I forgot to mention that yesterday when we arrived the Internet situation was less than ideal. When Bernie collected the key, he was given the Internet password – it was wrong. They had provided it all in UPPER CASE so Bernie typed it in as supplied. Nope, password incorrect. Bernie thought, I just wonder if it’s supposed to be all caps?? He tried it again with the first letter capitalized and the rest in lower case. Voila, that was it.
Then there was the problem with speed. Bernie was trying to process photos and the edits were taking a-g-e-s to save. Hmmn, where’s the router, a cold boot might fix it. Bernie hunted around the apartment looking for the router. He eventually found an electrical lead that led inside the chaise longue with the lift up storage compartment. There was the router laying on its side with one of its lights flashing red. Bernie stood it up and re-booted it, so it showed four blue lights and the internet speed improved dramatically. Bernie thinks that laying the router on its side might interfere with its aerial, so we are leaving the chaise open yawning like a hippo to ensure decent internet. Not a problem as there is the rest of the lounge to sit on.
Today we did something completely different, we visited Oceanogràfic, Europe’s largest aquarium. It’s nearly four kilometres from our apartment so the plan was to use our Valencia Cards to catch public transport there. It should have been easy. Bernie asked Syri to take us to the first stop on the tram line at Alacant. We reached Estació del Nord and Syri said we needed to proceed straight through a construction zone to reach Alacant. We walked left, we walked right, we walked into Estació del Nord but could not find any directions to Alacant AT ALL. You would think while work is ongoing that they might put up some detour signs to assist people to reach Alacant?? But no.
Bernie was shitty because Apple Maps AND Google Maps were not helping him. I was trying to stay calm even though I felt like a dick following after Bernie going left, going right, going left again and basically getting nowhere. I suggested going into the underground which was still open despite the construction works going on to see if it linked up below ground with Alacant. It’s amazing how things link up underground on the London Underground why not here? My idea was poo poohed.
Eventually Bernie’s solution was that we would walk further to the NEXT station on the tram line at Russafa. We walked around the Plaza de Toros (bullring) noting that Tom Jones is playing there on the 23rd of June. We wondered if there might still be tickets available but realised later that we will be in Barcelona by Sunday night. We arrived somewhere in the Russafa area but … not at the station. Bernie was ready to smash his phone, I was ready to pack it in and go back to the apartment. Each time I suggested looking at the paper map in my bag I was assured that it was not needed. It may not have helped as it is the worst tourist map EVER. Not very helpful at all. They should look at Madrid’s and do a map more like that as it was quite useful.
Bernie swapped from Apple to Google and programmed in Russafa Station again. We set off … again and finally, FINALLY arrived at Russafa Station. Just a few minutes after we arrived on the platform a tram heading to Natzaret arrived and we were on our way to the aquarium before Bernie smashed his phone and before I jumped on the bloody thing for good measure. We had only just managed not to kill each other! Our patience was stretched pretty thin this morning.
The tram was incredibly easy once we were on the damn thing. It whisked us out to Oceanogràfic quickly and we headed towards the park … along with all the parents with children and school groups. We decided to do the aquarium today (Friday) thinking it would be quieter than Saturday. Even though it was busy today we remain certain that Saturday will be even busier. Bernie had pre-purchased our ticket as part of buying our València Card because that entitled us to a 10% discount so, we skipped the queue of people buying tickets and … we were in.
We spent several hours exploring the Mediterranean Zone, the Wetlands Aviary, the Temperate/Tropical Zone, the Arctic and Antarctic Zones and the Live Lake. Highlights were the seals and sealions, the beluga whales and the penguins. We also saw flamingoes and European flamingoes, scarlet ibis and roseate spoonbills and many other wetlands birds. The huge ocean tank featuring several species of sharks was also impressive, the crocodile ponds less so. There were several empty ponds and only one small, slender snouted African crocodile that we could find. We decided if you’ve seen the crocodile feeding at Australia Zoo, you’re probably going to be disappointed with crocodiles being exhibited elsewhere!
After the aquarium we walked along to the eastern section of Jardins del Turia to check out the modern architecture that features in this area. This whole area has been developed since the 1950s when the Rio Turia was redirected to address constant flooding of the city area. The river now runs further to the south and the tract of land that was once the river has been developed into a green spine featuring gardens and futuristic buildings housing the arts and sciences.
Leaving Oceanogràfic we walked past CaixaForum (housing an art museum), the Museu de las Ciències (science museum), Hemisfèric (IMAX theatre) and the Palau de les Arts (an opera house and performing arts centre). We returned to the tram stop via The Umbracle a 17,550 square metre garden with a pathway leading through Paseo de Las Esculaturas, an outdoor gallery featuring sculptures by different artists. After all of the historic architecture we have been visiting the buildings today were certainly quite a contrast.
We caught the tram back to Alacant Station, so the tram was definitely running to and from this station near Estació del Nord. We had to choose which way to exit. Towards Estació del Nord or Xàtiva. Recognising Estació del Nord we chose that way and came out around the back of the station and still couldn’t walk at street level through to the street at the front of the station because of the construction works. We figured if we kept taking left turns, we should eventually be at the front of the station? Sure enough, we came out of an alley beside the bullring. We had walked right past it on our way to Russafa Station this morning without realising just how close we were to Alacant Station.
As we walked past the Metro entrance that I had wanted to try this morning I noticed that it said Xàtiva. I think that Estació del Nord is the regional railway station (above ground) and Xàtiva is the Metro station (underground)? I said to Bernie that I reckoned that if we had chosen the other direction to exit from Alacant that we would have come out right here. He was unconvinced so we sort of agreed to disagree. I have looked it up since getting to the apartment. All I can find is websites dating to 2022 saying that a pedestrian walkway between Alacant and Xàtiva is PLANNED and one that indicated it was due to open early in 2024. Unless we go back tomorrow to explore, we are never going to know if I was right?!!
While we were out Bernie wanted to visit the Torres de Quart which was a gate in the old Christian city wall built in the 14th century although the towers were a later addition in the 15th century. It is one of twelve gates in the ancient wall that surrounded the old city of València. The name comes from the gate’s location halfway between the city centre and the old village of Quart de Poblet. The towers were built in a Gothic military style to defend the city and suffered damage during the War of Succession (1701-14), the War of Independence against France (1808-14), the and the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).
After more than 17,000 steps it was well and truly time to return to the apartment to put our feet up for a while. We arrived expecting the apartment to be warmish, but it seems the air conditioning was on all day while we were out. Oops, that was extravagant!
Syri is excelling herself today failing to find the restaurant that Bernie had picked for dinner. Fortunately, there are plenty more restaurants to choose from! We spotted a place called Gran Mercat that was busy. Bernie double checked on Google finding it has a 4.5 rating. We secured a table for two to eat al fresco because it’s another beautiful evening. We’ve been disappointed with the seafood paellas we have had so far in Spain but decided to have one more go seeing as València is by the sea. Tonight’s paella took much longer to be brought to our table suggesting that it was being cooked in the traditional way rather than being a pre-prepared, finished off version that is not nearly as nice. After our wait, filled with croqueta de jamon and croqueta de cocido, we were not disappointed. The best paella we’ve had since we arrived in Spain two weeks ago.
Steps: 19,030 (11.92kms)