We bit the bullet and rode a bus. Seville, Cordoba, and Granada are small enough, and the main sites compact enough within the city center, to get by only with walking. Not Valencia. After mastering the tram to get to the beach, we did the same with the bus system to travel to la Ciudad de les Arts y les Ciénces (the City of Arts and Sciences).
The buses are supposed to be air conditioned, but I’m not convinced. Maybe the air was just set too high. Or because it was standing room only, the air was not powerful enough. Our 30 minute bus ride was the closest thing I’ve had to a 30 minute sauna on this trip. At 9:30 AM I did not expect it to be cooler outside than on the bus. While Stephanie sat down, I stood by one of the doors in an effort to get an occasional breeze.
It was all we could do not to jump off early and walk the rest of the way. Fortunately most of the passengers exited a few stops before ours. The bus clearing out definitely helped.
The City of Arts and Sciences was built in the late 1990s to early 2000s (https://www.cac.es/va/home.html). It has six main components: Hemisphèric (IMAX theater); Museu de les Ciències (interactive science museum); Oceanogràfic (aquarium); Palau de les Arts (performing arts theater); Umbracle (outdoor garden); and, the Àgora (event center).
Our day started at Oceanogràfic, the largest aquarium in Europe (https://www.oceanografic.org/). We bought a combination ticket with the science museum for about 33€ each, not much more than the cost of a single aquarium ticket. There were about 30 people in line waiting to get in at the 10:00 AM opening on a Wednesday.
Oceanogràfic is comprised of what I view as several major and minor exhibits. The major aquarium exhibits are: Mediterranean sea; Tropical seas; Oceans/Sharks; Arctic/Baluga whales; and, Antarctic, penguins. The dolphins have their own amphitheater where shows are performed in the afternoon. Minor exhibits include sea lions, tortoises (several types), sea turtles, seals, crocodiles, flamingos, and an aviary that you can walk through. A movie theater and several restaurants complete Oceanogràfic.
Our favorites were the Mediterranean and Tropical aquariums. Never having seen Baluga whales before, that was a great exhibit. The sharks were interesting, but not a high point. We did not stay long enough to see a dolphin show and skipped the movie theater. The minor exhibits are similar to what you will see in high quality zoos.
The Mediterranean tortoises treated us to a show. One of the tortoises was beating the hell out of another. At first a larger tortoise repeatedly rammed a smaller one with its shell. When the smaller tortoise tried to take off and run, it was chased and bitten. Stephanie alerted an employee to the injured turtle, of course! Later online we looked up aggressive tortoise behavior. Per Google we likely saw a male tortoise exhibiting either territorial aggression against another male, or foreplay with a female.
Oceanogràfic is easily one of the best places we have been in Spain. If we were in Valencia longer than a month I’d probably have bought a yearly pass and returned several times.
After leaving Oceanogràfic we walked around the Agora, through the Umbracle, past the Museu de les Ciències and Hemisphèric, and ended at the Palau de les Arts building. We circled back through the large shallow pools surrounding the buildings and made our way into the Museu de les Ciències (https://www.cac.es/es/museu-de-les-ciencies/museu-de-les-ciencies/descubre-el-museu.html).
The science museum covers three floors. The top floor has numerous exhibits related to genes and the human body. See a heart sliced into pieces. Pull on this rope to see how long your intestines are. Check out different types of jaws and teeth. Walk across this shifting board to test your equilibrium. That sort of thing. Also on the top floor are several exhibits related to gravity and space exploration, with a focus on Mars.
The middle floor is simply a walk through display examining the achievements of three researchers and Nobel Prize winners. The bottom floor is about music and sound, has a little kids area, Foucault’s Pendulum, and also exhibits on the construction of the City and Arts and Sciences. A theater of science was closed.
A family could spend hours in this place if you go through and actually interact with the exhibits and read the information. Stephanie and I did little interacting and cannot read Spanish. So it was a quick hour or so for us. Honestly I doubt we would have gone much slower even if it was in English.
We left the City of Arts and Sciences, walked past a large, modern shopping mall, and minutes later were in local farmlands. Walking among fields of vegetables across the street from both the City of Arts and Sciences and a shopping mall was interesting to say the least. We had a late lunch at Alquería del Pou, ordering paella with seafood and meat. Our two person paella could have fed a family of four. From there it was a walk back to the bus stop and a 30 minute ride back to our Airbnb.
Daily we pass by or walk through the Jardí del Túria (Turia Gardens), an urban park existing in the former channel of the Turia River. After a devastating flood in 1957, Valencia diverted the Turia River from its usual course around the north and east of the city center to the outskirts of the city to the south. In its place arose a wonderful park.
Over 5 miles long and about 20 feet below street level, the park has bike lanes on both sides, walking and running trails down the middle, along with soccer fields, baseball diamonds, skateboard parks, playgrounds, fountains, green space, and trees. It’s very popular with joggers and dog owners. Games seem to be always ongoing at the soccer fields and baseball diamonds.
Parc Gulliver, a massive play set created by a giant recumbent Gulliver, is one of the highlights of the Turia Gardens. Kids and adults alike are transformed into Lilliputians next to Gulliver. Whoever thought of this design is a genius. It is closed now, not sure why. We knew Parc Gulliver is closed, but had to see it. When open I bet this is a popular site with families.
Turia Gardens is essentially bookended by the la Ciudad de les Arts y les Ciénces on the east and Bioparc València (the zoo) on the west, which is where we are headed next.
Garrett and Stephanie
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