View over Valencia from Ferris Wheel from Valencia Blog on Vimeo.

Part of the Feria de Julio was a fair in the Turia riverbed, which had this gigantic Ferris Wheel. You can’t have missed it if you’ve been Valencia during the last month. But perhaps you didn’t get a chance to take a spin… Well, in that case enjoy the video and a few pictures below.

The song in the video is called Twilight Phenomena by Paper Tyger.

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The Plaza del Ayuntamiento is the largest and probably most important plaza in Valencia. Home to the city hall (ayuntamiento) and the magnificent central post office (edificio de correos), the Plaza del Ayuntamiento also serves as ground zero for Fallas.

The triangular shape of the plaza is interesting. At its southern end, where it’s widest, there’s a large cement lot which is the site of mascletàs during Fallas. All other times of the year, it serves no obvious purpose and is conspicuously empty for a huge central city plaza. Ringed around the cement lot are flower vendors, who never seem to be lacking for business.

One thing the empty lot is good for is photographs. From every direction, you can get wonderful shots: the Central Post Office to the east, the Ayuntamiento to the west and a huge fountain to the north.

Besides Fallas, the Plaza del Ayuntamiento generally serves as Valencia’s go-to meeting spot. It was here people gathered for the impromptu celebrations following Spain’s Euro 2008 victory, and it makes an excellent meeting spot for ventures in the city.

But while the plaza is impressive and useful, it is not a nice place to while away the afternoon, as is the Plaza de la Virgen, for example. Too much traffic and concrete. But you won’t be able to avoid it on a trip to the city… in Valencia, all roads lead to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

Location on our Valencia Map

Restored Mosaics - Train Station Valencia from Valencia Blog on Vimeo.

I haven’t been living long enough in Valencia to have seen this hall before they renovated it. But I can say that they did a wonderful job, and it’s really worth a visit, especially since the Estación del Norte is already on the must see list of Valencia visitors.

Location on Our Valencia Map

Please take a look at our Valencia TV Site

Soccer meets volleyball at the 4th annual footvolley tournament at Las Arenas beach, in Malvarrosa (location).

A 21st century mixture of sports (some may call it a ‘mashup‘; very Sport 2.0), footvolley is extremely fun to watch — it’s almost best viewed as an exhibition of skill. Check out some of the footage from 2006’s world tournament, also held in Valencia.

This is the 4th annual tournament… and Brazil will be looking to pick up their 4th consecutive title. Damned Brazilians! What with their samba, partying and domination in all things soccer, they get on my nerves.

Other teams invited this year come from all over Europe and South America. Our sympathies will be with the Germans. The footvolley championship would be a nice consolation prize after the heartbreak of the Euro 2008.

More Info at Spain’s Footvolley Site (in Spanish)

http://www.valenciastreetcircuit.com/

This weekend, Valencia’s new F1 Track will be inaugurated, during the Spanish Formula 3 and GT Open. Saturday will be a day of practice, and 20,000 spectators are expected to turn up on Sunday for the races.

With tickets for August’s Formula 1 race selling for hundreds and hundreds of euros, these inaugural races offer a more affordable way (€20) to see the track in action. As far as I’m concerned, fast cars are fast cars.

I don’t actually know if there are any tickets left, but they’re being sold at El Corte Ingles. Anyone who knows for sure should feel free to leave a comment!

There’s a lot more information about the races and the track at the Valencia Street Circuit website.

Carmen, Valencia’s most trendy and artsy district, is well known for its graffiti. But you can find exhibitions of this art form throughout the city. For example, here’s some graffiti from the district of Xerea (home of the Sant Bult Procession).

I especially like Calle de Engorgo with it’s bizarre, dilapidated buildings (don’t mind the smell) :

La Nau, the University of Valencia’s center of culture (location), is hosting a series of films in its open air courtyard, starting on the 15th (we’re a day late!)

There are two themes being featured during the series, which runs every day through the 26th: “Vacation Time”, and “Iraq: Images of War, War of Images”.

Here’s a quick run down of the films being screened on each day. If you can read Valencian, you can get more information here. All the films are shown in Original Version, with subtitles. I think the screenings are free, but I can’t find any definitive information on that. I’ll update the post once I know for sure.

Vacation Time

Tuesday, July 15th: Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (France, 1953) - Monsieur Hulot comes to a beachside hotel for a vacation, where he accidentally (but good-naturedly) causes havoc.

Thursday, July 17th: Who Can Kill a Child? (Spain, 1976) - A couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.

Saturday, July 19th: Kikujiro (Japan, 1999) - It’s summer and nine-year old Masao (Sekiguchi) has no one to play with. He decides to go in search of the mother he has never met. Kikujiro (Takeshi), a brash, loudmouthed and irresponsible adult, agrees to accompany him on his quest. Ultimately, the two of them end up at a destination that neither of them could have imagined.

Sunday, July 20th: August Days (Spain/Catalan, 2006) - Confused after months of work searching for material to write about a time in history that a journalist had often spoken about, Marc calls his brother David and they set off on a short vacation. But Marc cannot switch off and David takes him further south, to a place where they have heard people come to from far a field in pursuit of a fish with cat-like whiskers…

Tuesday, July 22nd: The Seven Year Itch (USA, 1955) - When his family goes away for the summer, a so far faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor (Marilyn Monroe).

Thursday, July 24th: Bonjour Tristesse (USA, 1958) - In the French Riviera, the spoiled and futile seventeen years old girl Cecile (Jean Seberg) is spending the summer vacation with her father, the widow playboy and bon-vivant Raymond (David Niven), and his girlfriend Elsa (Mylène Demongeot). Cecile has a serious Complex of Oedipus with her father, and they have a quite incestuous relationship.

Saturday, July 26th: Pauline at the Beach (France, 1982) - Fifteen year old Pauline and her older cousin, model-shaped Marion, go to the emtying Atlantic coast for an autumn holiday . Marion ignores the approaches of a surfer and falls for Henri, a hedonist who is only interested in a sexual adventure and drops her soon. Pauline’s little romance with a young man (Sylvain) is also spoiled by Henri.

Iraq: Images of War, War of Images

Wednesday, July 16th: Full Battle Rattle (USA, 2008) - A film about life inside the US Army’s Iraq simulation in California’s Mojave Desert

Friday, July 18th: The War Tapes (USA, 2006) - In March 2004, just as the insurgent movement strengthened, several members of one National Guard unit arrived in Iraq, carrying digital video cameras. The War Tapes is the movie they made with Director Deborah Scranton and a team of award-winning filmmakers. It’s the first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves on the front lines in Iraq.

Monday, July 21st: Gunner Palace (USA, 2004) - American soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the “Gunners,” tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country

Wednesday, July 23rd: Apuntarse a un bombardeo (Spain, 2003) - Documentary about Spanish troops inside Baghdad during the siege.

Friday, July 25th: Voices of Iraq (Iraq, 2004) - Filmed and directed by the Iraqis themselves — thousands of them, from all walks of life, all over their country. The producers, who distributed more than 150 digital video cameras across the country, condensed more than 400 hours of footage into an unprecedented, and startling, look at life in a war zone. It’s a new genre of filmmaking.

La Lonja, the Silk Exchange, is one of Valencia’s best known buildings, and an absolute must-see attraction for a visit to the city. UNESCO has even declared it a World Heritage Site:

Built between 1482 and 1533, this group of buildings was originally used for trading in silk (hence its name, the Silk Exchange) and it has always been a centre for commerce. It is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The grandiose Sala de Contratación (Contract or Trading Hall), in particular, illustrates the power and wealth of a major Mediterranean mercantile city in the 15th and 16th centuries. (UNESCO)

Located directly across from the Mercado Central, the building is large and impossible to miss (location). The contract hall, which serves as the entrance, is alone worth the visit. 8 massive, spiraling columns give support to this spacious and beautiful room. Take special note of how the columns bloom up into the ceiling — they’re meant to evoke Valencia’s palm trees.

Adjoining the contract hall is a lush orange garden. Doing business hundreds of years ago must have been a pleasure (sometimes).

Once you’ve gone across the garden and up the stairs, you’ll enter into la Lonja’s most impressive space, the Consolat de Mar. Look up or down, either way you’ll be amazed. The floor has an incredibly dizzying pattern, and the 15th-century golden roof is crazy.

But my favorite feature of La Lonja is not the stately rooms nor the soothing orange garden, but the dirty, perverted gargoyles. Although ubiquitous on the grounds, they’re easy to overlook, so keep your eyes peeled. I’m not sure why the architects chose to incorporate sculptures of beastiality, molestation and sexual depravity… anyone know? One theory I’ve heard is that they wanted to emphasize that La Lonja was in no way a religious building (if so, mission accomplished!)

Considering that La Lonja is free to visit, there’s no excuse to skip it.

Opening Hours
Tues-Sat: 10 - 14, 16:30 - 20:30
Sun: 10-15
Mondays Closed
Location on our Valencia Map

More Information at Wikipedia

The superheroes of Marvel Comics have flown into the Prince Felipe Museum of Sciences (location), where they are part of an exhibit that seeks to explain science to kids in an accessible, fun way.

Iceman presides over an exhibition about flamingos ice, Spider-Man introduces kids to the strength of spiderwebs, and Magneto presents “What is a magnet?”, then uses his evil powers to crush your skull.

Hi Kids, Let Me Teach You About Super-Soldier Serum!

It’s an interesting idea, mixing fact with fiction for a museum exhibition, but there’s no telling how confused this is going to make the young’uns. I can envision the conversations now…

“So it’s true that spiderwebs are strong?” Yes.
“But people can’t really produce spiderwebs through their wrists?” That’s correct.
“But if they could, they’d be able to swing on them?” Ahhh… I don’t think so. No.
“But Spider-Man can?” Oh my god, kid, shut up.

Acutally, it sounds pretty cool, and might be a perfect way to escape the heat… especially if you have kids. Visitors get to complete certain missions, such as yelling at a certain decibel like the Banshee to defeat the villain Sentinel. You can climb a wall like Spider-Man, and try to help prevent Bruce Banner from flying into a rage.

More info at the Prince Felipe Museum of Sciences website (in English)
Location on our Valencia Map
Photo Credit: ADN

One note: I read about this story in ADN, who starts their article with an anecdote about how the Flash got his powers. Cool enough, I like the Flash — but he is a DC and not a Marvel character, as any comics geek worth his salt could tell you. I probably shouldn’t admit that I noticed this, let alone that I’m annoyed by it, but there you have it. The Flash won’t be in the exhibit at the Museum.

As a birthday surprise, we went on a sunset cruise on a catamaran. I read about it in a brochure I got from the Valencia Tourist office, though neither the brochure nor the internet had many details about it.

So, a week early I walked by the Veles e Vents building located at the America’s Cup port from where the cruise leaves. I was afraid it is going to be super touristy when I read that the ship could fit a maximum of 100 people, but as soon as I saw the catamaran my doubts were quelled.

We were lucky to be the only 4 people on the ship. How awesome. The crew said that there are usually no more than 15 people during the sunset cruises.

The boat leaves at 8pm every day (except Mondays). I recommend confirming that by calling, and showing up at least 15 minutes early. Get information and make reservations at this number: +34 963 816 066 (they speak English)

Price: €18 per adult - €9 per child (prices may vary)

Adults will receive a glass of delicious cava (sparkling wine) right before sunset, and there’s a bar on board with fair prices.

They might ask you if you’d like a tour of the America’s Cup port. We agreed; it was interesting and worth the time.

Departure location on our Valencia Map

Now enjoy the images and the video from our trip. It was awesome and I totally recommend it to everyone visiting.

The catamaran in front of the Veles e Vents (it even has a toilet on board)

Setting the sails - let’s go!

Leaving the port and leaving Veles e Vents behind:

Ay, ay captain Mike!

The promised cava.

Perfect evening out with friends.

It was beautiful.

Have you also done the sunset cruise? Please share your experience with us.