The day after. We woke late, wandered out to grab a coffee and a croissant at a smoky restaurant. We had an extra day in Valencia to explore so we decided to spend the sunny bits at the beach. We took books and towels from the hotel and trained it back to the Circuit from the day before. The walk along the beach in Valencia is reminiscent of Santa Monica’s boardwalk with restaurants crowding for the best position, each serving an approximation of the same menu. Paella and burgers. We settled for Paella in what seemed to be the “best” restaurant crowded with “locals”. Whether or not we picked well I’ll never know but the Paella was a little too rice heavy and seriously lacking in seafood., undoubtedly the tourist version.

I swam out a ways and floated in the Med. Even a hundred yards off the coast I could still stand, despite not being able to see my feet. We have been spoiled with warm and beautifully clear water on this trip so Valencia had a pretty impossible standard to live up to. All the same I enjoyed the frolic and the cool down.

We spent the rest of the day shopping in the downtown area. We crossed a huge bridge that looked like a whale bone reaching into the night sky, past the brand new and extravagant Natural & Science Museum. The row of buildings are all architectural marvels and well worth the study should this sort of thing catch your interest.