After a well-deserved lazy start, we treated ourselves to breakfast in the hotel this morning (which was thankfully served until 11am!). We ignored the English cooked version that was available, and enjoyed fresh fruit; cheeses, meats (for Tom) and breads; freshly squeezed orange juice; and delicious pastries.
We then headed down some scary clear glass stairs to reception…
We had been a little disappointed by our room last night. It was lovely and had a terrace, but we’d booked a Junior Suite, which, according to the picures and description on booking.com, should have been much bigger and had a larger terrace with a table and chairs. Fuelled by limoncello, Tom had mentioned this (in his usual quiet and polite manner) to reception last night, and they’d said they would move us this morning. So, new keys collected, we moved our luggage and settled into our new room – which is ridiculously spacious, has a much nicer terrace and is off the main road. We are now very happy with it! Photos to follow later in the post.
Today had been planned as one for pottering, so we wandered off to the City of Arts and Sciences, which is only about a 5 minute walk from our hotel.
This modern area, opened between 1998 and 2005, is absolutely stunning. The buildings are beautifully designed, with definite nods to Gaudi in parts, and fit in with Valencia and its nearby park perfectly. It includes a 4D cinema, a science museum, a huge aquarium (which we’re going to on Tuesday) and an opera house. It is surrounded by shallow, man-made lakes with turquoise bottoms, which pop out against the white of the surrounding buildings and walk-ways.
Discovering that you could rent kayaks for 20 minutes to pootle round on one of the man-made lakes, we decided this would be a lovely way to start the day. However, apparently they were only for children (we later realised that this really meant skinny people!), so we had to settle for a rowing boat instead. This was still great fun, but the oars were rather tricky as they slid about. Thankfully Tom did a marvellous job and we really enjoyed ourselves!
Next we wandered up the Jardin del Turia. This is a gorgeously lush green park that runs for about 7km through Valencia. It was built on the bed of the old route of the river, which was rerouted last century after multiple, serious floods. Along the way, there are fountains, palm trees, different gardens, a wide variety of bridges, and Parc Gulliver, which uses a lying down Gulliver to create slides etc for young Lilliputians!
Our final main plan for the day was to visit the cathedral. Getting there took a little longer than planned, as we found a lovely little tapas bar! We stopped for our first taste of Agua de Valencia (orange juice, Cava, vodka and gin) and ordered a couple of dishes to help soak up the alcohol! It actually wasn’t too strong, but it was deliciously refreshing in the high, and rather humid, temperatures!
The short, 15 minute walk from there to the cathedral was lined with historical buildings and monuments, as well an an ancient tree.
The cathedral itself is a truly stunning building, both outside and in. It was built on the site of a mosque (unsurprisingly, as Valencia was a muslim city for a large chunk of its history) and one side of it (and therefore one of its stained glass windows) still faces Mecca. For 8 EUR, you get entry and a really interesting audio-tour, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. A lot of the decoration is a little gold and decadent for our liking, but the curved ceiling and “turret” above the alter is both beautifully simple and beautifully light, with windows made of alabaster marble!
However, the cathedral’s favourite claim to fame is that it professes to house the genuine Holy Grail! Whether this is true or not is anyone’s guess, but the room it is in has a lovely ceiling, so was well worth the visit. It’s a good job Monty Python didn’t know it was there: it would have made for a very short and not-nearly-as-funny film!
A quick trip to a little supermarket followed, before catching the bus back to the hotel for a well earned dip in the litttle, roof-top pool (from which you can actually, just, see the sea!). We’re now chilling on our enormous terrace, updating the blog, munching on bread and cheese and planning things for tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the elephants in the Bioparc, but I think Tom’s more excited for the indoor food market!
Can you see the sea? 
HUGE terrace! 
You can just see the City of Arts and Sciences from the terrace. 
Chill time!
PS – Tom and I have both just acquired new phones with amazing wide-angle lenses, so apologies for all the wide angle photos!