Valencia

We took a train from Barcelona to Valencia, not one of the fancy fast ones but for a good part of the journey we were traveling at 199 km/h.  For most of the journey we were close to the sea and the land was flat with hills not far inland.  On the outskirts of Barcelona there were many market gardens but the land between the rail line and the sea was generally undeveloped.  Obviously this land close to a sandy beach wasn't prime real estate.  As we travelled away from the city we passed olive groves and citrus orchards and as we neared Valencia there were lots of citrus orchards.  There were no grassy paddocks with animals to be seen.

The first trees we saw when we walked out of the train station were orange trees with fruit but none low enough to pick☺

In Valencia our apartment, on the edge of the old town, was 3 stories up (62 steps, no lift) but it had a nice view and the location was great.  The old town is a maze of streets as it has many plazas all with streets radiating off in different directions. Also when a street meets another it's name seems to change.  This gave us a navigating challenge and our map didn't have all the streets or street names on it.  We did successfully find our way to where we wanted to go and visited a few extra places as well.

Valencia's history goes back a very long way and some of the buildings we saw reflect that.  Valencia was once a gated and walled city but now there are now only two gates, Torres de Serranos which was completed in 1391 and Torres de Quart completed in 1460.   

Torres de Serranos

Torres de Quart bears battle scars from the French siege of 1808.

The round marks are from bullets.

Our wandering in the old city took us to several churches.  

The Basilica de la Virgin Des Desamparados was built in 1642.

We went into La Lonja, an old silk exchange built in late 1400s to mid 1500s, and marveled at the grand hall with it's towering pillars and beautiful stone floor.  The building is decorated with gargoyles inside and out.

Valencia street 

Gargoyles at La Lonja

The river that once flowed near the old city was diverted after a big flood in 1957.  In place of the river is a nice park and as you wander along it you pass under some old bridges  that were built around 

the 1500s.