First full day in Valencia and it was just me and Mr. Calatrava. The world famous Spanish architect who managed to get the city to fund an enormous complex of his buildings in the linear park on the edge of the old city.
Calatrava Buildings.
The buildings are magnificent architecture but there is nothing much of interest inside. One is a performance space the next is a science museum and the third, I’m not sure.
Performance space.
The scale of the place makes the people just bugs and there are not that many of them.
With sculpture.
I had a coffee in a small cafe that I’m sure was not part of the original design but at least had a few tables and a great view.
Not my photo. But a great night shot.
I had walked to the buildings but broke down and took a bus to the contemporary art museum and saw some rather forgettable art. The place is a magnificent space but not commensurate with the art they were showing except for a gallery of Gonzalez sculptures which were somewhat captivating.
Gonzalez portrait.
I guess I’m a little jaded after last Summers’s offerings in Northern Europe. Just as I came out of the building it got very dark and started to rain – Yahoo weather had definitely not predicted this and when loading my pack I had purposely left my umbrella behind. Dodged under balconies but finally gave up and found a restaurant to have coffee until it quit.
Tuna on a schemer of gaucomole with a light Asian sauce.
Dinner was at a restaurant that my landlord Jan had recommended. The food was great but the service which I am coming to understand is not what I would expect back home was poor. Tuna on a shmere of guacamole with a light Asian sauce and then 20 minute later some fried artichokes. Great food wish they had treated me better.
Met my neighbor in the next room Adrian from Manchester, UK and had a lovely long chat. He has a remarkably similar background and outlook on life. We agreed to have dinner the next evening. Our landlord Jan was delighted that we made friends. Jan was German but had lived in Valencia for the last 30 years. An antique dealer, his house was decorated with original art and he was vary curious about mine. I as happy to show him.
Friday began with coffee in front of the facade of the ceramics museum.
Ceramics museum.
Ceramics museum.
If you like Baroque design this is the place. Incredibly and elaborately carved marble figures and embellishments that escape my powers of description. Here for once a photo is much better than words.
From there I made my way to the art museum and once again found a great building but with a rather limited collection. One Velazquez self portrait and and a Bosch that was very impressive tho poorly lit.
Checking for what exactly? Detail from Bosch Triptych.
Detail from Bosch triptych.
After that I made my way through a lovely park and watch some school kids swarm over a small fountain. Made for some good photos.
Composition of kids.
Then wandered around in a neighborhood that was definitely upscale including a building that had once been the town market. Now filled with boutiques.
“Old” market building.
Old market building, now boutiques.
When I got back to my room I found Jan in the living room and spent about two hours talking with him and discussing my art and his business. He had delt, among other things, antique Rino horn. Not sure how I felt about that but he assured me that it was quite old and so had nothing to do with extinction now being perpetrated on that poor species. He told me that he wanted Adrian and I to go to dinner with him and his wife an invite that was immediately excepted. The nearby restaurant was excellent and we were greeted like old friends by the owner. He seemed quite pleased that I ordered the bull’s tail entree, a specialty of Valencia. We all split a series of tapas that came and were eaten so fast that I cannot remember what we had except to say that all were excellent as was the conversation.
Jan, Doug, Adrian,Raquel. She’s from Paraguay.
A great dinner and time was had by all. After, Raquel was tired and went home, but we went to a bar that specialized in beer and had a few, closing the place down. Jan was pretty gone by now but he did manage to guide us home with a short detour to show us a carving on a building that was the spitting image of Chewbacca from Star Wars even tho the building predates George Lucas by a few hundred years.
Saturday was just wandering and I discover a botanic garden that provided some nice shade and quiet from the roar of the city. A class of painters was spread out all over the place trying, very hard, but without much success to capture the place. Just near the garden was a last remnant of the city walls, now all demolished, except for a giant gate that was peppered with divots made by the cannon balls of Napoleon’s besieging army.
Saturday night was dinner with Adrian. We sat outside in perfect weather in an excellent location for people watching.
Doug and Adrian at dinner Saturday night.
The food was not memorable, but the girl watching for me, and the boy watching for him, was excellent. I was shocked when I found out it was almost 1:00am. The streets were still packed and showed no signs of slowing down. I was however, and had a 10:00 am train to catch to Madrid the next morning.
Lovely town, great food and excellent people watching.
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