Valencia - wet but wonderful!

 

Despite having spent many of the past 15 years’ summers a mere 100kms away in Oliva, we’d neglected the delights of Valencia since the building of the huge Science park complex with its futuristic buildings. We had visited in the 90s – and thoroughly enjoyed it, in spite of an attempted break-in to our old campervan, foiled by deadlocks we’d fitted after being robbed the year before in the Basque country. Maybe that put us off, who knows, but we hadn’t been tempted back since.

With this in mind, and the awareness that cities are almost always higher risk, we opted for the relative security of a campsite (Coll Vert) a few kms out of town, near El Saler, with a handy bus service into the city. We knew the site would be noisy as it lay between two main roads, but the ease of access to Valencia swung it, and we arrived in the dry to a pleasant if basic site.

The first thing we noticed was the much more cosmopolitan and largely younger clientele, with a wide variety of vans and nationalities, quite a change from the usual German/ Dutch predominance in this part of Spain. As well as a variety of professional panel van conversions like our own home made one, we also saw two enormous 4x4 ‘explorer’ type trucks (both German) and got chatting to the couple that owned one of them, Rita and Rudi Menrad, who had travelled around most of the western hemisphere in their truck and were busy planning their next adventure whilst seeking a bit of sunshine away from Germany. They have a very interesting website chronicling their trips here if you fancy having a look at some serious travel adventures – complete with translation buttons!

With night came the first of a series of waves of rain that were working their way across most of Spain. Indeed we’d chosen to have a couple of days in Valencia in the knowledge that there would be plenty to keep us occupied and entertained when and if the weather turned. Van life can be fun in changeable weather, but 48 hours of heavy rain might have triggered an outbreak of cabin fever that would be better avoided!

So, with our slightly old but very informative guide to Valencia city and the province at hand, and a bottle of local tinto to assist us, we set about planning what we might do over a couple of days. As Spain’s third largest city, there’s loads to choose from and in the end we plumped for one day at the Oceanográfic– an enormous complex dedicated to marine life that shares a site with the Arts and Science centre; and another day exploring Valencia’s famous municipal market, followed by lunch and then the museum dedicated to the ‘Fallas’ – the crazy festival of fireworks, fire and fun held annually in March.

The heavy rain that had started the previous night continued into the morning, so we had a pretty late start to our trip to the Oceanográfic, eventually catching a bus in a gap in the rain. Like most mainland European countries, public transport in Spain is both cheap and reliable and after parting with €1.50 each for a ticket into the city, we arrived at the Oceanográfic to find, perhaps understandably given the season and weather, a complete absence of queues. Not cheap at €28.50pp, we went through the turnstiles hoping we’d made a good choice.

I’ve got very mixed feelings abut these captive marine exhibitions, even where, like this one, there’s also a dedicated ‘research institute’, but even I was impressed by the enormous range of water/sealife on show, and for the most part, the giant tanks seemed spacious and the animals looked healthy enough. The centre has a range of outdoor exhibits, combining exotic birds, butterflies and fish, but the real showstopper for us was the series of underwater interlinked tanks and tunnels showcasing different climatic areas and habitats. My favourite part (if not making for the more exotic photos – most of these are tropical!) was exploring the Mediterranean zone, showcasing some of my favourite seafood – a bit odd perhaps but good to see what they look like before they make it to the table!

The day at the Oceanográfic finished with the daily dolphin show. Now this bit I was definitely not too keen to go to, as the idea of keeping such intelligent creatures captive seems a bit much to justify an income stream for the ‘research institute’. Still, not wanting to be overly bah humbug, I went along and surprised myself by enjoying the spectacle. The trainers were clearly very close to their animals and the combination of acrobatics and interactive swimming could not fail to impress – even under a darkening and lowering sky. As well as the show the conservation message was made loud and clear, including a live demo on what to do if you find a stranded /beached dolphin.  The dolphinarium complex here is the largest in Europe and also includes separate facilities for treating injured animals.

Our second day in the city was meant to be drier, and we’d been pleased with the accuracy of Accuweather forecasts so far and planned it this way round on purpose – but our forecast dry-ish day turned into a steady drizzle for most of it. This didn’t stop us from having fun, first in the recently renovated Colon Market, with its quirky display of giant snails and numerous eateries, and then the main event – the Mercado/Mercat Central. Built at the turn of the last century, it is a daily homage to all that’s good about Spanish/Valencian food. As well as the expected displays of jamons and cured meats and a huge range of seafood, including an astonishing array of shellfish, there were some interesting bits we’d never come across before, including ‘salted seaweed/seashore plants’.

After a proper market lunch at a café just outside the market, which made full use of the ingredients on sale inside, we wandered wetly over to the cathedral district (via some interesting veg inspired graffiti!) and then on to the impressive gardens that line the bed of the old river Turia (diverted after a major flood in the 50s). This area is given over to the remnants of the old royal gardens with plenty of exotic greenery, as well as an amazing city centre leisure and recreation area. Not particularly photogenic in the rain, this part of the city would make a great place to laze or stroll away an afternoon after a big lunch!

Making our way towards the Fallas museum, we weren’t quite sure what to expect as we’ve only experienced local versions in Oliva. We arrived at the same time as a large group of Spanish pensionistas so we sat and watched an explanatory film with them, benefiting from the subtitles – still in Spanish but easier to keep pace with than the dialogue! It turned out that the museum is the repository of the winning or reprieved ‘ninot’ (or 3D figurine and often a caricature) that is saved from the fire each year, the tradition otherwise being to burn them on massive bonfires whilst setting off thousands of fireworks in general, and street bangers in particular. The ninots were largely restored versions (dating from the 30s to the present) and ranged from the folksy, to the political, to the downright bizarre. We’ll leave you to judge what the intentions might have been in this selection!

After a brief wander round the archetypal Spanish department store, El Corte Inglés, we walked back to our bus stop across the riverbed and, as if on cue, the skies started to clear – a good omen for our onward journey south the next day!

S.