Time for my annual holiday with Mike. I like Spain so much I was happy to come out for the third time this year, but wanted to see a part I hadn't been to before. So next biggest city left on my list was Valencia.
For me this city will be defined by the extraordinary looping park that runs like a green ring road around he top of the old city. And that is partly because our apartment was just outside the park, in a high rise modern apartment hotel. I really liked it, not least as it had 24 hour reception so arrival was simple. Taxi to the door, gave our names at reception, got key cards in return and there we were settled for a week. No need to co-ordinate a meeting with the owners or do battle with key boxes.
Nice spacious flat too
We arrived in the evening, so we just headed to bed, to start next morning by walking most of the length of the river park. This is quite unlike any park I have been to, not least because it used to be the city's river. However, after a major flood in the 1950s (not the first in the city's history by any means) the decision was taken to divert the river away and turn the river loop into a broad park. And the opportunity was taken to endow it with sports facilities, not least an athletics stadium and an all weather football pitch. On top of that, I may observe that the park is very well jogged. Whenever we went to it, whatever time of day, there were joggers pounding the length of it. I observed to Mike that not only were there sports facilities, but they were well used ones.
And because it was a river, there are still the old bridges across it, now bereft of water
The museum of fine arts in passing, a destination for another day
Concert Hall
And there I shall leave this first entry. Our first day was not just a long walk in a park. It had a destination, the City of Arts and Sciences, which one comes across a little beyond this array of modern classical pillars. See next page!
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