Valencia – the oranges really are the best

Valencia is a city that kind of has it all – there’s a big area of 19^th-Century grandeur, a (medieval) old town, a beach, and even a strangely sci-fi ultra-modern museum district.

If you take the train into Valencia, your first view upon stepping outside will be of the stunning train station and the bull ring right next to it. We, however, took a bus and our first view was of an unsightly bus station and a long, harrowing walk on a busy overpass to get into the city. But we’ll share the pretty train station instead – it was on our way into the city from our hotel. Actually, the inside of the station is really nice too – we went in to take a look – below is the mosaic ceiling in the lobby.

Valencia has some grand buildings… We discovered some on our first afternoon there, after dropping off our bags.

Here’s the Ayuntamiento:

Banco de Valencia:

A grand church:

The old town

At the center of the old town is the main square - we kept finding ourselves back here because it’s so pretty:

The Cathedral

At one end is the Cathedral of Valencia, which was built during the 13^th to 15^th centuries. It’s huge, all of the domes and towers and colossal doorways are part of the same cathedral.

Needless to say, the interior is also huge and impressive. We spent a couple hours there, took the audio tour to hear about all of the treasures and masterpieces in the cathedral – and of course climbed the tower. Here are a couple highlights:

The high alter is pretty dazzling – it’s from the renaissance period. There are also numerous Renaissance paintings around the cathedral.

There’s a small chapel in the old chapter house that houses… (wait for it) … the Holy Grail. My skepticism was high at first, but after some research, this one is actually possible. In any case, it’s a carved stone cup (later set onto a fancy base), carbon-dated to the 1^st Century AD. It’s the only one recognized by the Vatican, and historians seem to agree that this is one of the more probable candidates.

The chapel itself is really cool, probably because it’s pretty untouched since it was built in the 1200’s (warped stone floors and all).

And, here’s the (possible) Holy Grail, or at least the Chalice of the Roman Catholic Church. Holy Grail or not, it's an ancient cup has a rich history of being carried by various saints, Popes, and knights, trying to protect it during persecution and various wars.

Finally, climbing the tower… Here’s a look back at the cathedral –

And here’s us with the tower bell.

Medieval Towers

On the east side of the old town is this impressive tower, Torres de Serranos. It was finished being built in 1391, and it’s considered the largest gothic city gateway in Europe.

Along the same system of walls, built in the mid-1400’s is the northern city gate, the Torres de Quart. The visible damage was caused in 1808 by French artillery during the Peninsular War.

The Central Market

Now this is what a central market should look like. We enjoyed the bustling atmosphere and bought some olives.

La Lonja

Across the street from the market is La Lonja, a commodities exchange (mainly for silk) built from 1482 – 1498. At the time, Valencia reached its peak as one of the major Mediterranean commercial centers. This architectural gem was built to demonstrate the city’s importance and to further facilitate trade. Even with us in the picture (for scale), it’s hard to show the size and grandeur in a picture.

The detail of the interior & exterior carving is pretty astounding – since it’s over 500 years old:

This is interesting – the market was such a large economic presence that it had its own chapel and court – they were added on to the same building in the early 1500’s. They are in the same building - the court was an authority on trade itself (for disputes and crimes), as well as seafaring laws. And yes, there is a tower where “bad merchants” were imprisoned.

The chapel:

The courtroom: The ceiling is pretty incredible.

Example of a random, treasure-filled chuch:

As with just about any European city, you can wander into any old church and find treasures – domes, gold gilding, and ceiling frescoes. This one is the Church of Santos Juanes:

"Sprinkling" of Roman ruins

And, practically obligatory in any European city, some Roman ruins:

Museo Nacional Ceramica (Ceramics Museum)

The museums are free on Sundays… so we went. First, we hit up the ceramics museum. From the name, we weren’t expecting to be very excited, or to spend much time there. But, as often happens, it was filled with treasures and we were blown away. The collections are housed in a 15^th century palace, refurbished in the rococo style in 1740.

Even the entrance way was a glass-covered courtyard complete with fountains and carvings.

There was some event going on with costumed people walking around – and the staircase was exquisite.

The museum had a lot more than ceramics. For example, this horse-drawn carriage, and the people-drawn sedan (both 18^th century) were some of the more surprising exhibits. I can’t believe that these gold-gilded art masterpieces were ever modes of transportation.

There are a ton of rooms with a ton of treasures. For a taste, here’s one of the rococo rooms refurbished in 1740:

The Bullring and Bullfighting Museum :

We do love a free museum – and when we came across a free bull-fighting museum (attached to a bullring), we took the opportunity to learn more about the controversial tradition. I must say that I still have mixed feelings (mostly negative) about it, but I’m glad to have a little more knowledge about the traditions, techniques, and the bullfighting schools. On one hand, there is a lot of technique and years of practice on the part of the human participants. Still, it’s called a fight to the death, and that’s not entirely true, as the death of one is methodically ensured. Always good to educate oneself, though.

The Beach

And we finally took a day to walk on the beach! It was the perfect time of year for a beach walk – warm enough to take off our shoes, cool and windy enough that we had the beach almost to ourselves.

And we saw a cat on a leash, which completely made my day – the perfect pet.

The City of Arts & Sciences

Finally, we walked through a region called The City of Arts & Sciences – a museum complex with long pools and modern architecture.

I would recommend Valencia to everyone. There’s a little bit of architecture & history from so many historical eras… and a great beach for breaks from cultural overload. And be sure to eat lots of local oranges.

Gaudi, Crazy is as Crazy Does

We had to leave out some of our favorite sights in the Barcelona post that were related to the architect Gaudi. His work is so magnificent that we could only hope to do justice by dedicating a post entirely to him. The style that he created is unique and we learned a lot about the method to his madness. It is actually very thought out, based on many of his inspirations from nature and the use of mathematics and geometry. Not only does he provide dreamlike spaces, but ones that are extremely functional.

Several blocks from our accommodations is this house designed by Gaudi called Casa Vicens. The outside has and interesting array of tiles and many Moorish-inspired features. It is a private residence, so unfortunately you cannot visit the inside.

La Sagrada Familia is the icon of Barcelona. It was designed by Gaudi and construction began in 1882 and is scheduled (which means add at least 10-15 years) to be completed in 2017. Gaudi designed it with very clear instructions knowing that he would not be alive to see its completion. A lot of his original notes and documents however were lost in a fire. The design was very thought out and the entire church is full of symbols and meaning attached to them. Even though it is already a soaring feature, there will be an even taller central spire that will be 560 feet tall. This is the East side of the church that depicts several scenes from the end of the life of Jesus. They follow in sequence in an S shaped order, ending with the crucifixion. It is a very stark modernists design, in sharp contrast to the opposite façade.

The interior of the church is breathtaking. This first picture looks towards the altar and the second looks back towards what will be the main entrance once the church is completed. The height is spectacular and the clean white coloring accents the features of light that Gaudi so focused on. His designs inspired by nature and geometry are apparent throughout.

The columns are supposed to mimic the trunks of trees, then towering to the top they branch out and connect to the ceiling, which is a canopy.

This is a school on the site that Gaudi designed with the objective of using as little material possible, he was sustainable even before it became en vogue. The shape is supposed to optimize space, light, and materials. The undulating roofs are actually made with straight pieces that create a wave pattern and the functionality is a roof that drains.

The next Gaudi site we visited was Park Guell, which is a housing area he conceived and designed, but that did not prove successful. One reason might be that it is filled with his trippy architecture and features. Otherwise, it is in an incredible location on a hillside overlooking Barcelona and the sea. Here we are at the entrance to the park, a staircase that includes the famous lizard.

The staircase leads up to a covered space with an undulating, tiled ceiling with decorative mosaics. Above this is a large open courtyard that is lined with a winding bench with backs of colorful, crazy patterned, tile mosaics of all sorts.

Looking back towards the entrance are two houses and the magnificent view over the city.

Another insane feature of the park are these viaducts that are pathways built of these rock columns.

Even if architecture is not your bag, it’s not possible to leave Casa Battlo unimpressed. Built on the famous avenue Passaig de Gracia, the colorful exterior, with skeletal-like structuring (its nickname is the House of Bones), only hints at the wonders within.

This curving wooden staircase has such beautiful lines and a wonderful contrast between the brown colors and the smooth white plaster. At the top of the stairs, there is a small, irregular shaped room that includes this famous mushroomed shaped fireplace and seating area.

One of our favorite rooms is this large living space with parkay floors, rounded walls, and these absurd windows looking out onto the street. The ceiling above is a swirl like a sea shell capped with this sun-like lighting fixture.

This wooden window frame is representative of many of the windows and doors in the apartment. The slats at the bottom can be opened and closed to regulate airflow.

The back patio is a really nice open space with more Gaudi designed mosaics. The back is different from the front, but still has that characteristic Art Nuevo styling.

This is looking down one of the two open, interior shafts of the building. There is a stairway that runs around an elevator in the middle. Gaudi was very conscious about light and designed it so that the windows near the bottom were larger than those at the top, and the tiles at the bottom are lighter than those at the top, to give a more equal amount of light among the different floors.

The attic is a wonderful space with these curved white archways. It also includes laundry rooms that the residents used.

You think it would be done, but Gaudi is very thorough and even the rooftop is a masterpiece. It is full of these insane chimney structures and mosaic tile work.