Ahhh, Valencia. Our second-to-last stop in Spain before we made our way back home. I was really looking forward to Valencia, although I wasn’t really sure why. Maybe it was a positive association with oranges.
Valencia is much more contemporary than any of the other places we’d visited in Spain, and I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t be, well, a bit boring. But no. Valencia is such an inviting city – our whole experience was comfortable, relaxing, and fun. Our highlights: exploring all there is to see and do around the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias / Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, overdosing on some authentic paella at La Pepica, a morning run through the Turia Riverbed Park, touring the cathedral, and climbing all over Gulliver with the other Lilliputians at the Parque Gulliver.
City of Arts and Sciences, in spanish the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, and in Valencian the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències)
This campus houses a science museum (Museu de les Ciències), an aquarium (Oceanogràfic), an opera / theater (Palau de les Arts), a planetarium / IMAX (Hemisfèric), a garden esplanade (Umbracle), and a soon to be opened conference and concert space (Ágora). The only building we went into was the science museum, and only briefly, as it was a lovely day and we wanted to explore the city outside. Also, there were some pretty thrilling activities going on that my kids absolutely didn’t want to miss, such as floating around in enormous bubbles!
The whole area is really majestic, and if we were spending a week or so in Valencia, we would have checked out at least the aquarium (Europe’s largest) and the science museum. Next time.
Parque Gulliver
Parque Gulliver is, when it comes down to it, an enormous climbing, sliding, jumping, and scaling structure in the shape of a man. Gulliver from the novel Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift, to be exact. So fun. Like, hours of fun, depending on how long the grown ups can entertain themselves.
Paella at La Pepica
You can eat paella in dozens, if not hundreds, of spots in Valencia. How to choose the right spot? I read reviews and articles, but it came down to the fact that practically none of the places I read about were open on a Tuesday, so we went with one that was. Also, nowhere was open for lunch before 1:00, so we had to wait. And was it worth the wait? Absolutely, our paella was excellent. And how did we wait? We spent our morning playing on the beach. There are worse things.
Turia Riverbed Park
In Valencia past, a river ran through the city. But it often flooded, and in 1957 the flooding was so bad at least 81 people died, and many were displaced from their homes. The river was re-routed south of the city, and the government had planned to convert the riverbed into a highway. But a citizen movement formed, “el riu és nostre i el volem verd“ (the river is ours and we want it green), in order to instead get the city to create a green space. In 1986 the Turia Riverbed Park was inaugurated.
This park is really long, spans much of the city, and you see people running, playing sports, and exercising throughout it at all times of the day. Its clear that the citizens of Valencia love this outdoor space, and use it daily. Running and walking through it during our time in Valencia was a joy.
Valencia Cathedral
This cathedral, aka the Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia, aka Saint Mary’s Cathedral, is probably most famous because it is (supposedly) home to the Holy Grail. Some Christian historians believe evidence points to the Valencian chalice as the most likely to be the authentic cup used at the Last Supper. It dates from the 1st century. The cathedral is lovely, I especially liked the blue stained glass windows. There is a large Goya painting inside to see also. 
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