She was in Valencia (Pt.2)

Day 3
Mercado Central
Santa Catalina church & Tower
Plaza de La Virgen
Basilica de la Virgen del Desamparados
La Redonda Square
Plaza de La Reina
Post Office

So, on our last day, we had a good full day as our flight to Sevilla was at night. Started the day by going to the Central Market. Totally reminded me of our 'pasar pagi' in Malaysia, haha. Really busy with lots of people doing their grocery shopping. The market was huge with tons of stalls, mostly selling fresh stuff with a couple selling pastries and there was also a coffee bar. Our main reason to head there was to buy ham, which left us spinning because of the amount of stalls and type of ham available! Chose the stall where the man was the friendliest and was generous with letting us try all types of ham, salami, chorizo and cheese, haha. Got what we needed, Agnes has a difficult time not shopping, HAHA.

 Exterior of the Market

 Lots of stalls

Friendly ham dude, haha

Headed to the Santa Catalina Church & Tower next. I needed to find a place to do some climbing so I can get aerial photos. It was not a difficult climb, spiral stairs but with wide steps. The church was simple to say the least, very different from the churches I've been to in other cities, but it's still pretty. Then we went to Plaza de la Virgen which is one of the most important squares as most mass celebrations are held here. On the day we went, there was a protest as well, which seems to be a daily routine in European cities, haha. Went in to Basilica de la Virgen del Desamparados, fuh, long name! There are people constantly praying in this Basilica so it's important to be quiet. The altar in this basilica is the direct opposite of Santa Catalina with really ornate decorations in gold, much more vibrant than the one in the church.

 View from Tower

 Santa Catalina Church

Basilica de la Virgen del Desamparados

Found ourselves at La Redonda Square which is basically shops that are located in a bull-ring-esque building, though funnily it was never a bull ring, at least not based on the history exhibited on the walls. Headed back to Plaza de la Reina, took more photos and had some good churros with chocolate. Ended our journey with a visit to the post office, not for any official business but more because the building is really gorgeous, even in its interiors.

 Streets & passageways

Ceiling of the post office

Thus ends the Valencia portion of my trip. I think the 2 days and 2 nights we had was good enough to cover our trip, but do see below for some tips.

Do try:

- Eating paella. This is a MUST. We were full to the brim each time, but it was not possible to not eat such amazing food. Do prepare to fork out money though, as authentic paella comes in a 2 pax portion, and as far as I'm concerned, the places we went were not cheap - about 15 euros per pax. I'm guessing it's cheaper to have 3 course meals which may include paella, but I usually don't mind forking out money for good food.

- Plaza Ayuntamiento especially at night, gorgeous sights for photographs

Fountain in Plaza Ayuntamiento, at night.

- City of Arts & Sciences, even to just visit the place. I would highly recommend the Oceanographic because of its variety and the complete information to complement. Plus you get to see dolphins do the coolest tricks! And they even have the beluga whales, some of the cutest animals EVER.

- Jardine del Turia, you don't have to walk all the way, but it's nice just to see a "converted" riverbed and to people-watch. So many different activities in the park!

- Climb a view point, I would definitely recommend the Torres de Quart but it was closed early on Sunday and not open on Monday. Much nicer viewpoint because it is not blocked by any wire fences what not

- Mercado Central, buy some ham. You cannot stay in Spain and not have ham. I barely remember having any chicken throughout my trip.

Tips:

- Plan well especially if you're going to European cities on a weekend, more important if you are in Spanish cities that practice fiesta. Expect a dead town from 1.30pm till 5pm. Though the open later into the night so walking at night is fun. But really, take into consideration that places close early on Sunday, some don't open on Monday, and that opening hours have siesta as well. Our mistake in planning led us to miss the Torres de Quart towers and La Lonja de Seda (a UNESCO heritage site). bummer.

- Eating hours are also affected by siesta, so lunch is usually served around 1 something till 3 and dinner is not till 8.30pm. At tourist places this is less the case, but it might be wise to follow the Spanish way of eating 5 times a day (we did that, haha)

- Expect to pay more for food, especially for paella. I'm reiterating the point above cause we did kinda bust our wallets for that. To be fair, it is still possible to skim on food because one meal of paella can keep you full all day. We ate more for the sake of trying more food, gluttony, haha.

- If you are good with walking, I don't think the Valencia card is much use with only minimal discounts at some places. We took the bus and metro only to much further places such as the beach at airport, but in general everything is walk-able given that we navigated from the City of Arts & Sciences back into the city centre. Plus the walking really takes in better sights.