When I hear the name Valencia I think of a beautiful olive skin Spanish woman with long
brown flowing hair walking on the beach.
Leaving footprints in the sand as gentle waves tickle her toes with a perfectly proportioned
body of figure Michelangelo would spend decades carving on a marble.
A soft Penelope cruise accent when speaking English, deep and thoughtful with scientific
like intelligence, old fashioned but knows how to have fun, feisty at times but respectful
and respected.
She knows how to cook, her specialty dish she created called the piella which is now
popular throughout Spain.
There Valencia, I look forward to our encounter.
Of course truly.
When you love, you do it somehow
When you fall, try not to drown
When you scream, don't make a sound
Blink once if you're alive
Blink once if you're alive
She's my girl, let's put Valencia first
So often compared with her older sister Madrid
Or her middle sister Barcelona
But nowadays she's speaking for herself
With a sideways glance at what her big sisters are up to
And an occasional thumb of the nose in their direction
For an increasing number of visitors
Spain's third largest city is their first choice for a short break
Shopping in the designer and poria of boutiques
Destroying the historic quarter
And or visiting the architecturally stunning
City of Arts and Sciences complex
Oh, and of course chilling on the broad three kilometer long beach
Enjoying the city's more than 300 clouded stays each year
On a Friday after work you can find my girl nibbling on a top
Or a two with friends
Or dining al fresco on a restaurant terrace
Before hitting the club
After she's grabbed a few hours of sleep
You might catch her on her father's arm at a neighborhood fiesta
Wearing full traditional fellas regalia
With elaborate embroidered brooch dress billowing with petticoats
Same girl, same city, same sense of style
That's Valencia
Let's start in the heart of Valencia
The Stacion d'Aunat
Which was completed in 1917
By Dimitri Oribis
Who came up with the modernist building
The facade with designs of vegetables, oranges and orange flowers
Were inspired by the local agriculture
The design of the train station is a big surprise
For travelers who go there for the first time
And right beside it, Plaza del Toro is the Valencia
A bull rain currently used for bullfighting
It holds 12,884 people
It was built between 1850 and 1860
By Sebastian Monlion
Margarita Centro
Margarita Centro
There's been a market on this very spot since medieval times
Facing the Gothic splendor of La Lonia
Across Plaza del Margarito
Today's wonderful modernista building
Is a swirl of smells, movement and color
Here are more than 900 active stalls
Despite ever keener competition from supermarkets
Look among all this activity
For the few remaining single product stalls
Offering only and exclusively stales by the sack full
A multi-colored spice is that contrast
With the monochrome green of bean or lettuce stalls
And the bright orange and lemon of the citrus vendors
In the annex on its northern side
You'll find shawls of seafood and fish, eels too
Freshly hauled from the Albuquerra Lake
And still slithering
Squirm in turn at the pair of counters in the one corner
That specialize in whole sheep's head, lungs, tongues,
Prodders and trikes
And don't forget to look at the structure itself
With the glowing colored glass and the mosaics on the facade
After lunch slash early dinner
Which by the way is when Piala is typically served
We eat at Al Principito
Which takes full advantage of the freshness
And mark out Centrale
And during Gordana go for the seafood Piala
While I stick with my meat
Inglésia de los Santos Juanes
Known as San Juan del Mercado
Was already in existence in the 13th century
But was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 14th century
After a fire
A nave with ogre-volted ceilings
Remains from that period
In the 16th century it suffered another fire
And was rebuilt once more
This time in Baroque style was the intervention
Of Vincent de Garcia
In the central part of the Baroque portal
Mentioned should be made to the statue
Of the Virgin Del Rosario
Surrounded by angels attributed to Bertici
The clean sweeping lines of Gothic La Lanya
Are the perfect antidote
If you're feeling a twinge of indigestion
At so much rich Baroque around town
The UNESCO World Heritage Site
Constructed in the early 16th century
Was once a commodity exchange
Elementary bank and meeting place
For the merchant classes
