The day in Valencia was a long one – we were off the ship before 10am and didn’t return until 6:30pm. Some of that was getting into the city and back again as we were about 45 minutes away by bus. But we didn’t take the bus all the way into town. Because the line for the shuttle bus to the port gate was long – we estimated that we would be waiting over 30 minutes – and because I thought I had heard the cruise director say that the port gate was 1.5 km from the ship. Well, we can walk 1.5 km (just a bit more than a mile) in under 15 minutes. So we walked. And discovered that the gate was more like 5 km away. Either Joey gave us a bum steer or I didn’t hear right. In any case we started our Valencia adventure with a VERY long walk. But we found a playground along the way and channeled our inner 7-year-olds for a few minutes.
Valencia is a large city that still retains an “old city” feel. There are a lot of buildings that have been around for more than a couple of centuries.
The main destination for our journey into town was the Valencia Cathedral, which was originally constructed in 1268 and has been extensively expanded and renovated several times since. It is HUGE and contains a large museum. It took us over 2 hours to complete the audio walking tour. The number of Renaissance artworks is staggering.
The main altar is not an altar at all, but six painted panels that swing open to reveal the altar. Or where the silver altar used to be – the silver was melted down to finance a war. But the value of the remaining art and artifacts – including what Valencians believe is the Holy Grail – is incalculable. The architecture is impressive, too.
I took over 70 photos inside the cathedral. Here are a few of the better ones.
The museum was interesting, too. It included a section of excavated catacombs under the cathedral, as well as many more works of art.
The chapel where the reputed Holy Grail is stored is worth a visit on its own. The architecture is stunning.
When we finally left the cathedral we wandered around downtown Valencia for a while, both window shopping and figuring out how to get back to the ship.
We made it back to the ship, though only with about 20 minutes to spare. We took a bus to the shuttle – no 5 km walk back! I got some nice photos of Marlene and she did a bit of dancing with the waitstaff.
We had a few moments with the captain and some friends before the evening show which was a soul revue. I broke even at the casino, but remain down.
