Gale and Tim came to play

Gale and Tim came to play during Fallas week.  Hope they enjoyed it as the place was completely manic.  We met them at the metro station in town, and it took an hour to walk back to the apartment as roads were closed off and the streets were crammed with people.  It was so exhausting that we just had to stop at a hostelry on the walk back, for a short rest!

Poor Tim was knackered on Friday evening, and me, Rod and Gale walked across the Turia at midnight, down a few bridges on the other side of the gardens in the hope of seeing the firework display.  Unfortunately if you stay in the centre you can't get near enough to see very much and the crowds of people freak me out.

But look! it was fabulous and went on for about 20 minutes

Our local Ninot, you can't see it all, but it is sperm, jumping over hurdles towards a pregnant woman to the right.  Hilarious and was sponsored by the local maternity unit.

Drinks on Saturday nights

As near to the Mascleta that we could get - see all the people behind us

Gale enjoying cocktails at Grannies

                                

The next day we walked in Plaza del Virgin to have breakfast to find the whole square bedecked with Flowers and the Virgen covered in red and white carnations.  Beautiful.

The beach after Casa Montana

Palau of Music

We walked the Turia down to the City of Arts and Sciences

We saw this US aircraft carrier today

We met the 7th Fleet this evening.  They were great fun, absolutely trollied, but hey they were on their way down to Syria, so you can't blame them

A local Ninot showing the local mascot of Valencia, the BAT

Sagunt II

We had another day out to Sagunt, about 35 minutes away by train.  Last time I couldn't go up to the castle as my back was playing up.  This time we took the vertical path up to the ruined castle, which is a mile's walk all the way around.  It was vertical!  but I made it and walked up an appetite for lunch.

The views were spectacular. Although some restoration works have been done to make the site safe and is still ongoing, it was still ruined, but there was something lovely about it.  There was only about ten people wandering around, it was very peaceful.  Views down to the sea.

We had done the museums last time we came, so today we just wandered around the small street.  It has a small Jewish area and graveyard, but the alleys were full of humour.

Entrance to the Jewish quarter

Arty Farty

We had lunch sitting outside in the gutter as usual and it was very nice. Then wandered back down the hill and caught the train back to Valencia.  Lovely day.

The Cabanyal

The Cabanyal is a fascinating area of Valencia, down by the beach and historically is where the fishermen and gipsys lived.  It is a poor area and in parts is very poverty stricken, but there is a very strong sense of community which is very apparent.  But in any other country it would have been registered as a place of historical importance and a planning regulations and building rules would have been slapped on it.

But No... not in Spain until recently.  This was related to me by Spanish people, so they realise the importance of the place.  But unfortunately the damage has been done.

It is full of lovely small houses, many in dreadful states, but many maintained, colourful and covered in tiles.

The place of course now has a dilemma.  In the past houses have been allowed to just fall down, so many of the street have gaps in them.  Over the past thirty years developers have had free reign to do what they like, and have done.  There are some monumentally ugly buildings now not in keep with the rest of the properties.  The locals want to keep their community  but can't afford to buy or do up the houses easily.  The only people who do at the moment, are the ones with money, and they upgraded the house, which are lovely, but of course it is turning into a trendy area and the house prices are going.  Which of course means the poorer people will eventually be pushed out.  I know it is the way of the world and happening everywhere.

Anyway, it is a fabulous place to wander around, poor but interesting and the people are very friendly,

We then discovered Casa Montana.  I had heard of it but we happened to walk past and found a complete gem of a bodega and tapas restaurant.  The best tapas in Valencia, and we came back three more times during our stay.

The wine was served out of barrels, as well as Vermouth, which I love.  You could take in your own bottles and come away with a litre of Vermouth for five euros.  The wine was lovely and two euros a glass and the tapas was delicious.  Then a walk on the beach to walk it off.

During Fallas we went back to the area and it was lovely to see what the locals did during the festival.

Ninots - I will talk about these later

This made me laugh - Give your child a happy childhood, but drive your parents completely bonkers