The Future, Spain Style

The Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias in Valencia

Well it was a rough transition from Granada to Valencia, but after a day, I got back on track with things! I was a walking mess last Thursday when I got off the bus - midnight in an unfamiliar city, no place to stay, a throbbing headache and running nose, and a swollen arm from mosquito bites. The swollen arm was the result of sleeping with my left arm pressed up against the tent "wall" (an admittedly poor term for something that offers little to no protection from the outside), which was undoubtedly to the pleasure of the local culicidae population. It turns out that upwards of forty bites in a concentrated area causes the body to react with intense swelling. So along with a terrible itching problem, I looked to be carrying one of the Elephant Man's digits at my side. In spite all of this, after a few circuitous loops in downtown Valencia I managed to find a hostel.

I wasn't in too much of a rush to get out the next day, but I went scouting in the afternoon and wound up at the central marketplace - a really cool spot. Valencia is also home to the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias, which was built about a decade ago in an effort to turn the city into more than just a major industrial center. There was some great architecture that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Star Trek set. The parks around here also had some interesting characters - namely the BMX riders and the "hitchhiking" skull.

Bridge at the Ciudad

Detail of the bridge reflected on mosaic tiles

BMX at a nearby park

Didn't quite get the focus right on this one.....

Something interesting happend to me that Friday when I was looking for a restaurant. So I walk up to this place - it's completely empty because it's only 9:00, too early to eat dinner for any serious Spaniard - and wait in the entryway. This guy who is sitting in the alleyway smoking starts talking to me and I fumble to answer him in Spanish, but I manage to get a seat - turns out he works here. He asks me if I want an english menu and I say sure. I get the menu and start browsing and it's definitely not in english, but it's not spanish either, it actually looks like italian to me but I don't think that can be right - maybe it's a local dialect? Well, it actually was italian I found out later and the restaurant was french cuisine - so I was in Spain, expecting english, reading italian, and eating French food.....very confusing.