ride the 12km trail through the green space in the centre of the city of Valencia, from the beach to the BioPark (Zoo), but once we got to the beach, we did not want to leave!!
5km of nice sandy beach on the Mediterranean Sea
Enjoying Sangria in a restaurant facing the beach (again, might we remind you it was 38 degrees Celsius + crazy humidity!!!!!)
The water may not look as gorgeous as Portugal, but who can complain about 25 degrees bath water in the ocean??? We swam for at least an hour and just enjoyed the waves, and cooling off from the intense humidity of the day!
Riding back from the beach!
Before heading back to the train station to catch our train to Barcelona, we stopped at the big market in Valencia. In this market there are a couple hundred vendors that offer tons of fresh seafood, meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables.
We got ourselves a little treat from the bakery...yum, cream filled croissant!
hahaha...we found a scale...opps, our bags are bit heavier than they should be...or else we have eaten toooo many baguettes!!!
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