Leaving Barcelona - To Valencia

          We left Barcelona after three wonderful days and headed to the city of Valencia. Upon reading some, I learned that Spain was divided into 17 distinct regions called Comunidades Autónomous, which means autonomous community. Each region is allowed to have their own legislation. As I mentioned in a previous post, we started off in the region of Catalonia. Valencia is within the region called Valencian.

This map shows the 17 regions of Spain

       We arrived in the quaint coastal city of Valencia, which is surrounded by orchards and farms. We settled into our hotel that afternoon and headed out for a leisurely dinner near our hotel. While dining, our waiter was kind enough to give us a lesson on Iberian Ham. This is one of Spain's delicacies that can be found at nearly every restaurant. We also learned of some other Spanish delicacies, like paella, which is one of my dad's favorites. 

My brother and I having a little "jamón" humor

    One of the most incredible things that we did have the chance to visit was the City of the Arts and Sciences. This complex of modern buildings consists of the largest aquarium in Europe, a museum, a planetarium, an arboretum, an opera house, and pools surrounding most of the structures. These were undoubtedly the most extravagant and futuristic buildings I have ever seen.

This is the opera house that resembles a spaceship

We got to spend some time in a water walking ball in the pool behind the opera house

There were many other sites to see in Valencia, but unfortunately, our car was broken into during our first full day here. We spent most of our time getting our new rental car situated and sorting things out with police. It was very sad to miss out on much of this beautiful city, but I would definitely love to come back. The church of La Seo, which is in the center of the city, which was completed in 1482, will certainly be on my list. 

“Valencia.” Edited by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 10 May 2017.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Valencia-Spain