Valencia Walking Tour

Monday was the only day we could do a walking tour, and it was rainy! On Sunday, when the forecast didn’t look promising already, we reached out to our guide and asked whether he had a backup plan. His response was: bring umbrellas, but I knew it would depend on how bad the rain would actually be. The tour was scheduled for 9:30, and at 8:30, it was raining really badly. The tour guide messaged me and asked whether we wanted to move the tour for later, and we happily agreed. We ended up meeting at 11:30. It was still raining, but not as bad as in the morning. We kept umbrellas open most of the time, but we could still enjoy the surroundings.

We met at the Central Train Station, looked at the beautiful ceramic wall and ceiling decorations, and got out into the light rain.

Since we walked around so much on Saturday, I didn’t take more pictures of the places we’d already visited. The first “new” stop was the Central Market.

This place is extremely interesting both architecturally and historically. It used to be the actual open-air market for centuries, and and building was erected only a hundred years ago. The market is considered to be the largest fresh produce market in Europe. By local standards, its expensive, althought it’s the best quality produce you can ever find. For us, the prices were low 😂. And before I forget: we asked about the parrot on the top of one of the sreas, and our guide told us that the parrot was a symbol of this market, because people were coming there for gossiping.

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Valencia Cathedral

The Valencia Cathedral was first built in the 13th century, though an earlier church stood on the site, which the Moors ruined and replaced with a mosque. Things are very complicated in Valencia :).

Just from a quick glance at the cathedral, anyone can see that new parts have been added and the old parts have been rebuilt over many centuries, and the building is as eclectic as it could possibly be.

We first visited the Cathedral on Saturday, and on Monday, our tour guide shared more details about it. Among many facts, the entrance that you can see at this picture was supposed to be in the center (of course!), but also, there was no square, and the street that led to the Cathedral was on the left, and the wing on the left was not there first, so the entrance actually **was** in the center!

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Rainy Day And Museums

Both Sunday and Monday were rainy, but Sunday was still more or less OK. These were our only two free days before the conference started, and we initially planned a private tour on Sunday morning, exploring the city on our own in the afternoon, and visiting museums on Monday. Fortunately, the Visit-a-City app knows all the opening hours and told us all museums would be closed on Monday, so we had to rearrange things. Sunday became a museum day.

The first one we visited was the Ceramic Museum. Itis housed in the Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas, and the palace living quarters are part of the museum. I saw a no-photo sign near the entrance and didn’t take pictures for the first 30 minutes, but then I realized everyone was taking photos and the museum staff were fine with it, so I started taking pictures too.

Valencia endured several sieges: first by Romans, then by Moors, and then by Christians, and its ceramics reflected different stages of the city’s history.

Unfortunately, the museum had almost no English signage: some palace rooms had flyers in English, but the Ceramic Museum had almost none. I read a little bit later, but I wish I had done it before the museum visit!

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Public Transportation in Valencia

I meant to write about it right away, but then got distracted by life 🙂 In short, public transportation turned out to be affordable and convenient. We took the subway from the airport to our hotel, then purchased multi-trip tickets and took the metro or a bus everywhere. The system is very similar to the one we have in Chicago, only you need to touch the card not only on your way inm but on the way out as well.

The only problem we faced was that during the evening hours, the time between trains during off-peak hours could be substantial: 20 minutes or more! The long wait was the only reason I took a cab or Uber: I did it three times.

Other than that – only positive things! I even tried to take a tram to the Valencia Postgres meetup, but then I’ve relaized how long it would take!

Walking Around In Valencia

We were very lucky to have a nice, warm day on Saturday. Initially, I didn’t plan any touristy activities for Saturday, but with the miserable weather forecast for the next two days, we decided to alter our plans.

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Valencia!

I am in Spain for the first time! It’s warm, and I love it. Severe weather is expected tonight, and it will rain for the next two days, but today was perfect! Our flight left Helsinki at 6:20 AM (and we were happy to find out that the European lounge opens at 5 AM, and even the Platinum Corner was open :)). It was a direct flight, so we were there early and had time to walk around. We even climbed the Valencia Cathedral Tower! (207 steps up!)

The conference will take place at Palacio de Congresos, and most participants stay at the Sercotel Scorolla Palace hotel, right next to the venue. As often happens, when I checked the AARP website, I found a better deal than the conference discount and reserved a huge corner room with a view. Funny story, I forgot that I already paid for this reservation and forgot about the room size, so I was surprised twice 🙂

While we were waiting for our room, we walked around a little bit.

Looking at our conference venue from the hotel

More coming shortly!

In Helsinki

Although I am not working a “real” job these days, I booked several days in Valo because I still need to work on many other things, even if these things are not “real” work (define real!). In addition to an office, Valo gives me a free gym, unlimited coffee drinks, including cappuccino and espresso, and an absolutely delightful breakfast and lunch buffet at a discounted price. Honestly, if I had it at home, I would rarely cook.

However, this time, I do not need to rush, and I do not need to ask to extend my hours, and I have some other life as well :). I can leave before 5 PM, and randomly wander the city.

On Tuesday, I didn’t go to coworking at all, and Boris and I biked to IKEA, had lunch there, and biked back

And on Thursday, we managed to fit in a (shorter) bike ride after I was done with my “not real” work, and then went to a concert at the Helsinki Music Center. I’ve been there multiple times, but each time, I love it more and more, and admire how well-thought-out each and every piece is!

Previously, Boris used to get ticket in the middle, and although the visibility is great from each corner, we found that you cnt’ hear a soloist well enough when you are facing the back of the orchestra (and the soloist). This time, he got the tickets in the second row, right in the middle, so it was a paradise!

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra presented three pieces: Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks concerto, Mozart’s Clarnet quintet, and the best part – Folk songs by Luciano Berio, sang by Fluer Barron. She was absolutely magical, I just can’t get over it! She was also playing harp, and the last note she sang was the first note picked up by harp, and it all sounded like nothing you can imagine! I didn;t find any recordings, so you have to believe me! A magical evening!

It Feels Warm

Many years ago, when Boris first moved to Finland, he told me he liked nothing more than feeling the warmth the moment he stepped through the building’s front door. In Russia, the hallways were never heated; it used to be still cold until you entered your apartment (I do not know whether it changed later, or whether it became the norm for newer constructions/remodeling).

It is not always the case in the US either, and I agree with Boris that that’s a distinct Finnish thing. But it’s more than that. Somehow, any public space, whether it’s a shopping mall, a library, or a train station, feels incredibly warm and welcoming, especially in the cold weather. I don’t know any other place in the world where I would feel this good, even when it’s cold, dark, and rainy. Just step inside any place, and you feel it.

Foraging

I arrived in Helsinki on Saturday and planned to meet with my friend Natasha on Sunday. Just a day before my arrival she asked me whether I would be interested in a mushroom-picking. to which I replied with an enthusiastic “yes” – it was my first opportunity in thirty years!

The kind of mushrooms we were going to forage presented a little challenge, because they were trumpet chanterelles, which I never picked in my life, and you need a eye for each mushroom specie to be an efficient forager, but eventually I figured it out.

I saw a surprising number of butter mushrooms around (they should have been gone by that time of the year), but since those were the maushrooms I used to go for as a child, I could spot them right away. Unfortunately, all except for one I picked were too old and I ended up throwing them away after they got home, but we cooked what was left :).

There were also some russulas, some too old, but some still healthy and perfectly eatable, and some other mushrooms I was unsure about, possibly white and black milk-caps, but since I was not sure, we prefereed not to experiment. And there were lingonberries – all over the place! I already bought a box in a grocery store, but the ones staight from the stems – they were bigger and sweeter than the ones from the store, and I couldn’t stop munching on them!

Over two hours in the forest. Almost severn pounds of trumpet chanterelles. Breath-taking views. Slightly wet feet. Priceless :).