We Seek the Holy Grail: Valencia

After enjoying some of Sevilla’s Feria, I took advantage of the rest of my week off from classes to do some more traveling! My aunt and uncle have some friends who are American but have been living in Valencia, Spain for many years. They very generously offered to have me and a friend come stay with them, so my friend Chantelle and I hopped on the train to check out a new city and enjoy not having to pay for a hostel! (And, thanks to my aunt’s friends’ generosity, we were lucky enough to get some delicious food, as well!)

We took the AVE from Sevilla to Madrid, then switched trains to go from Madrid to Valencia. We arrived Wednesday morning and stayed through Friday afternoon, which was more than enough time to explore Valencia while also taking a much-needed break. Both of us had been doing a lot of traveling recently and were in the middle of the semester with a heavy workload, so a more relaxed trip was just what we had in mind! Our hosts were very thoughtful and prepared us some American-style comfort food (baked potatoes!) as well as some delicious salmon, and I enjoyed getting to talk with some other Americans about their perspective on living abroad and how they perceived Spanish culture and lifestyle. They also had a lot of great travel stories to tell, as well as plenty of advice to offer regarding travel within Spain, and things to see in Valencia.

Valencia was an interesting city to visit, as it is Spain’s third largest city (after Madrid and Barcelona), yet it isn’t as touristy. I noticed that people sometimes seemed surprised to hear my friend and I speaking English or to see me taking pictures, whereas in other Spanish cities a tourist would hardly get a second glance. Valencia is the capital city of the autonomous community of Valencia, and it is a major port city, so it was urban and there was a lot of culture and history, but it was nice to not be somewhere as crowded where everyone is always trying to sell you something.

One area that was neat to see was the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (the City of Arts and Sciences; the language is Valencian, which is a variety of the Catalan language.) This is a cultural and architectural complex that includes several buildings with very modern, unique designs that house a planetarium, an IMAX theater, museums, an opera house, and more. The area was developed between 1996 and 2005, and is fun to walk around in and explore. These buildings are set in the bed of what was once the Turia river, which was rerouted after a disastrous, deadly flood that happened in 1957. Today, many beautiful parks and gardens sit where the river once flowed.

We visited the Lonja de la Seda, the Silk Exchange building, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is known for being an excellent example of Gothic architecture, and was built between 1482 and 1548.

One of Valencia’s other major sites is its Cathedral. This was fun, as it was a beautiful building with several different architectural styles represented. It has the preserved arm of Saint Vincent on display in a box, which I was only a bit creeped out by! But, I was excited to discover that the Cathedral of Valencia is home to what is believed to be the Holy Grail! I did a bit of reading and while there are several special cups/chalices in the world that are claimed to be the Holy Grail, many people believe this is most likely the “real” one! I enjoyed seeing that and my friend and I had fun exchanging Monty Python quotes. We also climbed to the top of the Cathedral’s bellower for some excellent views and some deafening minutes when the bells rang at the top of the hour.

We then did some more exploring in the city center. One fun place was the Parc de Gulliver, which is a public park that has a playground that’s shaped to look like Gulliver from Gulliver’s Travels when he’s tied down to the ground on the island of tiny people.

We enjoyed some beautiful mosaics at the Estació del Nord train station, which spell out “Bon voyage” in several languages.

We also stopped by the Edificio de Correos y Telégrafos to see its beautiful ceilings, as well as the Mercado Central, the Plaza de la Virgen, and the Torres de Serranos. At one point we took a break at a cafe to try horchata, a milk-like drink made from tigernuts, and fartons, a sugary bread. This is a popular Valencian snack, and it was fun to try something different!

For dinner, we ate paella, a famous rice dish that originally was made in Valencia. We were sure to eat Valencian paella, which is made with chicken and certain vegetables. I had tried seafood paella before, but it was fun to have some authentic paella in Valencia! We ate at a restaurant near the Torres de Quart and enjoyed the nice weather.

Finally, we visited the Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas, a beautiful Rococo palace that feels like a mini Versailles! It reminded me a lot of the interior of Madrid’s Royal Palace, which is also very ornately decorated.

One of the last places we visited before heading back to Sevilla was the Museo Fallero. Valencia is famous for its Las Fallas festival. Las Fallas is a traditional festival where large paper-type constructions called fallas are built and then burned. The museum we visited has smaller examples of these sculptures on display, as every year the people of Valencia vote on ones to save and not burn. Also in the museum are posters from the festivals dating back several decades. It was a great introduction to such a unique festival. I loved getting to see what Valencian traditional dress looks like, as it’s very different from the flamenco-style clothing I had seen in Sevilla. The dresses in particular seemed straight out of the 18th century, and were very beautiful.

Here’s a short video I found online from the Telegraph that gives an overview of Las Fallas:

Overall, we had a fun time in Valencia! It was nice to learn about a new city and make some new friends! Thank you so much to Bill and Claire for their generosity in letting us stay with them and experience some of the Valencian lifestyle! Your comfortable apartment, delicious food, and great stories were even better than seeing the Holy Grail!