Oceanografic

Valencia has the largest aquarium in Europe in its City of Arts and Sciences complex.  We visited yesterday.

Valencia Beats Real Madrid!!!

I haven't posted anything for a few days because we have family here and we've been busy.  But, I have to post about last night's adventure.  My brother, Rick, and I went to the Mestalla stadium last night to watch Real Madrid destroy Valencia, but that's not quite what happened.

How to Make Paella

First, pick up your family at the Valencia train station.

Our Front Door

I've been playing with google maps, and decided to embed a few maps.  Here's the first.




I'll be adding more, I think, and updating some previous posts with maps.  Please let me know how they work for you.

Something in the Air

Valencianos are justifiably proud of their cooking traditions, especially paella, but though paella originated here, you can find it in many other places.  One thing that is uniquely Valencian, that happens nowhere else, is Fallas.

Favorite Statues

I discovered this interesting statue in the Plaza del Poeta Llorente.  What I love is that he's wearing a sword, but wielding a brush and palette.

Street Art

Since we arrived I've been taking pictures of the streets, especially street art.  So here's a little gallery.

Friends and Relations

Thursday night we went to a little bar called La Vitti to hear Devin, Mary's cousin, play.  Devin played drums behind a keyboard player and singer/bassist.  It was an intimate setting, with a very appreciative crowd.  It was tough to get pictures, but here's one of Devin and Mary.

The Engineering Challenge

My friend Mike Howland and I enjoy playing around with little engineering problems, like how to set up a shop with heavy floor tools that can be easily moved and rearranged, or how to make a simple and cheap humidifier--stuff like that.  We've been playing with a challenge related to being in Spain.

Our Neighborhood

We live in a mostly residential neighborhood with lots of first-floor shops, as is typical for the parts of Spain we've visited.  We have plenty of neighbors, of course, including this one getting a little fresh air.

Plaza Ayuntamiento

After a very frustrating session online trying and failing to buy tickets to the upcoming Valencia vs. Real Madrid game, we plotted a course in Google Maps to the Valencia Team Megastore.  That turned out to be a good decision, both because of the tickets and the scenery.  The store is right next to the Plaza Ayuntamiento, the big square in the middle of Valencia.

St. Joans

Right by the silk market and the central market is St. Joans.  It has a most amazing sculpture facing the silk market plaza.

Happy Super Sunday!

It's kind of difficult to watch the big game from Spain, but we're not really interested anyway.  We did go to a La Liga game last night at Mestalla Stadium.   The seating is steep, and it's a climb to get up there.  Here's how the city looks on the way up.

Cousins

By pure luck, it turns out that Mary's second cousin is here in Valencia.  By even more luck, Devin is studying music at Berklee, the same school our daughter Aleta attended, though he's at the Valencia branch, and Aleta studied in Boston.

Typical Days

Sometimes people at home ask us what do we do here in Spain for months at a time.  Well, a typical day starts with breakfast in the apartment, and we've gotten pretty fond of our little Italian espresso pot.  It makes great coffee, never bitter or too strong.  It is espresso, so takes a little getting used to, but I don't miss the coffee back in the USA at all.

Some days we have big plans for tours or trips, but on a typical day, we'll arbitrarily pick someplace in the city and navigate to it, usually on foot.  Yesterday we took a long walk to Mestalla, the soccer stadium.  We're going to a game this Saturday.