ADIOS SUMMER......

Spring and Summer have gone, the children are back at school and normal transmission is resuming. During the holiday season, we ventured back to the searing heat of Spain. In order to apply for new British visas we had to leave the UK and return either to place of origin or residency - crazy but true. Arriving in Madrid was surreal, feeling like we were 'home'.

Good to be back - Jamon Iberico and Spanish olive oil..mmm, mmm

Our primary purpose was to submit our new applications into the consulate and then simply wait for the outcome. We all had our own 'wish lists' and so we visited favourite eating places, caught up with school friends, dined with special friends and, of course, shopped!

Beautiful Plaza de Santa Ana

With Angela, our lovely Spanish tutor

Streetxo's new rooftop location - perfect place to catch up with special friends

As we had to wait at least a week for processing we decided to visit the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia with its vast beaches and scorching sun, happy days for all but one of us! It takes around 3.5 hours to drive there and we arrived early Sunday evening. First impressions can really impact upon a holiday and it's fair to say that the upon arriving at the Valencia Palace Hotel (one of only two supposed 5-star hotels in town) we were less than impressed. We patiently waited for the front staff to complete their private conversation before being greeted without the slightest hint of friendliness, an attitude that seemed to subsequently convey the overall feel of the city. (Travel Tip: stay here if you must, but it's a 3-star hotel at best, albeit in a terrific location, walking distance to the old town and a short drive to the beaches. Despite occupying 2 rooms for 8 nights, they still wished to charge 6 euro/day for a kettle and 6 euro/day for "premium" wifi - we subsequently cancelled this as it was still woeful!).

In the 1950s, the Turia River (which flowed through the middle of the town) broke its levee banks and the whole city was flooded up to 2 metres. And so it was diverted and the dry river bed and delta converted into what is now the largest city bound park in all of Europe, with walking and cycling paths, and exercising apparatus throughout its verdant vastness. Sadly, the gardens and plants are a victim of Valencia's poor economy and are in a bad state of disrepair.

We spend our 8 days here alternating between going to the beach, walking around the city, and using the hotel's pool. The beaches are magnificent and wide, not overly crowded and devoid of surf - in short, they're perfect for young families. The promenade is dotted with bistros which is where Don L spends the whole of his day, reading in the shade, quaffing Diet Coke, vino blanco and cafe con leche, and eating succulent fresh seafood. Once Dulcinea nd los ninos have had their fill of the sun and water they would also do the more sensible things. It's wonderfully relaxing for all of us, that is until our last day - but more of this later.

Slip slop slapping

Now THAT's a sand castle!

Valencia is Spain's city of science and technology, and at one end of the Turia park is the most extraordinary collection of buildings one's likely to see, appropriately called the City Of Arts And Sciences, and it's an absolute 'must see'. Designed by local architects Felix Candela and Santiago Calatrava (also responsible for the extraordinary Tenerife auditorium featured in a previous post), work commenced in the 1990s and, coming as no surprise, the six spectacularly futuristic buildings are still a work in progress dependent on funds being found to continue working. A tram route has been constructed that runs from the city centre - but it's also never operated for budgetary reasons! There's L'Hemispheric, a 3D panoramic cinema which looks like a giant human eye, its ovoid roof/screen is over 100 metres long and the 3D glasses have built in speakers programmed to your own language (they're fantastic);

Smooooooth!!

It's illuminated twice weekly

there are endless interactive scientific things to explore in El Museu de les Ciences Principe Felipe (the Prince Philip Science Museum), a structure that depicting the skeleton of a whale;

the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia is an amazing opera and theatre house that is unfortunately barely used (budget cuts make it difficult to bring artists to Valencia);

L'Umbracle is a landscaped walkway that features local flora and works of renowned local sculptors;

L'Oceanografic is, as its name implies, an aquarium that boasts the largest walk-through glass water tunnel in Europe; and finally L'Agora, a covered arena that is (allegedly, nobody could confirm its actual purpose!) designed for sports but has so far been used on only a handful of occasions (and no, it doesn't look like a white elephant!).

All together, they make an stunning vista. We spent a great day here exploring the human body and astronomy, paddling canoes and watching El Vuelo De Las Mariposas (the flight of the butterflies), a fabulous documentary about the remarkable Monarch butterfly migration, the most incredible migration on Earth.

Next up....Valencia's link to Monty Python, and back to Madrid.