Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias / City of arts and sciences in Valencia

My last Valencia post.=)

While in Valencia we visited the city of arts and sciences. A huge complex with a science museum, aquarium, Imax, and more. The complex is huge and has amazing architecture.  We walked around the complex exploring and then headed to the aquarium or Oceanografic, the largest aquarium in Europe.

We loved all the exhibits, the animals were active and swimming around, which isn't always the case.  I was amazed at how large the Walrus's and some of the other animals were.



This boy kept us busy thinking when he asked us questions such as if a Sea Lion and a Polar Bear got in a fight who would win?  Also if a shark and a octopus got in a fight who would win? What do you think?

There were a couple of tanks that had tunnels that you could walk through, the kids loved this part being able to look up and see the fish swimming over you.

There was an outdoor complext that housed the dolphins, and they had a really good dolphin show.


If you go check out the website for any deals or specials going on (while we were there, they had 2 for 1 deals from Mcdonalds).  Also make sure to pack your own lunch as food inside the park can be kind of pricey.

Walking on Water

While in Valencia the boys walked on water. They had a couple carnival rides for kids and one we had never seen. They would fill up bubbles with air and put the kids in side. And then let them go on a small pool. It was really funny to watch. Here is a video we made of them while doing it.

Central Market in Valencia

I love to wander around the old streets of a town. Thanks to the GPS feature on the Iphone we weren't as lost this time as in other cities. We were searching for the central market, one of the longest running food markets in Europe.

It was so fun to walk around the market and see all the fresh food.  But after seeing the live eels and the duck with its beak still attached my family wasn't so sure about eating any food there.

We made a video of the live eels swimming around it was a little crazy.

Long Weekend

The pedestrian streets at Valencia's city center.

Last weekend was a 4 day weekend for us, such a nice break from the daily grind. 

In Spain when the holiday is on a Tuesday they will often give you Monday off as well.  The only thing is they don't really tell you in advance.  So the Thursday before, when we knew that my hubbie was going to get the Monday off, we planned a quick trip.  Couldn't let a 4 day weekend go to waste. 

We chose to head to Valencia, Spains 3rd largest city and only 2 hours from our house.  We stayed in the Spanish military hotel there and visited the city center and the acquarium.

Where we stayed.




Some highlights for me:
- wandering through the city center and stumbling upon some roman pilars at the library.
- wandering through the city and seeing the police in the process of arresting someone, my daughter was dissapointed we didn't see him put in hand cuffs.
- the old food market
- finding a vendor selling vintage table cloths and linens
- the city of arts and sciences and the acquarium
- spending time with my family and seeing a new place