Oceanogràfic, Valencia

Oceanogràfic, Valencia

The Oceanogràfic in Valencia is one of the nicest acquariums in the world and especially so as it covers a wide surface area that includes both indoor and outdoor space. Just going for the futuristic architecture is enough and the nice collections of sealife that it houses is a bonus.

Sea Lions

There are a few main sections in the acquarium e.g. Tropical and Temperate Waters, Mediterranean, Islands (sealions), Antarctic, Artic, Oceans (where the sharks are), Red Sea, Dolphinarium and Wetlands. Needless to say the kids loved the sharks and the dolphins best.

Flamingos

There are a few restaurants (including a submarine-restaurant) though I've yet to try any of them. As the El Saler mall is just opposite the Oceanogràfic, I usually just lunch there.

Dolphin Show

The Dolphin Show lasted nearly 30 minutes with a guy presenting facts about the dolphins (in Spanish - but he spoke clearly so it was easy to catch) before it started. It is best to turn up and be seated at least 10 minutes before time as it may get filled up quickly by school groups.

I love the Wetlands with its huge ball, but it stank. Couldn't stay inside for longer than it took to have a few pictures taken. Elsewhere we saw divers cleaning tanks or feeding fish, it was nice seeing the acquarium in its daily functioning.

Wetlands

It would take at least 2 hours to visit the Oceanogràfic correctly. If you come to Valencia, this is one of the few places that you must visit. I've been reading about a reasonably new attraction named the BioParc (like an open Zoo) and that would be the thing we would cover the next time we visit Valencia.

Hemisfèric and Museo de las Ciencias Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain

Miracle of Life (& the pain of breaking out of your shell)

The City of the Arts and Sciences (CAC) is a futuristic installation on the eastern end of the Turia Gardens comprising of a few modern buildings dedicated - to the arts and the sciences. To reach there you could take a taxi or a bus, the nearest metro stop "Alameda" being a good 20-30 minutes' walk away. Or you could choose to stay at one of the hotels in the area like we did a few years ago. Since I chose to stay in the old city this time, we walked a good hour each way to visit the CAC. But it was a lovely walk through the Turia.

Bridges along the Turia

Palau de Musica

I bought our combined Oceanogràfic-Hemisfèric-Museo de las Ciencias tickets online and collected them from the CAC when we arrived. You have to choose the dates of your visits down to the time of your IMAX movie. We visited the 3 installations over 2 days and watched "Wild Oceans". The kids wanted to catch "Dinosaurs" too, but it was either that or the beach.

The new Agora (where they will hold the Valencia Open Tennis 500)

Science Museum and Arts Palace (on the right)

I love the way the modern buildings sat so serenely in the gardens. Somehow they were not a sore-eye nor too "loud". In this part of Spain they are good with modern architecture.

Hanging Gardens in the Umbracle

Arts palace and the Hemisfèric

IMAX Slide Projection

I especially love the Umbracle that houses a garden suspended in the air. It's just opposite the El Saler Shopping Mall and is next to the Hemisfèric.

Science Museum and Superheros Exhibition

The Museo de las Ciencias Príncipe Felipe is a small Science Museum that had, on our last visit, a few tennis courts with a view of the outside and an exhibition on Comic Superhero characters and their superpowers. There was also a small section for children modelled on the play area in the Cité des Sciences in Paris, but if you ask me it'll be better to do this in Paris itself.

Children's Play area

We arrived at 10:30 and were told to wait till 13:00 before the Babies could go in and play as before that it was reserved for school groups (not mentioned on their website). And at 13:00, they started telling us we couldn't go in till 15:00. I was ready to freak out and seek a refund at that point and finally they conceded and allowed the kids in to play for - 20 minutes! I was furious. Because I already knew from past visits that there was nothing much to see in this museum, but bought tickets anyway when I saw that they had this play area. The museum is otherwise below Singapore Science Centre standards. Just admire the building from the outside.

Umbracle and Hemisfèric at sunset

Playa Las Arenas, Valencia

Playa Las Arenas

Those freezing away in Modena at this time of the year wouldn't be able to believe, of course, that we went to the beach one afternoon in Valencia. To my favourite Playa Las Arenas less than 30 minutes by bus (N°32) or metro from the hotel.

The Promenade

This is a stretch of fine sandy city beach that stretches. With hotels, restaurants, events and free showers lining it. It is not the main beach in Valencia, but it is the closest and the most accessible. And it is next to the port where they hold the America Cup. The promenade runs alongside Las Arenas and is known as the Paseo Marítimo. Here you can walk, jog or ride a bike on specially provided lanes. In the past we used to take a taxi to the Paseo Neptuno and eat at Restaurante La Pepica. Good seafood and paella dishes though if I remember correctly you wouldn't go there for ambiance as it was quite like a canteen in both decor and service.

Brave Kids

There was almost nobody the day we were there. We chose our spot and laid out the towels then the kids stripped down to their bathing suits and disappeared to the water's edge. The water was quite cold though the sun was shining (25°C), but after just a moment's hesitation the kids jumped into the sea and spent an hour or so building (tiny) sand castles with the miserable rake and 3 moulds I brought along.

I dig, you dig, we dug

For our late lunch we had sandwiches and fried chicken wings from Pan's. Would have preferred some gambas a la plancha, but none of the restaurants were open at 3pm. I really think it a pity that so many of Italy's beaches are private. I would rather fly to Valencia for the beach than drive to one of mainland Italy's. Surely it is a right for all to have access to a free beach.

A Few Monuments in Valencia, Spain

Mercado Central, Valencia

Moving around with 3 children is never easy and many wondered why I was mad enough to do so in another country. But if I don't travel with them I will never get to travel - unless I wait till I'm 60 and maybe too arthritic to move around. Besides, it is a pleasure to share with my children a few of the things that make me enjoy travelling e.g. different sights, smells, sounds...And funny enough, it was easier to make them take their bath and do homework when we were stuck in a hotel room with no other distractions.

S. Catalina

And Valencia is an easy city to move around without husband or car. If you can't walk, take a bus or ride in the metro to reach your destination, take a taxi. I've done so in the past and they were reasonably-priced for Europe. If you're very fit, you could try cycling in Valencia as the Turia riverbed goes from west to east covering almost all of the city.

Mercado Central and surroundings

We walked to the Mercado Central - a modernist masterpiece designed in 1914 and open Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 14:30. Inside it is bright and airy and has stalls selling fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, cured meats and chorizos etc etc. Beautiful. The other 2 markets I love in Valencia are the Plaza Redonda selling mainly textiles and ceramics and the Mercado de Colon - another piece of beautiful modernist architecture that was recently restored.

Lonja de la Seda

Opposite the Mercado Central you have a Unesco World Heritage monument known as Lonja de la Seda or The Silk Market. A civil Gothic masterpiece whose construction started in 1483, it contains four main parts, each one for a different use: the main Tower, the Consulado del Mar room, the Patio de los Naranjos (Orange tree courtyard), and the Contracts Room (with many spiral columns).

Iglesia de los Santos Juanes

Next to the Mercado Central, you have the Iglesia de los Santos Juanes, one of the oldest in Valencia. From there we walked to the Plaza de la Virgen - once the forum of Roman Valencia. There you have a few impressive buildings one of which is La Catedral. Each of the three gates of the Cathedral has a diferent style: Iron Gate (Baroque), the Apostles Gate (Gothic) and the Palace Gate (Romanesque). From the bell tower El Miguelete you can enjoy some amazing views.

La Catedral

I marched the children further and we arrived at the Torres de Serranos : the largest Gothic city gateway in Europe, constructed at the end of the 14th century as part of the city's fortifications. They provisionally housed prison cells and served as a triumphal arch on many festive and solemn occasions. There we settled on one of the banks of the Turia river and ate our lunch, admiring the buildings on the opposite bank.

Torres de Serranos

Then we walked to one of my favourite "monuments" El Corte Ingles, the ubiquitous Spanish department store where I would go everyday when I was there : Jamon de Bellota at 100 euros a kg, English Cheddar cheese, pastries and cakes, perfumes, shoes, bags, clothes etc etc.

Plaza de Toros

Near the RENFE station (itself quite a beauty) there is the Plaza de Toros - always one in every city in Spain. If you're not a fan of the corrida (bull fight), you can still catch concerts, circuses and exhibitions in the ring. They will be having their first Feria Gastronomica in 2 weeks - pity I couldn't be there.

Convento Santo Domingo

Puerta del Mar

Those kids, they complained but they walked. Of course I had to dangle a few carrots before them now and then, threaten them with a few horrors or remind them that they may never see me again if they simply didn't catch up with their mother. One day we will walk the Turia Garden from West to East. One day.

Valencia I Love You

Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Valencia, Spain

Arriving in Valencia felt like a homecoming to me. This came probably from nearly 2 years of once living in Spain. Baby Girl after all was made-in-Jaén.

Plaza del Ayuntamiento

I have brought too much warm clothing to Valencia. The city was so hot (average 25-27°C) we nearly died of heat stroke in our down jackets and turtlenecks. Anyway Valencia, Spain has become even better since the last time I visited. This city knows how to maintain its old world charms and move forward at the same time. It is even more beautiful than I remembered it.

In the metro

I booked my favourite hotel in the old town : Husa Reina Victoria****. It is housed in an old 1913 stone building just next to the beautiful Plaza del Ayuntamiento, 5 minutes' walk from the RENFE train station and "Xativa" MetroValencia station, and another few minutes from the shopping streets in Colon. From the airport to the old town it took us only 25 minutes on the metro and 1 euro each. What a change from Modena. And the hotel has quite a decent buffet breakfast spread if a bit on the steep side costwise.

Husa Reina Victoria (View outside and from the room)

As the kids are now older, I decided to march them to most places we wanted to visit. There is no better way to visit a city than to walk through it. And Valencia is candy to the eye as the old town contains so many beautiful buildings most of them quite nicely restored. I took pictures as we went along though we stopped short at visiting museums since there was already so much to do and the Babies had priority. It was after all their vacation.

A few buildings in the old city

The Turia river used to run through the city to meet the Mediterranean sea. But after a catastrophic flood in 1957 it has since been diverted and is now a dry riverbed filled with jogging and cycling tracks, ponds, gardens, playgrounds, cafés, climbing walls, football fields, Music Hall...and of course the famous City of the Arts and Sciences. We visited this modern futuristic city over 2 days which meant that the kids walked a total of 4 hours just to visit its wonders. They complained alot, but just the walk through the Turia Gardens, according to me, was well worth it.

General Post Office inside and out

As I had feared, trying to speak Spanish after Italian was tough - at the beginning. But by the end of the first evening it was starting to come back to me and slowly I started to get a bit of the vocabulary and then the verb conjugations back into circulation. It helped that the hotel provided us with free newspapers in Spanish daily and I tried to read 2 different ones (e.g. La Razon and ABC) everyday.

Shopping shopping shopping

The 2 streets near the hotel

Where we were there were loads of restaurants and boutiques though unfortunately the children were not keen on eating the famous paella valenciana and we ended up eating fastfood or taking away empanadillas and cream puffs from the wonderful local bakeries. But I made a mental note to revisit the paella in my own kitchen soon.

Empanadillas and Mini-Quiches from Pastry Shop near Hotel

I have missed having breakfast in the local Spanish bars. You eat standing at the counter and they usually have good sandwiches, cakes and pastries (though still not French standards). My favourite is toast with fresh tomato puree and olive oil. Almost like bruschetta only they have it for breakfast. Or churros the old way.

The Spanish like their Marzipan

Hub goes to Valencia in 2 weeks for Ferrari's Finali Mondiali. This year it will not be held in Mugello and we do not see any point in having the whole family travel to Valencia again just for it. I think I would prefer to travel to Bologna to catch Jimmy Choo's collection for H&M (*wink*). It would be launched worldwide on Nov 14.