Today we left Valencia to travel to Barcelona. We planned to leave at 13,00 but the train was only half there. They had to add another train to include enough cars for all of the passengers. We left half an hour later because of this. When we arrived at the train station we tried to catch a cab but we ran into a bit of a snag. For some reason all of the taxis were on strike and were not taking anyone from the station only driving around honking their horn. We opted to take the subway to our hotel and everything worked out. After we unpacked at our hotel we walked around la Rambla and got dinner at a small restaurant near the port.
Pictures will be uploaded soon.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Valencia: Science, Catamaran, and Beach
Update: Photos from Valencia
While in Valencia, we visited the Science Museum. It consist of 3 levels of interactive science fun ranging from seeing a real Tesla coil to watching baby chicks hatch. The only rule was that you are not allowed to touch nothing. SO you must touch everything! On the first floor there was a display demonstrating what can be done with wood. There were also games of dominoes with different types of wood, puzzles, and an interactive gallery of how they harvest and sustain the forest. Rachael's favorite part was watching the baby chick hatch. They eggs take approx 7 days to be ready to hatch and within the first 12 hours after they are born they are not suppose to eat anything. In fact they spend the majority of their time sleeping and drying themselves off from all of their hard work hatching. Tim's favorite part was the Tower of Hanoi puzzle.
On our last day in Valencia,we took a Catamaran coast tour, where we laid out in the sun with the water splashing up underneath us. After, we went to the beach for a day of fun in the sun and playing in the ocean. The water and beach are mostly clean aside from some seaweed and was a lot of fun to play "jump the waves" in. I (Rachael) have a lovely racoon tan on my face from my sunglasses and Tim has finally evened out that sock tan line from all of his cycling, and traded it for flip flop tan lines.
While in Valencia, we visited the Science Museum. It consist of 3 levels of interactive science fun ranging from seeing a real Tesla coil to watching baby chicks hatch. The only rule was that you are not allowed to touch nothing. SO you must touch everything! On the first floor there was a display demonstrating what can be done with wood. There were also games of dominoes with different types of wood, puzzles, and an interactive gallery of how they harvest and sustain the forest. Rachael's favorite part was watching the baby chick hatch. They eggs take approx 7 days to be ready to hatch and within the first 12 hours after they are born they are not suppose to eat anything. In fact they spend the majority of their time sleeping and drying themselves off from all of their hard work hatching. Tim's favorite part was the Tower of Hanoi puzzle.
Sunday morning and afternoon we took a bike tour. It took us along the greenway and into the original area of the city. We learned about the Valencian burning man festival Las Fallas where they construct figures out of wood, paper, and festive materials and burn them at midnight. Valencia is also know for their oranges and have a special drink they make called Agua de Valencia which is a mixed cocktail made with Valenican oranges, Cava, and other liquors. After the tour we went to the beach to catch some rays and play in the surf. In the greenway they have several bridges that cross over to the other side of the city. Under one of the bridges, someone has placed holds for doing some bouldering. We stopped and Tim did a little bouldering.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Indy and Aqua
Friday we went to the City of Arts and Science to the temporary Indiana Jones Exhibition. It was an exciting way to learn fact vs. fiction about the movies and what archaeologist have discovered. We went through the event with a video tablet guide. At each station in the exhibition, we found clips from the movies, facts about props, artifacts from real archaeological digs, and clips explaining fact and fiction in the movies. You would have loved it Dad!
In the afternoon we went to the Oceanografic. It is an amazing above and below ground aquarium and bird sanctuary. We saw penguins, seals, sea lions, walruses, beluga whales, sharks, tropical fish, and an incredible dolphin show. They have two tunnels that you can walk through the aquariums and see fish, sharks, and rays swim directly above you. There were two dolphin shows that we went to; One during the day, where the dolphins did tricks with their trainer to music and the other was at night. The night show had a routine with synchronized swimmers and the dolphins. The show was to bring awareness to the fact that humans effect the oceans and we all need to do our part to slow and reverse the effect of climate change.
In the afternoon we went to the Oceanografic. It is an amazing above and below ground aquarium and bird sanctuary. We saw penguins, seals, sea lions, walruses, beluga whales, sharks, tropical fish, and an incredible dolphin show. They have two tunnels that you can walk through the aquariums and see fish, sharks, and rays swim directly above you. There were two dolphin shows that we went to; One during the day, where the dolphins did tricks with their trainer to music and the other was at night. The night show had a routine with synchronized swimmers and the dolphins. The show was to bring awareness to the fact that humans effect the oceans and we all need to do our part to slow and reverse the effect of climate change.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Valencia!
Update: Click here to see photos.
We took the train from Madrid to Valencia on Tuesday. When we arrived at the train station their was a small lagoon of little turtles in the middle-too cute! The train took an hour and a half and was moving at a rate of about 300 kilometers an hour. When we arrived in Valencia we took a taxi to our hotel, the Aqua 3, which is right on top of a 4 level shopping center. It is very modern and we are close to the port, beach, and the main attraction, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Science).
Valencia has a wonderful bike share, so we each bought a week pass so we can hop on and off bikes to move around the city. We biked to the beach and bought a tourist pass that allows us to enter many of the museums and get a reduced price on other tourist attractions. With our pass we got on the bus and rode to the heart of the city, that is the historical region. We visited two medieval gates and the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM). For lunch we found a very quaint cafe, where Tim had pinchos de morunes (pork kabob) and Rachael had bocadillo de tortilla de patatas (egg/veggie sandwich). YUM! One of our best places to eat yet!
We then got on a double decker tourist bus that took us all around the city. The city has a beautiful green way which has a couple of soccer fields and lots of space to play or ride your bike. It is also a lot hotter, stickier, and more humid here than in Madrid (around 32 degrees C).
Today we walked around the most exciting part of the city-the Arts and Science Buildings which were built by a famous Valencian Architect, Santiago Calitrava. He designed three buildings and a bridge that are all next to each other, creating an incredible sight! The buildings are surrounded by a small shallow reflecting pool which are not only beautiful but had the opportunity for us to get into large plastic bubbles and walk on the water! So much fun!!!
We went into the most impressive building, "the eye", where we watched an IMAX movie about two turtles (stressing the importance to take care of the environment) and the french children's fairy tale, The Little Prince. They had special headsets so that we could listen in English.
For lunch I tried Valencian Paella, which is different because they don't use sea food (even though we are right next to the sea), they use carne, or different meats. Mine today had chicken, lima beans, and green beans. It was delicious! For dessert our waiter suggested the orange cake, since Valencia is known for their oranges-it tasted like sponge cake with orange in it-mmhh not bad!
On the way back to the hotel we played Name that Flag. There were different art pieces/small statues in the shape of candies that displayed different countries with the colors used in the art. Tim cheated...I'm sure of it! There is no way he could beat a teacher at this game but he did.
We took the train from Madrid to Valencia on Tuesday. When we arrived at the train station their was a small lagoon of little turtles in the middle-too cute! The train took an hour and a half and was moving at a rate of about 300 kilometers an hour. When we arrived in Valencia we took a taxi to our hotel, the Aqua 3, which is right on top of a 4 level shopping center. It is very modern and we are close to the port, beach, and the main attraction, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Science).
Valencia has a wonderful bike share, so we each bought a week pass so we can hop on and off bikes to move around the city. We biked to the beach and bought a tourist pass that allows us to enter many of the museums and get a reduced price on other tourist attractions. With our pass we got on the bus and rode to the heart of the city, that is the historical region. We visited two medieval gates and the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM). For lunch we found a very quaint cafe, where Tim had pinchos de morunes (pork kabob) and Rachael had bocadillo de tortilla de patatas (egg/veggie sandwich). YUM! One of our best places to eat yet!
We then got on a double decker tourist bus that took us all around the city. The city has a beautiful green way which has a couple of soccer fields and lots of space to play or ride your bike. It is also a lot hotter, stickier, and more humid here than in Madrid (around 32 degrees C).
Today we walked around the most exciting part of the city-the Arts and Science Buildings which were built by a famous Valencian Architect, Santiago Calitrava. He designed three buildings and a bridge that are all next to each other, creating an incredible sight! The buildings are surrounded by a small shallow reflecting pool which are not only beautiful but had the opportunity for us to get into large plastic bubbles and walk on the water! So much fun!!!
We went into the most impressive building, "the eye", where we watched an IMAX movie about two turtles (stressing the importance to take care of the environment) and the french children's fairy tale, The Little Prince. They had special headsets so that we could listen in English.
For lunch I tried Valencian Paella, which is different because they don't use sea food (even though we are right next to the sea), they use carne, or different meats. Mine today had chicken, lima beans, and green beans. It was delicious! For dessert our waiter suggested the orange cake, since Valencia is known for their oranges-it tasted like sponge cake with orange in it-mmhh not bad!
On the way back to the hotel we played Name that Flag. There were different art pieces/small statues in the shape of candies that displayed different countries with the colors used in the art. Tim cheated...I'm sure of it! There is no way he could beat a teacher at this game but he did.
Monday, July 9, 2012
High Flying Fun!
Today we started the day by walking to the Teleferico (cable car) over the Casa de Campos. One of the most amazing sights was the Casa del Campo, which is a park three times the size of New York's Central Park. The Campos used to be the hunting ground for the royal family but now is the largest park in Madrid. People were walking, relaxing in the shade, biking, and there was even a group of men practicing their matador skills (no really!). We saw the Principe Pio Train Station, Manzanares River, and the Egyptian Debod Temple.
Then we went to the Parque De Atraccions, which is the local amusement park. It had several great roller costers that really put World's of Fun to shame. My favorite was a spinning swing that took you high above the city and swung you around so you could see everything in the city until you were dizzy. Their rides were very easy to pronounce-Tornado, Tarantula, TNT, Vertigo, Star Flyer and Fantasia. We laughed as the people around us sang along to some American music playing over head. Even the children seemed to know all the words in English to some of our current music. They even had their own spin off of "It's a Small World". As we passed through the American section, we were pictured being famous for our old Western movies, New York, Route 66, and pop culture signs for McDonald's and Coca-Cola.
Later in the afternoon we went to the Reina Sofia Museum which houses Pablo Picasso's famous Guernica. They unfortunately would not let us take any pictures of it but it was a lot bigger than I expected. It was 11 by 25 feet!
Then we went to the Parque De Atraccions, which is the local amusement park. It had several great roller costers that really put World's of Fun to shame. My favorite was a spinning swing that took you high above the city and swung you around so you could see everything in the city until you were dizzy. Their rides were very easy to pronounce-Tornado, Tarantula, TNT, Vertigo, Star Flyer and Fantasia. We laughed as the people around us sang along to some American music playing over head. Even the children seemed to know all the words in English to some of our current music. They even had their own spin off of "It's a Small World". As we passed through the American section, we were pictured being famous for our old Western movies, New York, Route 66, and pop culture signs for McDonald's and Coca-Cola.
Later in the afternoon we went to the Reina Sofia Museum which houses Pablo Picasso's famous Guernica. They unfortunately would not let us take any pictures of it but it was a lot bigger than I expected. It was 11 by 25 feet!
Food Crawl
Yesterday we went to Madrid's Flea Market which is held every Sunday morning. There were lots of coins, stamps, clothing, art work, and jewelry. It had lots of "curiosities" as our tour guide put it. The flea market was flooded with a mass of people and many of the tiny streets are closed to traffic to allow the flea market to operate. We bartered for two beautiful oil paints from a local artist. Best find so far!
Later in the day we visited the local Mercet de San Miguel, which is an amazing market with several different stands. You can buy "pinchos" or a small samples of local cuisine to try. We tried gazpacho, chicken, deer venison, tart, and a crocetta. One of our stops told us about the spices/seasonings that that are most important in Spain, which include: Paprika, Safran, Garlic, Onions, and Peppers.
We had a small problem with the ATM today when in the middle of my transaction the machine went to sleep. Luckily it was fixed fairly quickly, but never the less it was a small scare!
Later in the day we visited the local Mercet de San Miguel, which is an amazing market with several different stands. You can buy "pinchos" or a small samples of local cuisine to try. We tried gazpacho, chicken, deer venison, tart, and a crocetta. One of our stops told us about the spices/seasonings that that are most important in Spain, which include: Paprika, Safran, Garlic, Onions, and Peppers.
We had a small problem with the ATM today when in the middle of my transaction the machine went to sleep. Luckily it was fixed fairly quickly, but never the less it was a small scare!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Madrid on Two Wheels
Yesterday we took an amazing 3 hour bike tour around Madrid with other tourist from New York, New Zealand, Australia, and England. We biked through the Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Puerta de Alacala, Palacio Real, Retiro Park and many back streets and alleys. Riding around you see how much pride the people here have in their city by keeping the streets clean.
That evening we had cena at the Plaza Mayor. During the summer in Madrid they have Veranos de la Villa which is a summer festival with concerts, galleries, and installations throughout the summer. That night there was a classical music concert by the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid. We sat outside and enjoyed some Payaja, Pollo, Sangrea and Cerveza while listening to the concert. Everything is easy to walk to from where we are at (5 to 10 minutes).
We hope to go see the Euro Cup before we go to Valencia next week. It is being held in an official government building here for touring. We also hope to go to the local amusement park, take a cable car ride, and go to see Picasso's Guernica in the Museo Renia Sofia.
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