Adventures in Spanish 2013: Valencia - "The Sunshine Coast" Spanish style

Valencia is on the east coast of Spain, about half way between Barcelona and the southern edge of Spain. The climate here is very similar to what we have on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, including the humidity. The beaches here are world famous, sandy and very beautiful. However, I still think we have better beaches in Australia. The main beach here in Valencia (Malva-rosa) is a wide expanse of golden sand that stretches for a couple of kilometres. There are several other beaches as well, with the best ones reportedly ones down the coast around Benidorm and Alicante. I would have to say the beach at Benidorm would get my vote rather than Alicante or Valencia. However, beaches are very popular here and more people "tomar el sol" - take the sun (sunbake) than swim it seems. I have it on good authority that the water is generally quite cold.

Valencia is a very flat, open city, with a tram line, metro and buses. It is very easy to get around, has some world class attractions - one being the City of Arts & Sciences which is a complex of modern buildings housing an aquarium, astronomy section and a science museum. The centre of the city is medieval, complete with the cathedral, main square and towers. One other attraction is the Lonja or Silk Exchange, which is a medieval building, complete with gargoyle type statues but was never a church. There is a Plaza del Toros (bull ring) next door to the train station, a wonderful covered market place that seems to be a feature in many European cities and lovely grand buildings wherever you look.

My two favourite places are: the Jardines del Turia (Turia Gardens) which is an old river bed converted into a 9 km long park and the Plaza de la Reina (Queen's Square). The gardens are a lovely place to walk, complete with the old bridges that are still in use for traffic, although they cross the park now rather than the river. The Plaza de la Reina is just a lovely place to sit, and has my favourite tapas bar (Taberna de la Reina). I spent many an hour here with my friends Sergei and Olli. We all found it a very relaxing place to be. I've included some photos, but beware, it is really had to take a photo of a 9 km long park!