Jardines del Turia

We have fallen in LOVE with Valencia.  Strange cities can become isolating if you don’t make the effort to step forward.  We worked hard right away to get out of the apartment and build a sense of place in this new community.  Now we have a panadería (bakery), a tienda (a small store), and I know where to go and how to order some fresh fish, all on my own (progress!!!!).  But our favorite is our park.  Valencia is a large city and although we have an epic veranda, we along with most of the Valencians, do not have private green space.  One of the reasons we picked our apartment is that it is right next to Jardines del Turnia.  And when we found out that our good friends and neighbors the Duffs were coming to Spain, we knew we were going to spend most of our time in the park.

As you can see on the city map this 8km long park extends the length of the entire city.   It was a river at one point, however, when it tragically flooded the city in the 50s, city planners rerouted the river and created a beautiful city park.  At one end is the BioPark and the other the Mediterranean sea, which also has the Arts and Science center and the aquarium.  Basketball, rugby, baseball, skate parks, and of course many many fútbol fields fill this park along with the bike and running trails.  We have been in the park as late as 10:30 at night and the well-lit trails are still bustling with people. 

There are lots of great things for kids to do in the park, including our girls' favorite Gulliver.  My girls hadn’t heard of Gulliver’s Travels before we got here and found it odd to climb all over a tied-down man.  Although now that I think about it, I don’t think they asked enough questions. 

I have always loved aquariums.  Zoos are fine, I guess.  But even the best ones generally have this sense of struggle against confinement. Clearly, I get it that an aquarium is a confinement (I’ve seen Nemo) but water tends to a least give the appearance of less struggle.  For example, the giant walrus we saw or this sea lion, floating on his belly just catching some sun.  I could watch that dude all day, Netflix ain’t got nothing on him.

Good friends and paella, there may not be a better combination. We are thankful to be in this city and we are so thankful for our friends who came a really long way to share it with us.  Whose next!