MAVERICK ROVER WORLD-Valencia SP-POST #7 5/4/18

MAVERICK ROVER WORLD

POST #7

May 4, 2018

Valencia, Spain

 Do you want to confess anything behind these doors/curtains?

The space is now the CCCC; Centre del Careme Cultural Contemporania Museo.     It was originally Valencia's Royal Monastery of Our Lady of the Carmen, built in 1281.These are actually confessionals around the cloisters. The venue has been used for many different things over the years. The evening we were there it was a music event in the open public space.

Overhead buttresses at CCCC

Art installation in the Cloister gardens. This is also the same museum that housed the Fallas exhibition that I shared in an earlier post. 

Valencia Institue of Modern Art

This piece of art is on the wall outside of the
Modern Art Museum building, and it is
about 15 feet wide by 20 feet tall. 

I have not been able to find out who did this piece or exactly what it means, however, my interpretation of it is, that the world needs protection at all costs.  I am naming it: "WorldSafety", your thoughts?

Cabanyal:

                                         A visit to the Cabanyal Area of Valencia. 

These houses were originally owned and lived in by the fisherman, since they are near the Playa/Beach; Arenas/Sand and the Mediterranean Sea. Many are currently being renovated back to their original beautiful facade while the insides are being modernized with classy bathrooms and kitchens and petite swimming pools.

Andalusian Day in Turia Park

Andalusian Day at the Turia Park includes young lads on beautiful Andalusian horses of every color; Flamenco dancers in their traditional flare and sumptuous foods of the region. 

Les Torres de Quart
We walk through this Arch nearly every day on our walks to Ciutat Central

  


Les Torres de Quart was part of the original medieval wall that surrounded the city to defend  itself from enemy attacks. Built in 1441 with pointed Gothic arch style ceilings and walls  made of encased lime and pebbles, while only cut stone was used for the angles and arches.  Far up in the tower are these magnificent doors that were for additional protection. Now we can see the beautiful city of Valencia when the doors are open.  The very top-level of this fortress is some 174 ancient stone steps above the street. Only two gates remain from the original walled city.

Estacion del Norte (North)
One of two train stations in Valencia, the other is Joaquin Sorolla.

   

  

Inside Estacion del Norte you will find endless displays of mosaic art that was put in place in 1852. Notice the Bon Voyage sign on the left, that is accompanied by numerous others around the station in multiple languages.  All nationalities are welcomed here and have been for ages. 

Some things we have learned while traveling in Spain:  

*Tarjeta Dorado - Gold Card: The Gold Card for Spain train travel will save you up to 40% on most trains.  You must be 60 years old (another advantage of age) to acquire this card. It only costs 6 Euros and is valid for one full year. The thing we found out is that they will only accept age verification with your passport; thus we had to go back home and make a return trip to the station. The good news is that we added a few miles to our workout that day. 

*Carrefour 65+: When shopping at the local Carrefour grocery store, this 65+ card will give you a discount on meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, cheese, fruit and our favorite food-bakery. It also removes the VAT (value added tax) that most European countries charge.

*No UBER in Spain, but taxis are efficient and have reasonable fares. Not to mention there are buses galore; all you have to do is figure out the schedule and the routes AND there is an amazing METRO train system that goes all around town. 

*Google Maps-Off Line: These can be used anywhere in the world; just find a country/city map on your iPhone, and click save off-line.  Be sure to save a large view of the country/city because you can zoom in later. 

*Holidays: It's a good idea to search ahead of time regarding holidays in the country you will be traveling to because many banks, businesses and museums are closed on random holidays that do not necessarily coincide with US holidays. 

*Converters/Adaptor Plugs: We learned a big lesson on this one. Just because you have an Adaptor Plug for you appliances, does not mean they will work without a Converter that changes the local current. Hair dryers, hair clippers, etc. need a converter unless they are made for both US and European current. ALSO, if you do have a dual current appliance BE SURE TO CHANGE TO THE CURRENT OF THE COUTNRY TO WHICH YOU ARE TRAVELING BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME.  We blew out our hair clipper and now we have a new one that is only good for Europe/UK. 

*USB Hub: We carry a Hub so that we can plug several USB devices into one place. This helps prevent accidentally leaving a device behind in the event you had used a plug in another room that you forgot about. 

Luckily most, if not all, Apple Phones, MacBooks, etc self-adjust for the current. Although we did buy the adaptor plug offered by Apple for all countries. 

                    We recently saw this quote: 
                                                                "anonymous"

"Living on the edge is what we do, whether it is the edge of the riverbed, the edge of our seat, the edge of night or the edge of experience"

    

                                                                                                                         Ron and Roger 

                                                                                                                      "This is our quote"