Monday, September 23, 2013

Valencia + the Holy Grail


Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia City Gates
Valencia City Gates
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia Cathedral Valencia Cathedral
Valencia Cathedral--The Holy Grail
Valencia Cathedral--The Holy Grail
Valencia Cathedral

On day three of our cruise, we arrived in Valencia, Spain. Once again we had almost no plans. Except that I really wanted some ice cream. So we wandered around for a while in a park and saw a few churches. 

One of these churches, the Valencia Cathedral (which, in fact, has a ridiculously much longer proper name), just happens to house the most sought-after Christian relic of all time. I know. I can't believe we saw the Holy Grail either but there you have it. I mean it's obviously the real thing or the church wouldn't have it set up in its own chapel, right? Right.

Who knows, is what I have to say about that. If it's real (I'm suuuch a skeptic) then awesome, we saw it. And if it's not then we saw a still really old gold chalice. I'm going to go with the bragging rights option just for fun. This also happens to be my attitude concerning the St. Peter-in-Chains church in Rome but more on that some other time.

The cathedral itself was impressive and beautiful, not to mention old and we got a free audio guide included in our ticket price which was a nice surprise considering that audio guides are almost always extra in Western Europe at least. I don't remember anything about the tour but I think there is something important about the six-panel painting in the photo above maybe?

We also climbed up the tower of the Valencia Cathedral and were rewarded with a lovely view of the whole city. 

Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain--Silk Exchange Valencia, Spain--Silk Exchange
Valencia, Spain--Silk Exchange

We stopped by the huge indoor market to pick up a few things for lunch such as cherries, bread, and fresh juice. I looove buying fresh things for a cheap lunch. We ate on the steps of a building across from the old silk exchange. The entire neighborhood with the market and silk exchange is gorgeous. Also, I didn't realize that you aren't supposed to take pictures of the market inside until I was editing the photos and noticed the big no cameras sign. Whoops.

Valencia, Spain--Central Market
Valencia, Spain--Central Market
Valencia, Spain--Central Market Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain--Train Station and Bullfighting Arena
 Valencia, Spain--Bullfighting Arena Valencia, Spain--Bullfighting Arena
Valencia, Spain--Bullfighting Arena
Valencia, Spain--Bullfighting Arena
Valencia, Spain--Bullfighting Arena Valencia, Spain--Bullfighting Arena
Valencia, Spain

The main thing that Forrest really wanted to see in Valencia was the bullfighting arena because bullfighting = macho, obviously. I still can't get over how cheap Spain is as far as sightseeing goes because if I recall correctly, we spent 2 euro each to see the museum (although it was pretty tiny) and we got to go into the middle of the arena! Pretty good deal, I would say. And I do!

Goodbye Spain! Next up: Rome and the extremely high humidity!



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