Discovering el Barrio del Carmen

Liam jumping for joy that we were doing another walking tour!
In the distance you can see 3 large archways.
This is the back of the Torres de Serranos.

El Carmen is a neighborhood that forms the historic city center of Valencia.  We had seen bits and pieces of this part of Valencia, but wanted to make sure we explored thoroughly before our stay ended. We headed to the historic center by our normal path of the Turia Riverbed Garden.

In the picture of the park you can see one of the older bridges that crossed what was once the Turia River.
The park is beautiful with clearly marked bike paths.  The park runs about 6 miles from end to end.   I loved  our mode of transportation everyday and you can see why! :)

We followed a self-guided walking tour of this neighborhood, but ended up not being able to finish due to the time of day.  Valencia shuts down for siesta hours and our kids needed naps too.  We were able to do some things we had not yet done like climb to the top of the Torres de Serranos.  This gate is one of the twelve gates that were found along the old medieval city wall.  We enjoyed the good views as well as the details carved throughout the tower.  

Next stop was the Museum of Corpus Christi (previously called Casa de Las Rocas). We hadn't done a lot of research before heading off on our walking tour so we were very surprised when we entered this building.  The Corpus Christi fiesta is the third biggest spectacle after the Fallas (described in another post) and Easter in Valencia.  The museum has all of the Rocas (tall ceremonial stage-carriages pulled by horses), costumes used in the traditional dances and processions (including some very strange ones) and the walls are covered in photos and explanations of how all this stuff is used every year.  It was basically large garages jammed with floats that we were able to meander through and look at.

After doing some walking, we needed to stop for lunch.  We grabbed a pizza and a park bench.

Another surprise for the day was visiting the Museum Centro del Carmen.  The convent was founded in 1281. In its origins, the old convent was constituted of a church and a few common rooms located around the monastery garden. The garden was built in a gothic style. Later, in the 16th century the convent was growing, they built a second monastery garden, but now in renaissance style. At this time, it was as well the most splendid and prosperous times for the city of Valencia and the Valencian economy. Now, exhibition halls are old rooms of the convent: the refectory, the dormitory, the chapter house.  We were surprised by the wide assortment of art on display as well as the vast grounds of the convent itself.

The medieval garden was my favorite thing about the entire museum.

Before heading home for rest time (do you see Liam has his pacifier), we stopped by the Cat House to let the kids have a closer look during the day time hours.

Botanical Gardens of the University of Valencia

As stated in a previous post, I love botanical gardens.  I thinking back, I guess I always have as I loved going to the botanical gardens frequently when I lived in Athens, GA too.  I love that in every city the botanical  gardens offer something new.  The botanical gardens in Valencia boast a collection with about three thousand species of trees and plants, specially the palm and the cactus. This botanical garden was founded in 1567 for the study of medicinal plants. The gardens have been restored since that time and contain a variety of greenhouses, a stunning shade garden, as well as different areas for aquatic plants, a rockery and an impressive grove of trees.  Currently, the gardens dedicate its investigation to the knowledge of the vegetal diversity, the conservation of the rare species, endemic or threatened Mediterranean flora and the conservation of the natural habitats.  We all learned a lot as we walked the grounds.

From the entrance to Botanical Gardens, you could see the Torres de Quart at the intersection.  The Torres de Quart were a part of the old wall that surrounded Valencia built in the 15th century. The exterior of the towers still shows signs of the bombardments suffered during France's siege of the city in 1808. The building has been used through the centuries for different purposes, from a woman's prison to a military prison.  You can climb this tower, but dusk was quickly approaching so we just viewed from the outside.  Seeing the pock marks on the outside was really crazy and cool.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we had to stop by the La Casa de los Gatos.  We enjoyed riding the bikes through the quiet dark streets as we took in the sounds of people gathering in the squares enjoying food and live music.  

Traveling on a bike at night without a light was challenging.  We traveled through the Turia Riverbed to our apartment so there were not any cars, but there were also times when there were not lit paths either.  I have never biked so fast in all my life trying to keep up with Bobby.  Surprisingly, the park was still bustling with activity as people exercised in the cool of the evening.  Although I would have preferred to have a light, it was really fun to be out at night and experience a little of the night culture.

Liam's 2 Years Old!

Liam is Mr. Personality.  He is such a hoot to be around.  He surprises us daily with little things he will say or do.  For instance, he loves singing Hakunah Matata, and will break out in song randomly.  What's even funnier about this is that he did this long before he ever saw the Lion King movie.  One of our sole books on this journey that we picked up in an Edinburgh thrift store is Lion King.  Bobby and I sometimes sing it while we are reading, and that had been his sole exposure to the song.

He loves laughter.  He loves doing things to make his big sister laugh.  He loves throwing back his head and laughing deep from his belly.  It is fitting that his middle name means laughter.

 He is a rough and tumble little boy, but he also loves to cuddle.  He not only loves to cuddle with his mom (and sometimes dad), but he loves to cuddle with his bear and monkey.  Since bear and monkey also come with his pacifier, we hide them during the day and only bring them out for nap and bedtime.  It is like Christmas every time he gets his bear and monkey.  We all like to be around for the unveiling of bear and monkey because pure joy can be observed.

Being a social butterfly, he picks up on the new languages really quickly.  He likes to greet people as well as tell them thank you and good-bye.  He knows these words in French, Scottish (yes I know it's English but they say hi-ya & cheers and he picked up on it on his own), Portuguese, and Spanish.  What's fun is locals absolutely eat it up that he is speaking in their language.  And he is just adorable so people want to interact with him.  Just the other day we were eating tapas and a woman in her early 20's played with Liam (peak-a-boo, touching his arm and hair, sticking out tongue, etc) throughout the entire meal.

If you couldn't tell from the pictures, he is a big boy.   Bobby and Amelie like to call him fatty and other endearing nicknames as such, but I don't want him to get a complex.  Lately, we have called him Gordito (sometimes shortened to Dito) which means "little fat boy" in Spanish.  When we say this to locals they say, "No, guapo!" which means handsome. ;)  He likes to eat...and he does so really well.  He does a great job using a cup without any tops as well as using silverware without making a huge mess.  Our reasoning behind this is that he wants to get as much in his mouth as possible.

There is so much more I could write!  I know my commentary above is very random, but at least you get a small snapshot of our little boy.  He is growing, growing, growing!  We love our little Liam more than words can express.  We are so thankful that he is apart of our family.

So, to celebrate his birthday, on September 22nd we headed to the BioParc. The BioParc is located at the opposite end of the Turia riverbed park from where we live.  What is cool and different about this zoo is that it is designed to immerse visitors into the animals' habitat and not vice versa. This is achieved by not using the traditional railings and cages that are common in many zoos.  Instead barriers are created by rivers, ponds, streams and rocks to separate visitors from the animals.

After making the 6 mile bike trip to the Bioparc, we had to wait in line for about an hour to enter.  We went on a day when all tickets were less than half price.  It seemed that everyone in Valencia wanted to take advantage of this good deal.  Once inside we headed straight for a lunch spot.  The lunch spot was incredible as we sat eating in the Savannah with zebra, ostriches, giraffes, antelope, and lots of cranes right outside our window.

We had a lot of fun walking around viewing the animals.

Picture with the lions.

"Act like a monkey!"

Hyenas being fed.  The method is to stand right where Amelie (and Liam...you can see his hands) are standing and throw meat to them.  Bobby and I were ready to pick up the kids and start running should the hyenas decide they needed more food.

Our favorite area was the Madagascar circuit in which you walked around with lemurs.  We were instructed not to touch (and we didn't), but they were so close!  Some were hanging out in trees, some were jumping around, and others let us get really close.  

Liam wanted to chase the lemurs like he does pigeons in the worst way.

By the end of the day, Liam was pooped.  He fell asleep on the bike ride to get his birthday treat, gelato.  Once home, he was greeted with a birthday message from his Nanny as well as a Skype call from Mimi & Poppy (and other family members).  All sang happy birthday to Liam and he ate up the attention.

This picture was taken on another day in front of the door leading to our house, but you get the idea.

Hooray for ice-cream!!!

Fine Arts Museum of Valencia

Museu de Belles Arts de Valencia (Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia) was founded in 1913 but it is housed in the College of St. Pius V dating back to the 1600s.  The building is a composed of 4 wings that are arranged around a cloister.  Two towers on the facade overlook the old channel of Turia giving it some appearance of a castle and allowing us to admire frequently as we ride past on our bikes.  With this museum housing a very large collection of 14th-19th century art, we knew we had to make the attempt to see it.  On September 17th we entered what turned out to be the most strict museums we have been to as far as child vigilance goes.  We had to hold Liam's hand (or hold him) the entire time.  We always stay near him during museums, but any time we let go of his hand for a second we were being prompted by the guards.  Liam wanted to "do it himself" which made it a difficult visit to really appreciate the artwork as much as we would have liked.  However, Bobby was able to get some good photos of art by one of his favorite artists.  Amelie was happy that there was no modern art present.  

Amelie and Liam waiting at the entrance.

Bobby securing our bikes.

Amelie's new fan bought at the market.  She loves it and loves seeing woman around town using them as well as in paintings using them.

Liam being silly as he climbed up and down the steps at the entrance.

Liam didn't have to hold our hand if he was sitting on the benches provided.

Symbol seen around Valencia.

After we were finished at the museum, we had plans of doing something else.  However, the lock securing the bikes would not unlock.  Bobby worked with it for a while and we determined that it was broken and would not be loosed.  He sprinted into town to find wifi so he could determine the closest location of the Do You Bike store that we rented our bikes from.  I took the kids to a nearby playground while we waited.  Bobby was successful in locating the bike store and was given a hacksaw to cut off the lock.  He cut through the chain and no one stopped him...not very comforting as we leave our bikes all around town.  We then had a delicious pastry snack to refuel us and set off towards home again (with a new lock in tow).  We never made it to whatever we had planned...I can't even remember.  The kids were happy with the playground stop.  I was happy that we didn't have to walk home and were able to unlock our bikes!!

Mediterranean Sea

With the Mediterranean Sea in our back yard, we have spent many days enjoying the sea.  The Port of Valencia is the 5th busiest container port in Europe, and the largest on the Mediterranean Sea.  Valencia has historically been a wealthy city because of it's large port.  You can see the activity of the port in the distance while at the beach.  The beach is expansive with a nice boardwalk containing restaurants and shops.   We are enjoying the cleanliness of this beach.  Did you know Mediterranean Sea is more salty than the average salinity of the ocean?  We noticed during our first visit to the beach and it was confirmed at the Oceanarium that we were right.

Before we made it to the beach, we had to have appropriate beach gear.  So, on our first day we picked up two sand buckets & shovel sets as well as paddles & a ball for Bobby and I.  We all had fun playing on the beach.  Both kids love the sand and the water.  There is a very gradual slope out to the sea so it does not get deep fast  We love jumping over the waves, running away from the water as the waves hit, and digging big holes for water to fill in. 

You can see the boardwalk and shops in the distance.

Since it is such an easy walk to the beach, it has been an easy excursion for me and the kids when Bobby needs to work undistracted.  We have gone a couple of times just the three of us.  On one occasion we ate a burger place for lunch before heading home.  Another day we went to the playground first and then went to the beach.  During the walk, I noticed a lot of police officers in the area.  We had to walk pass a barricade with many police officers manning the area.  I saw that they were checking cars with mirrors as they entered a building.  There were armored police trucks going back and forth on the street.  There were police on Segways, horses, walking, and in cars.  On the way home, it was just as intense with the addition of lots of people dressed to the nines.  I finally asked someone on the sidewalk if they knew what all of the commotion was about.  They informed me that the Prince of Spain was coming to present an award.  We didn't see the Prince, but it was cool to be in all of the action.  We watched on our balcony for around an hour to see if we would see his car pass, but we did not.

The playground near the beach is very large with a zipline, a tire swinging see-saw, little play houses, swings, and more.  It's a great place to let the kids play.  Lately they are having so much fun playing together too which is nice.

One night we grabbed Burger King and had a picnic on the beach while the sun set.  Now, just to clarify, we had to do Burger King because restaurants close from about 5 - 8 pm every day.  They open for dinner closer to 9 pm which is usually just too late for us.  Amelie now calls it King's Burger.  We not only got a show of a beautiful sunset, but we saw fireworks too!  

The first day we rented our bikes, we rode the 4 km along the beach and then beyond.  Riding along the beach allowed to see the different restaurants as well as the numerous sandcastles built by gypsies.  I will need to take a picture at some point as they are really impressive.  One is of The Last Supper, one is a castle with Sponge Bob and a horse on it...I know a picture would be better than my descriptions, and I will have to pay them some money so I can take one. ;)  As we left the beach area we went on a dirt road past fields and farmers and smaller homes.  We then rode back to the beach area and ate dinner.

We now have a better helmet for Amelie that fits and doesn't fall off the back of her head.  This picture was taken in front of a small beach chapel along a river that ran into the ocean.

We love Valencia.  We are enjoying the city, the beach, and the bikes.  :)