oday we toured Valencia (just for reference it is actually pronounced Balencia by Spaniards, since they really do not have a “V” in the language) We walked from the hotel to the market and had free time to explore while there. This market is a huge place with a large atrium in the middle with tiles and glass. Everything you can imagine is in this market. they have seafood, fruits, vegetables, herbs,and a bit more. We tried some Horchata (my dad has talked about this for years now) This drink is a favorite of the area and is popular in the summer time since it’s cold.
Originally from Valencia, the idea of making horchata from yellow nutsedge comes from the period of Muslim presence in Valencia (from the eighth to thirteenth centuries).
It has a regulating council[4] to ensure the quality of the product and the villages where it can come from, with the Designation of Origin. The village of Alboraia is well known for the quality of its horchata.
It is served ice cold as a natural refreshment in the summer, often served with fartons. Tigernut horchata is also used instead of milk by the lactose intolerant.
The students bought various different items including some of the chufas that is how the horchata is made. We took some pictures on the front steps and started walking to the bus stop. We hopped on the bus to the Arts and Sciences in the newer, modern area of Valencia that has been revitalized over the last, what, maybe 10 years. This area used to be a river bed before the city rerouted it fter a very bad flood. Today it’s the Arts and Sciences Musuem and the Oceangraphic Aquarium that is known thoughout The US and Europe as being the largest. They have an IMAX theater that shows educational movies. We watched that. It’s pretty neat, it has futuristic settings and seats. After the movie we walked down to the Aquarium. There are so many different animals there and the layout is pretty.
The Areas:
The Wetlands
The Red Sea
The Mediterrean
The Oceans
The actual aquarium has beluga whales, sharks, stingrays, lots of different fish and sealife in one of those over head viewing tanks. They also have walrus’, sea lions, dolphins. We split for lunch and to explore. Me, mom, Diana and Juanita had lunch with Hugo and talked. That was a fun time let me tell you! He has lots of stories and experiences. They had a big main attraction dolphin show. After the show we walked to the bus and went to the beach. it was a bit chilly, maybe 55 or so but the beach was absolutly wonderful! I’ve not seen a beach since August of 2014 so it was pretty nice to see it. Some of the students took their shoes off and dipped into the water. I took pics, lots of pics of them and several good sunset shots with perfect lighting. It was very peaceful and a nice little unexpected break that was not on the itenary. I grabbed some sand and shells also for my collection. Once we were done we walked down to the tram station. They don’t have metros in that area because its too soft there so they use trams, upper rail ways to certain areas. It was pretty neat we could see it traveling and see the turns of the cars. After our tram, we got on the metro to make it back to our restaurant for dinner. Dinner was good (more on that later)
Ann Dawson's - Travel Blog 