Valencia - Day 3

In the morning we went to the Central Market.

It was quite spectacular but unfortunately being a Monday the fish part of it wasn't operating.

We went for breakfast at the Granier cafe near the Central Market, where we had apple pastry and some others. Opposite it was a building with an interesting adornment.

We wandered round the old city, and found the Plaça Redona, and interesting circular "square".

From there we went to the Cathedral, and paid to go up the bell tower where we had spectacular views over the city.

Once down we went to the Plaza de la Virgen behind the Cathedral, with its fountain and statues.

There was a church there with a Mass actually taking place.

From there we walked to the old city walls and the Torres de Serranos.

There was an old bridge over the riverbed park

From there we walked quite a long way south, to the Russafa district. This is a lot less touristy but quite interesting, there were lots of second hand clothes stalls on the streets and a municipal market.

Then back towards the centre of the city, and the Mercado Colon a food market.

We tried the local drink, Horchata, which is made from tiger nuts. It was refreshing and very sweet, with a bit of a coconutty taste.

We then walked round a bit more. Some of the city architecture is stunning, this is the ceramic museum.

We then went to the Botanic Gardens which were quiet and very pretty.

On the way back we remembered we hadn't yet been to see the Silk Exchange, so we went in to that. Inside the roof is supported by spectacular twisted columns.

We went back to the apartment and got ready for our evening out.

First we went to a craft beer bar called Tyris On Tap which was modern with great beer. We then went to the Bodega del Gato, which is a tapas bar.

We had a selection of tapas - potato tortilla, tomato, cheese and anchovy salad, shrimp croquettes and pork ribs. It was all pretty good.

Valencia - Day 2

We went out just before 9.30 and went for breakfast at Bertal on the corner of Placa Reina near the cathedral. We had chocolate croissants and coffee.

We then went to a bike hire place and got bikes for the day. We cycled down the Turia riverbed park. This is a 9km strip formed when the Turia riverbed was diverted around the city after a flood in the 50s. It's an amazing place with lots to see and do.

There are some stunning modern buildings at the part called the City of Arts and Sciences.

We cycled down as far as the port, then parked the bikes and walked to the end of the pier. Down near the sea it was pretty windy, which actually made it quite chilly.

We cycled a few miles up the promenade behind the large beach, then stopped for a drink at a sheltered table at a beach bar.

We made our way back to the Turia park, where we spent some time walking around the City of Arts and Sciences.

Further up we found a busy Andalusian Fair with lots of food stalls and some Flamenco dancers. We had a hot dog and sat on the grass for a bit.

We then cycled right to the top end of the riverbed near the zoo. It's very well used we saw numerous sports fields, football, rugby, cricket etc. The were loads of runners and cyclists too.

At the far end there is a boating pond.

At about 5pm we handed the bikes back, having cycled more than 30km.

We walked to Plaça de Lope de Vega again for a drink, and on reading the guidebook there we realised we were right next to what's supposed to be the narrowest building in Europe.

We went back to the apartment for a shower and a rest.

The streets outside were still busy so we had our doubts whether we'd get a table at any decent restaurant. We chose one from its reviews and walked to the Barrio del Carmen district only to find it was closed.

In a bar we had a drink of Agua de Valencia, which is a local cocktail of Cava, orange juice and vodka. We had a good walk around looking for somewhere to eat, taking the opportunity to book a table for Monday at Bodega del Gato near the apartment.

Eventually we found a table at a busy restaurant called El Rall. The food was good but the service not so much. We had Valencian paella which was pretty good. It had chicken and rabbit, though not very much of the latter. We also had patatas bravas.