April 27 – 29

Continuing on from the market, we passed the Church of Sant Joan del Mercat, before arriving at the Llotja de la Seda (Silk Exchange) a late Valencian Gothic-style civil building that is considered to be a principal tourist attraction in the city.  Built between 1482 and 1533, the Llotja is composed of three parts (plus the Orange Garden – a walled courtyard).  The main hall, Sala de Contractació (The Trading Hall), is a large lavishly decorated space supported by gorgeous, twisted columns.  This was the financial center of La Lonja, where the merchants worked out contracts.

The side-wing is named the Pavilion of the Consulate, and this was the seat of the Consolat del Mar – the first marine merchant tribunal to ever be formed in Spain.  The first two floors were the main function rooms, with the upper one hosting a richly decorated ceiling.  These rooms are still maintained with original furnishings.  On occasion, the Tribunal would imprison merchants for debts in the central tower of La Lonja – the third part of the structure. 

We left the exchange and walked to Plaza de la Reina, which abuts Valencia’s Cathedral de Santa Maria, which was also closed for the holiday.  The site of the cathedral has been a place of worship since Roman times, as there was a temple dedicated to Jupiter or Diana there.  The main structure of Valencia Cathedral was built between the 13th and 15th centuries, so it is mainly in the Gothic style.  However, its construction took centuries, which is why there is a mixture of artistic styles – ranging from early Romanesque to subtle Renaissance, ornate Baroque and the more restrained Neoclassicism – which is the most relevant feature of the Cathedral, and which makes it a jewel of universal architecture.

By now it dawned on us that we weren’t likely to get much more sightseeing done that day and so turned our attention to grabbing some food as it had been some time since our Tostada breakfast.  We sat outside at a small café and ordered some drinks, a white wine for me, Tinto Verano for Bev and some sort of a sparkling citrus spritzer for Joanna.  Along with that we demolished what would turn out to be absolutely the best meatballs in tomato sauce I think I’ve ever encountered and some other dish I can’t recall, mainly because we didn’t get a receipt due to a developing situation that would make the rest of the day quite interesting. 

Right about the time we were sitting down at the café a major power blackout occurred across the Iberian Peninsula affecting mainland Portugal and peninsular Spain, where electric power was interrupted for about ten hours in most of the Peninsula and longer in some areas.  This would create a whole host of issues for us, none all that serious but the confusion it created resonated for the rest of the day.  The first part was dealing with paying the bill for our lunch, which we had to do with cash as the credit card machine was down.  Next up was trying to hail an Uber to get us back to the apartment, which proved fruitless leaving us to stand near the Serranos Gate (we would return here for our bike tour the next day) where we finally managed to get a cab to pull over and rescue us. 

We arrived back at the apartment and settled in for what we thought would be a long evening without power.  Fortunately, we always travel with the type of headlamps one would use for camping and hiking at night and as is often the case, just about the time we pulled ours out to put them into use, the power came back on.  We spent the rest of the night snacking on the supplies we’d purchased earlier, drinking wine, Tinto Veranos, and some nice port until it was time for bed.

The next morning, we traveled back to the Serranos Gate neighborhood where, before the start of or scheduled bike tour, I grabbed a coffee and a snack at a café while Joanna and Bev did some shopping.  Once they returned, we walked a short block to meet up with Luke, our guide and the owner at Bike Guy VLC.  As with the many bike tours we’ve done in the last couple of years (well, maybe except for that one in Marrakech) they were all excellent ways to get to know a city. 

Our tour would include a number of the places we had walked to the day before and as we were on bikes, we again didn’t get a chance to go inside any of them, but that was OK as we got to see a lot of other sights in the center of town.  We then took off for the part of town known as the City of Arts and Sciences, a cultural and architectural complex that is the most important modern tourist destination in the city and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.

It is situated at the southeast end of the former riverbed of the river Turia, which was drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957 and the old riverbed turned into a picturesque sunken park.  Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project began the first stages of construction in July 1996 and was inaugurated in April 1998 with the opening of L’Hemisfèric.  The last major component of the City of Arts and Sciences, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (the Opera House), was inaugurated in October 2005, Valencian Community Day.

The Opera house rises 14 stories above ground and includes three stories below ground, and its height is 246 feet, making it the tallest opera house in the world.  Under the metallic, expansive curved-roof structure, 755 feet in length, the 431,000 sq ft building contains four auditoriums.  We loitered a bit here taking pictures of the amazing looking buildings in the complex and then repaired to a café near the waterfront for a complimentary drink.  And then it was time to return to the bike shop and use an Uber to get back to the apartment in time to change for the last activity of our time in Valencia, a Paella cooking class. 

We booked the class, Valencian Paella Cooking Class, Tapas & Sangria Evening, through Viator as Joanna and I had enjoyed a similar experience in Barcelona in 2017.  We took an Uber to get there and upon arrival were greeted by the staff who immediately started making their versions of Sangria, a different take on what we are used to.  This one incorporated the usual red wine and some fruit, but also utilized a local liquor called Cassalla Cervero (an anise type aged in orange wood stills since 1935) that helped to provide an additional kick to an already tasty beverage. 

This would be an interactive evening, with us doing as much of the cooking as the instructors did.  We started with some appetizers, which included Patatas bravas, jamón serrano, Manchego cheese, steamed mussels and olives which held us in good stead as we continued to consume sangria and started cooking.  Over the course of the next 30 minutes or so we sauteed chicken, rabbit and vegetables, stirred, them all and moved various ingredients around in the Paella pans, eventually producing a finished product that was delicious. 

Soon enough our evening was over and a about $73 apiece, it was well worth the money spent.  Thinking it would be easy enough to reverse our route on Uber, we were surprised when it directed us to walk some distance to the pickup point, not something we’ve ever been asked to do.  Without any other options we started walking and soon determined we might not get to the pickup point in time as it was a good distance from the dinner location.  Long story short, we did make it, but it would not be the only time it would happen to us on the trip. We’ll cover that later in Madrid.  And for now, on to Toledo. 

Links

Mercat Central: https://www.mercadocentralvalencia.es/

Silk Exchange: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what-to-do-valencia/valencian-culture/monuments-in-valencia/lonja-silk-exchange

Bike Guy VLC: https://www.bikeguyvlc.com/

Queen Sofia Palace of Arts: https://www.lesarts.com/

Paella Cooking Class: https://www.viator.com/tours/Valencia/Valencian-Paella-cooking-class-tapas-and-sangria-Evening/d811-102062P11

Cassalla Cervero: https://destileriacervero.com/