Clocking Valencia

If you think of Valencia’s old town as a clock, my apartment sits right in the center where the hands meet.

The day started with walking Jennifer to the train station which is at 6 o’clock, directly South. It was a nice walk in the cool morning. After abandoning Jennifer to the delights of a day on multiple trains I walked back to the Central Markat which sits at about 8 on my metaphorical clock. The Mercat Central is the largest indoor market in Europe and it’s housed in a beautiful building. The market is a riot of smells and sounds and an absolute joy to walk through. I focused on the fruit section and got freshly squeezed orange juice for my breakfast.

The rest of the morning was spent dealing with logistics like washing clothes, changing my itinerary for two weeks away (no more driving), and a bunch of other little things.

Then I headed north to 12 o’clock. Each of 3, 12, and 9 o’clock has one of the original gates to the city – tall crenelated towers with impressive doors guarding the portals. Valencia’s broad, sun-drenched, main streets and plazas are simply heaving with tourists – a couple of minutes walk will expose you to every European language you can think of; including, interestingly, a great deal of Russian. But go down any side street and suddenly it’s all quiet, shaded, and wonderful to stroll around. Also in this direction, I took a look at the entrance to my Spanish school which sits at about 11 o’clock.

Lunch was back at the Mercat Central. The milky-looking drink is horchata, a Valencian specialty made with soaked, ground, and sweetened tigernuts (although it turns out that tigernuts are not nuts at all, but the dried roots of river sedge). It proved much more refreshing than I expected and I’d happily have it again.

In the afternoon I visited the silk exchange, La Lonja. This beautiful building is, apparently, one of the most famous Gothic monuments in Europe. It was built in the 1500s and the main room is certainly stunning with huge pillars looking like they are swathed in cloth. Equally pretty is the courtyard which is filled with orange trees.

So, if you’ve been keeping count, that only leaves one direction and I set out this evening towards 3 o’clock and another city gate. It was late in the afternoon so tourists were eating tapas on the main drags and locals were beginning to stroll about or gather for a drink on the back streets. I came across some people dancing and, in complete contrast, walked amongst some amazing graffiti that I’m sure I’ll return to another day.

After crossing the old town all day I think I’m getting a real sense of where things are and, importantly, how to get back to my apartment. I was a bit worried that Valencia’s old town would be too touristy to be enjoyable, but I now know that you just need to head into the little alleys and plazas to find some calm, and some interesting bars and sights.