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I finally got around to editing the rest of my Valencia trip photos from November 2011 (lazy me), seems like a long time but it was just a couple of months ago. On the last day of my trip, it was another full day of activities. Early in the morning I was invited to the City of Arts and Sciences, the architecture of the place was simply amazing, even just from the outside. I had a guided tour around the Science Museum Príncipe Felipe, Hemisfèric (Imax Dome, Planetarium), Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (Opera House), Agora, Umbracle and Oceanographic. My favorite part was the Oceanogràfic, it is the largest aquarium in Europe, pretty amazing! After the long tour, I had lunch at the Restaurante Submarino at L’Oceanografic (inside Oceanographic). It was a great scene, I ate my Lobster Paella underground, surrounded by marine life behind the glass. It felt like I was inside a big aquarium, loved it. Then onto Bioparc, one of the best zoos I’ve been to so far. Most of the animals are not enclosed in glass or cages, they seem to be able to run freely in a big space like their natural habitats. I felt the closeness to the animals, I think this is the closest I’ve seen some of the animals. Really a must go if you’re in Valencia. After the zoo, I had some time to kill before dinner. So sat down at Valor for some hot chocolate and churros. I was seriously pooped by the time all this was done but I had a dinner to attend to, VLC made a really good choice and invited me to Seu Xerea by Stephen Anderson. I really enjoyed the food there, it was really good. Defnitely the best meal I’ve had in Valencia. I had a good time in Valencia, it was a different experience from my other trips, although small but very interesting. > Valencia 2011 Day 1 – Arrival
On day 2 of my Valencia trip back in November, I had a personal tour guide take me around the historical town. My tour guide Sandra, told me that Valencia is also known as flower city, throughout the city there are orange trees and decorations all over. From my hotel we walked for about 3 hours to some of the most famous places: Cathedral and Miguelete Tower, Central Market and La Lonja (Silk Exchange Market). And of course shopping areas, the Golden Mile which is the most expensive shops, luxury shopping lined with shops like Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Carolina Hererra and Hermes; and Calle Colon which is filled with high street brands like Zara (a million of them), Uterque, Mango, H&M, Blanco, Bershka, Muji, Foot Locker, etc. Lunch was organized by VLC at the Palace Fesol restaurant, the restaurants start getting busy around 2pm when shops closes for lunch. I find it pretty hard to communicate in Valencia, not much people can speak or understand English so I guess body language is the universal language. They chose Valencian Paella (no rabbit) for me again lol, the food came out quick and service was efficient. After lunch, I took the Valencia Bus Turistic for an hour tour, my feet was tired so I had to sit and rest. It was pretty cool. I wanted to stay around for dinner so went to went across the street from my hotel to La Nicoletta. The food was pretty good there. I was seriously beat after the long day! > Valencia 2011 Day 1 – Arrival
I’m a bit backlogged as you can see but better late than never! After Amsterdam, the second leg of my Europe trip was to Valencia, Spain. I was invited by Valencia Tourism (VLC) to visit and it was my first time there. I’ve been to Barcelona twice and Valencia is just about 1.5 hours away by fast train. The flight from Amsterdam to Valencia was quite brutal since there were no direct flights, I got up at the crack of dawn to make my Iberia flight which turned out to be a nightmare. Iberia flight attendants were super rude and there were little to no service at all. I was quite disappointed and never want to take Iberia again if I had a choice. After I arrived in Valencia, I checked into Hotel Vincci Palace, the hotel was pretty cute and modern. I was also happy that the hotel was in the city center, walkable from almost everywhere, especially food and shopping! I was beat by the time I got in so I decided to get some rest before dinner. Dinner was organized by VLC as well, I went to Ocho y Medio which was about a 5-10 minute walk from my hotel. Valencia is a county known for rice, paella is the most famous. The typical Valencian paella is made with chicken, rabbit and snails, that was what I had for dinner minus the rabbit along with patata bravas. The Valencian paella was pretty different from what I’ve ever had, the presentation can be intimidating but don’t worry it’s not that much rice it just looks wide but it’s not deep ha! After dinner, I took a short stroll and headed back to the hotel quickly since day 2 would be very long! Stay tuned for more posts on my Valencia trip… > Valencia 2011 Day 2 – Tour of the city 
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