Picto Diary - 04 - 06 April 2025 - Valencia Highlights

Above: Arts and Science Park. Valencia, Spain. 04 March 2025.

Above: Valencia Cathedral. Valencia, Spain. 04 March 2025.
The "Holy Grail." "Purported," to be sure. A pilgrimage draw for the devout.

Above: La Fachada Mas Estrecha De Europa. Valencia, Spain. 04 April 2025.
Narrowest building facade in Europe at forty-one inches. Guinnes Book of records says so. Hoops, tallest man in the plaza, looks on.

Above: Restaurant Palace Fesol, Valencia, Spain. 04 April 2025.
That tentative TIMDT look when she sees rabbit, snails, and chicken feet in the paella.
Restaurant is a local's place; only open for lunch... famous for most authentic paella in town.

Above: Placia Rodrigo Botet. Valencia, Spain. 05 April 2025
My seat at Cafe Nederland 1814. Looking left, some looker 30 something Spanish girls chain smoking away. To my right, 60 something Americans on a bicycle tour. I look for every opportunity to enjoy outdoor European cafe culture. Temperature in this image is a perfect 75 degrees. This spot was just across from our hotel, Only You Hotel. I would frequently, AM and PM, spend time here, people watching over a sparkling water and a tapas. One tapas I particularly liked was mushrooms and ham. A lot of people were drinking Valencia's signature cocktail, Agua de Valencia, kind of a mimosa on steroids e.g. substitute disproportionate amounts of gin and vodka for the mimosa's champaign. Agua de Valencia touted one of Valencia's historically famous products, the Valencia orange.

Above: Agua de Valencia.

Above: Museo Nacional de Ceramic y Artes Suntuarias. Valencia, Spain. 06 April 2025
TIMDT in the foreground. TIMDT (lower left) looking pretty good after her influenza ordeal on the Regent Grandeur midway in the Atlantic Ocean over a week ago.

Above: Fallas Festival, Valencia, Spain. 06 April 2025.
Celebration of the Coming of Spring. We serendipitously encountered a mustering of Fallas Festival celebrants as we exited the ceramic museum. We followed their procession, brass band and all, through the narrow old town streets to cathedral square. This excellent (IMHO) image was captured on TIMDT's I-Phone.

Above: Valencia Cathedral Square. Valencia, Spain. 06 April 2025.
Taking a cafe break. We are spending four days in Valencia. This slow, unhurried, touring is a first for us. In former times we always seem to have been in a big "get in and get out" hurry. The cafe culture relaxation in perfect weather suits us as we grow older. Our hotel here, Only You Hotel, is very well located where most sightseeing destinations are within a leisurely walk.

For many years, Spain was not on our travel radar. Circa 2010 I joined El Contador on a trip to the Pamplona bull festival and onward to Madrid for some top-notch flamenco dancing performances. We took a ferry from Plymouth to Santander and drove a rental car to Pamplona, then, after three nights, onward to Madrid. Two years later TIMDT joined Comic Mom on a trip to Galicia to walk the Camino de Santiago. A Disney cruise circa 2015 with the family permitted a visit to Barcelona. Two subsequent trips by me and TIMDT enabled more of Madrid, and first time visits to Toledo, Segovia, Grenada and Malaga. New stops on this trip are Cadiz (Andalucia) and Valencia.

Above: Valencia Aquarium, Valencia, Spain. 06 April 2025.
Claimed to be largest aquarium in Europe and seventh largest aquarium in the world. Nice outing, good weather. Sunday, so it was busy. Still, good to see a lot of families with young kids... young kids being in short supply in Europe.

Addendum:

You certainly get around!
Drummer J,
Lehi, UT

Thanks Steve! I’ve always wanted to visit Spain and your pictures of beautiful places and delicious food make it more so.
Tony
Park City, UT

Wow! Very envious. I spent a good part of my mission there. Actually performed in Palau de la Música in a musical review. Nobody would listen to us, so we tried music. Played Ginger Baker’s (Cream) drum solo. Brought down the house.

Thanks for the pics.
Apple Store,
Salt Lake City, UT