Europe 2008 Part 28

Valencia

We were booked on a Ryanair flight from Rome to Valencia in the evening. Ryanair uses the second airport, some kilometres south of Rome. To get there we had to go to the end of the underground line and then catch a bus the last few kms to the airport.

 

Like all the flights we made on "cheapie" airlines, the plane, a 737, was full. It was a 2-hour flight, straight across the Mediterranean past Sardinia to Valencia.

 

The Valencia airport at that time was brand-new, having been upgraded for the America's Cup races. And it was served by a modern underground train unit, which took us to the edge of the city and then came above ground and turned into a tram! At the end of the tramline we caught a bus the few stops to our friends, who lived at a beach to the north of the city.

 

From their apartment you could see across the bay to where the America's Cup headquarters had been (see the marquee in this photo).

 

 

 Next morning after a breakfast at the neighbourhood café we caught the bus into the centre of the city.

 

The buildings were all modern in the centre, even futuristic, as you can see. Some of them were designed by Jorn Utzon, who also designed the Sydney Opera House.

 

We presume this is all because the old centre was badly damaged during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and has been rebuilt since.

 

The city is full of trees, and the shopping displays were especially beautiful. Later we walked around to the modern shopping centre of Mercato de Colon, in the building in the photo on the right.

 

Valencia is roughly the size of Auckland in population, and struck us as a very pleasant place to live; certainly our friends Murray and Nicky like living there well enough. Murray is a New Plymouth boy and Nicky comes from the UK.

 

They had an apartment in a block right next to the beach; there are dozens built to the same style lining the shore, all with a magnificent view of the sea and the harbour area, and close access to sand, children's playgrounds, swimming, and other seaside sports.

 

The only negative experience we had was being pickpocketed near the central square in front of the railway station. My shoulder bag was open on my shoulder and without my feeling anything my old wallet was removed, and the two women involved were seen hopping into a taxi which then sped away. A passerby who had seen the incident told us about it so we examined the bag for loss.

 

Fortunately it was my older wallet that had gone (I did not keep the new one anywhere handy). All it contained was loyalty cards from every café in New Plymouth, so I think the pickpockets must have been a bit disappointed.

 

When we got to Paris we bought a new wallet in a leathergoods shop in L'Avenue de l'Opera.