More Valencia Sights, Again (Sep 26, 2025)

Writing this on 9/30 so before the pics, some updates.  

First, Fe and I had a dental appointment yesterday; her second, my first.  Got some bad news that I'm not used to hearing: I had two cavities.  I'm scheduled to go back on October 2nd to get them filled.  For an exam, cleaning, and two bitewing x-rays, I paid 50 EUR (about 58 USD).  Fe's work was far more substantial, but the good news is that she should be all finished by the time we leave Valencia on the 11th.  I know she is relieved about that.

Second, the rain isn't too bad now--it should clear out by this afternoon--but overnight (about 1:30 am), I heard this loud splashing of water outside the apartment door.  I went to look and there was a mini-waterfall coming down through the stairwell.  There was some water on the lobby floor when I went out this morning.  Bad as that is, I haven't seen reports that this storm was as bad as last year's.

Back to the tour:

View near the public library, which was a former hospital (that's what the columns are for).

Another view of the columns.  When I saw these in 2017 I thought they were Roman, but I found out on our Jan 2025 trip that they were from the old hospital. 

This building houses the Ceramic Museum

Fountain in the Plaza del Patriarcha

Entrance to the Royal College and Seminary of Corpus Christi (Iglesia del Patriarcha)

View of the church

View inside the church.  I don't see tapestries on the wall very often.

Another view

Closeup of the ceiling

Church courtyard

Iglesia de Santo Tomas y de San Felipe Neri

Church Altar

Side Altar

On the way back to the apartment, I stopped at the Central Market to fulfill Fe's polvorón request.

Well, that morning's done.  More photos to come.

More Valencia Sights (Sep 24, 2025)

They are calling for heavy rains the next two days here so I will use the time to catch up.  We got a couple of warnings on our phone about possible flooding (the second one was in English).  I hope it's not as bad as the flooding last year.

We haven't been doing a lot anyway, so these will be mostly photo dumps--with some explanation of course--of what I've seen while walking around town.

Turia Fountain, Plaza of the Virgin

Ceramic Plaque, Church of St. Lorenzo

Borja Palace.  During the Spanish Civil War, it was the HQ of the Republican government.  Now it's the seat of government of the Valencia Region.

All the photos above were taken in the Old Town.  I walked across the Serranos Bridge over the Turia Garden, a linear park that wraps around Valencia.  It was created from the dry riverbed of the relocated Turia River.  This part of town is more residential and modern, but there are still things to see.

St. Monica Church

Tile plaque on the church

Serranos Towers from across the Serranos Bridge

They used to pour hot oil on invaders through this opening.  Luckily, I made it through.

Lebanese tea and sweet shop.  Good thing I left my wallet at the apartment.

Another Valencia door

Fountain in the Plaça del Negret

This is Rosita Amores, a famous Valencian cabaret performer.  In a paella pan.

That's it for today, but don't worry.  I'll be playing the wandering tourist again tomorrow.

Vacation vs Slow Travel (Sep 23, 2025)

We haven't done much in the past few days.  I mentioned it in my last blog, but you need a different mindset when slow traveling versus vacationing.  You have to be more careful budget-wise: no eating out every meal, watching out for what sights charge for entry fees, etc.  You also have to "set up house" if you're in a place for a week or more.  We have practice in Valencia from last time, but groceries are a budget item that has to be taken into account.  In other words we're living here, not just sightseeing.

Dental work (dental tourism) is another thing that keeps us occupied.  Fe is having her second (and final) stage of her dental work done--the first part was done in January 2025--and I'm getting a cleaning and exam done.  Yes, I can get insurance through my work plan, but the extent of Fe's work would still be more expensive with the deductible.  No, I'm not including the airfare or accommodation cost in the comparison since we were going to travel here anyway (It'll be even cheaper when we go to SE Asia).

That being said, walking around and admiring the surroundings is free:

St. Augustine Church

Saint Augustine

Merry-go-round near the train station.  Don't think I've seen a double-decker one before.

We did eat out for dinner to have paella.  Valencia was its birthplace after all.

Valencia Cathedral at night

Turia Fountain, Plaza of the Virgin

Fe and I in front of Torres de Serranos

Torres de Serranos

Valencia City Hall

Fountain in the Plaza del Ayunimiento

Hotel Valencia--where we stayed on our family trip to Spain in 2017

Valencia door

Casa Cruz del Passeig, Paseo de Ruzafa

View from the lookout on the top floor of El Corte Ingles.  There's even a cafeteria up here!

Not my typical post, but at least you're seeing what we're doing.

High-Speed Train to Valencia (Sep 18, 2025)

Today was our travel day to Valencia--and a travel hiccup, but more on that later.

We got to the station early for our 10:15 train because one, I've never been to Barcelona station and don't want to miss it; and two, we wanted time for breakfast.

Barcelona Train Station, Barcelona-Sants

The schedule board.  Our 10:15 train is in the middle; Alicante is the final stop, Valencia is the one before that.

Train ticket.  I didn't think it was high-speed, but it was.  Spain is second only to China in high-speed rail lines, so i should have.

After about 3.5 hours we made it to Valencia and then found our accommodation:

Bedroom

Living area

Kitchen

Bathroom with washer

Now for the hiccup.  The above pictures are the "official" ones taken for Facebook (ha ha).  It turned out that our bathroom had mold:

Bathroom ceiling

Now, if we were here just a day or two I think we could've made do, but for three weeks it was an issue.  So we texted the host and moved into a new room the next day:

Bedroom

Living area

Kitchen

Bathroom

We're happier here--and although I'm not sure the AC is working quite right, that's something we can live with easier than mold.  It'll make me feel more European, ha ha.  So we just got some lunch, bought some things to set up "house", and settled in.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.