Thursday March 12 was a travel day as we headed from Madrid to Valencia by train. It is about a 2.5 hour trip through some very nice countryside. Mix of sun and cloud and a high of 19C.
We got to Atocha Train Station in Madrid where there is an ecological green space in the middle of the station.
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| Impressive green space in station |
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| Wind farms in Spain |
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| Lovely countryside |
We are glad to be out of Madrid, even though we really enjoyed the city. It is a coronavirus hot spot and new restrictions are added every day. Our train was reasonably full-- we found out later that a lot of people were students leaving Madrid to return to their home towns, as schools were closed.
We left Madrid at 11:10 a.m. and arrived in Valencia at 1:25 p.m. As we arrived before check-in time at our Airbnb, we left our luggage and hoofed it over to the Central Market to get some provisions.
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| Looking up a near by street |
The Central Market is housed in a modernist style building (1914-28). It is one of the largest in Europe, with a surface area in excess of 8,000 m2. There are apparently around 950 stalls located in the market!!!!
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| The imposing Central Market-- fish section! |
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Other half- fruit and veg and other provisions
The market closes at 3:00 p.m., but most of the fish stalls were closing as we arrived at around 2:15 p.m. We grabbed some salmon. The fruit and vegetables, wine, cheese and meat stores were still open. Luckily, the market was pretty empty. There are beautiful stained glass windows and a fabulous domed ceiling. The fruits and vegetables are of an extremely high quality as they are produced locally in Valencia's huerta (area of market gardens).
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| View of inside |
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| Alano walking in front of me |
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| Domed ceiling |
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| Cheese and meat store |
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| More stained glass |
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| Rice store---- paella is king in Valencia |
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| We bought a bottle of very nice red wine here |
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| Meat chart |
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| Outside of the market were a number of stands with paella pans --- so tempting but no room in our luggage |
We took the food back to the apartment and put the perishables in the fridge. As the cleaner was still at work, we headed back out.
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| Outside of our apartment- we are on the first floor |
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| Another street in the old part of town |
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| Plaque in memory of Margarida Borràs, killed in 1460 for being gay, and all victims of l'lgtbfòbia |
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| The old part of the city is graffiti heaven |
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| Another view |
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Lots of Spanish flags
We stopped for a coffee at Mayan Coffees, a recommended local coffee shop.
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| Old fashioned mural |
We talked to Oscar, the owner who is from Guatemala, where he gets the beans. The barista is from Buenos Aires. Oscar said we should come back for breakfast as he makes a mean tortilla potate.
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| Oscar the owner |
The festival of
Las Fallas in Valencia which was due to begin on Sunday and attracts tens of thousands of visitors from Spain and abroad was suspended indefinitely a few days ago. More than 700 neighbourhood associations spend months creating huge effigies of famous or historical figures for the festival, nominally held in honour of St. Joseph. These are burned at the end of the five-day event, which is estimated to bring in about 700 million euros to the local economy (we have read different economic impacts- but it is huge). It was very smart for the City to cancel well in advance of the event, so people could alter their travel plans. There were a few spots around town where some of the effigies were wrapped in plastic.
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| Very sad-- the effigies under wraps |
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| All that work... |
We then walked over to check out the Torres de Quart, Spain's most magnificent city gate. There are pockmarks caused by French cannonballs during the 19th- century Napoleonic invasion.
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| Back side of tower |
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| Front side-- quite amazing |
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| More graffiti |
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| Lovely trees in bloom around a playground |
As we wondered through the old part of the city at around 4:00 p.m. we spotted an interesting looking museum and decided to enter. It was the Silk Museum housed in the former Higher Art College of Silk. The gothic building dates back to 1494 and besides displays of the history of silk production in Valencia, it also has the oldest and largest Guild archive in Europe. It is located in an area where the silk weavers lived (Velluters neighbourhood). The building has a beautifully restored tile floor. In the 15th century, Valencia was the centre of the Silk Road and over 50% of Valencian workers were employed by silk related industries. There was a good English audio guide. The museum opened in June 2016.
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| Outside of the silk museum |
We got a ticket, which also lets us visit two nearby churches in a 30 day period. We will visit them in the next few days.
The first floor explained the "Silk Road" and the history of silk, production, silk manufacturing and weaving in Valencia. There are a number of garments from the 15-18th centuries on display.
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| 15th century velvet silken chasuble with Mudejar embellishments. |
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| Orange area was the silk neighbourhood and blue the market neighbourhood |
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| Silk worms were raised in people's homes |
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| The display links the colours of the silk thread to various plants |
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| Silk jackets |
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| Moiré |
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Joaquin Manuel Fos, the innovative silk craftsman from the 18th century-
he introduced innovative techniques for making moiré |
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| Signs for the College of High Silk Art |
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| Incredible embroidery and silk dress |
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| Courtyard to separate entrance to loom |
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| Old loom- we returned later to see a brief demonstration |
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| Wonderful clothes |
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| Beautiful tiles in one room on the second floor |
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| Part of the incredible archive is displayed in one room |
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| The Sale of Silk in the Lonja of Valencia 1875 painted by Bernardo Ferrándiz y Badenes -poster |
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| too much reflection- but the actual painting |
On another part of the top floor of the museum was the amazing Sala De Fama (the Hall of Fame), with the beautifully restored tile floor dating back to the 15th century.
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| Recreation of the painting on the beautifully restored tile floor (15th century) |
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| Detail of floor- 4 chariots depicted with different animals (lion here) |
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| On the main floor was a hidden rococo stairway that was found during the restoration of the building |
A few minutes away was another interesting building. It was the Museu Valencia de la Il-lustració i de la Modernitat (Valencian) (Museo Valenciano de la Illustración y la Modernidad (Spanish) (Valencian Museum of the Enlightenment and Modernity(MuVIM). It is a space that "promotes civic interaction and reflection on the problems and features of our current society". Unfortunately, the permanent collection was closed and another exhibit was being installed in the lower level. There were a few small exhibits on the main floor that we could look at. We also went into the courtyard of the building.
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| MuVIM signage |
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| Dream house, 2020 in the outside entrance |
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| On the main floor |
There was a display on one wall of old maps of Valencia.
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| Map by Priest Tomás Vicente Tosca I Mascó (1651-1723)- known as the' priest of tiny lines'after his detailed work on a map of Valencia. |
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| A feminist piece of art by Julia Galán done for International Women's day, based on a 1929 quote from Virginia Woolf's Room of One's Own. Seems to translate as "Shout out Loud" |
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| Map of Valencia |
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| Outside of the museum |
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| Temporary exhibit on the museum outside wall |
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| Entrance to MuVIM |
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| A nearby street |
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| We saw this display in the distance- with a face mask |
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| We walked back past another side of the Central Market- just two minutes from the apartment |
We both wanted to rest for a few minutes and have a bite. We decided to stop at Frediduría Boatella Tapas for a bite to eat. It is a favourite with locals and located right across from the Central Market. We picked a very quiet time (between the late lunch hour of the locals and the late dinner hour) and were able to sit at the small counter. There are outside tables, but it was cooling off.
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| Outside of Freduria Boatella Tapas |
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| Lots of great tapas |
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| With fabulous fried artichokes- not even on the menu |
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| Shrimps and friend artichokes |
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| Alano and the green peppers |
We then headed back to the apartment which had been thoroughly cleaned. It is in a very funky building. José, our host, lives in the apartment above ours. There are only two apartments in the building. Lots of art in the stairway and in the apartment. It is the biggest place we have stayed in and the most reasonable. Due to our late booking (our earlier host had cancelled on March 11), the price had been reduced.
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| Bedroom- looking in the doorway |
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| Other part of bedroom with desk and interesting art |
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| Living room area-- great column and large sofa |
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| Looking into kitchen-well equipped-- large refrigerator and dishes in the cupboard |
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More art in the apartment--- a modern version of the famous Joan Miró Aidez Espagne 1937 stamp
(Lola Barcia- artist- 2001) |
Alano made a salmon dinner. We are monitoring the coronavirus situation both here and in Barcelona, our final stop on our trip. So far, most of the restrictions in these two cities are for large events and gatherings. We will continue to practice "social distancing" and stay out in the open as much as we can.
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