This weekend was another amazing trip. I am constantly surprised by the quality of excursions that our planned for us. This weekend was no exception. Valencia is Spain's third largest city and the capital of the region I am living in. It is about a two hour drive from Alicante. So, early Friday morning we all piled into our rented charter bus, nicknamed "Pablo" and set off for a two day excursion.
In Valencia, we had most of our two days planned for us while still having time to explore the city on our own. First up, we stopped at one of the four original gates that marked entrance to the city. Valencia was a major trading port and was a very rich city, especially during the 14th and 15th century. The four gates are massive and I can imagine them once outline this powerful city. We got to tour the largest gate which was beautiful and afforded a great view of the city.
Door to the city, the building was too big to get a proper picture of the front.
Beautiful and used for defense.
Climbing to the upper levels.
Lots of pictures!
The flag of the Valencian Community flies over one of the two towers.
Historic, down-town Valencia.
From the back (inside the city).
Much of Valencia's money during this time was made in the silk trade, because of that, they constructed a large market to house its business. A beautiful building done in the gothic style, it is unique as a building in that style built not for the worship of god, but for the business of commerce. Now used for different cultural events, it is a beautiful example of Valencia at its height.
Giant columns of the main trading room.
The columns were designed to resemble the palm trees that cover the coastal area.
Walls of the courtyard.
Room where business was done.
Having a long break for lunch, we took some time to explore downtown, historic Valencia. The buildings were all beautiful and there were so many things to see.
The Central Mercado of Valencia, we ate our sandwiches on the front steps.
Is that...
...why yes, that is a Dr. Pepper...
...in a cupcake shop...
... first Dr. Pepper in Spain. It was amazing.
After lunch, we toured the Cathedral of Valencia. Due to monetary constraints, the cathedral took 600 years to build. Because of that, the Cathedral was built in several different styles- Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque. Although not as large as the Cathedral in Palma, it was very beautiful and an interesting mix of style. We also climbed the tower to get another view of the city- but it was a tough climb.
Romanesque entrance.
Gothic entrance.
Blue roofs common in many of the area churches.
Tower.
Baroque entrance...don't ask me why there are three.
The holy grail...
Last on the schedule was time for merienda (fourth meal), where we had a typical Valencian snack. Horchata is a drink made from ground nut, water and sugar that is very popular in the Valencia region. It is a very sweet taste that I would almost compare to almond milk. For merienda, it is often served with fartons, which as one friend described, are sweet olive garden bread sticks. In Valencia, they had several Horchatarias dedicated to just horchata and fartons
Horchata y Fartons. (This is from wikipedia, I never remember to take a picture of my food before I eat it, but I promise it looked just like this!)
