Valencia (part 1)

The next morning we got a late start on our trip.  Paul got up for work at his normal time...but I didn't get up until 10:15; Glenn got up later than that...and Dad got up even later than that!  Needless to say we didn't get off when we expected.  And then after picking up Paul from work, we hit traffic and it was kind of slow-going for awhile.  But we were on our way and there was no turning back!

Because of the many days of rain the countryside was beautiful!  I'm glad we got to see Spain at this time of year.  "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."  Okay, I just had to quote that because we definitely saw our fair amount of rain, not only in the plains, but also in the cities all across Spain.  And we just loved the beautiful scenery all around us!

That evening we arrived in Valencia and went to the hotel first to check in and drop off our bags.

Then we went driving around the city to take a look.  Because of our late start we wouldn't have very much time here.  So we did a lot of drive by camera shots.  We did get out a few times, but we were trying to see as much as we could before it got too dark.

We first saw the famous opera house.  It is quite an interesting-looking building.

 And there were all kinds of other interesting structures and buildings.  Very much modern.

 And all kinds of statues all along the river.

That evening we ate dinner at La Pepica.  It was right along the Mediterranean Sea and was famous for paella.  Supposedly it was started here in Valencia, but I've heard it started elsewhere, so I'm not sure.  But this place was famous for it so of course we had to get some, and also some seafood since we were right near the sea!

 Watching the men at work...

 ...using all sizes of pans--from a small 2-person meal...

 ...to a pan that was so large it would feed lots of people!

It's hard to tell, but that pan up there is really huge!

 Here was our appetizer of different kinds of fish.

 Here are two of those large pans--one is a traditional paella and the black one has squid ink in it.  Not sure if I would be brave enough to try it...  But our paella was pretty good.

After stuffing ourselves with seafood and rice, we thought it would be fun to go walk along the beach.  I know these pictures are dark and not the best, but I wanted to show that we were there! :D  And we had fun walking in the sand and hearing the constant crashing of the waves on the shore.

And one last shot of the Sea under the moonlight before heading back to our hotel after midnight.