4/23/22 First Day in Valencia

 Valencia is the home of architect Santiago Calatrava, who is famous for bridges and structures of outstanding beauty. He created theaddition to the Milwaukee Museum of Art (after I left Wisconsin, but I did get to visit it) and the Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA. Here, he created the City of Arts and Sciences with a collection of buildings and open spaces that are stunning. Unfortunately, they are not all well-used and expensive to maintain, so his hometown is not as enthusiastic about his work as I am.

This is a special exhibition hall, but is the one that is
least used. Below is the same building seen through
the cable-stay bridge next to it.

The one on the left is an opera house. From this direction
it looks helmet like, but from the side, it is more like a
cruise ship.

The Imax theater which is sometimes seen as an eyeball.

From there, we traveled to the old town and walked around and did a bit of shopping.

Hand painted fans are a very big deal.
This is a fan artist at work.

The next 4 photos are of the entry gate: side, moat,
front, and back.

Apparently the backside was a way of demonstrating
the wealth of the area, which was big in textiles,
especially silk.

A building in the Plaza of the Virgin, next to the
Valencia Cathedral below

Bell tower of Santa Catalina Church

Another side of the Valencia Cathedral

Valencia Orange Trees

Interiors of the Silk Exchange Building

The Devil is helping someone 'fatten' an
animal for sale by filling it with water.

A wooden ceiling like this was enormously
expensive, showing how rich the city was
until the silk worms died and the market
crashed.

We moved to the market square and got an assignment to go in with 5 euros each and to purchase an item of food named on a slip of paper. We were not supposed to use our phones to translate, but were told how to ask 'do you have' and 'how much does it cost'. This was a contest between the 4 groups of about 22 travelers on the ship. Our group was segmented into 12 teams and sent out to search. Our assignment was Queso Fresco, which was criminally easy. In the end, our team came in second with 11 correct purchases out of 12. 

The market building

A weather vane with a parrot on top.

Afterwards, we walked toward lunch: a quasi cooking school where we got to assist in the creation of the traditional Valencian paella, which is made with chicken and rabbit and was theoretically invented here.

A transformer posing for photos

The figure behind the vegetation is Gulliver in Lilliput,
in a children's playground. Currently being renovated.

Three fellow traveler's stirring paella

The enormous paella pan with our lunch.