European Christmas Holidays 2017 - Valencia & Madrid, Spain

19th December 2018

My first day in Spain this time around started with a lie in the room of Eurostars Rey Don Jaime. It was a decent hotel with a decent room, just a little bit warm and there was some refurbishing going on. But, the location was perfect for what I came to Valencia for.

Valencia is home to the City of Arts of Sciences. As a Valencia City Guide puts it

"The City of Arts and Sciences is an ensemble of six areas in the dry river bed of the now diverted River Turia in Valencia, Spain. Designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava and started in July 1996, it is an impressive example of modern architecture. The "city" is made up of the following, usually known by their Valencian names: El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía — Opera house and performing arts centre; L'Hemisfèric — Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium; L'Umbracle — Walkway / Garden; El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe — Science museum; Oceanografic — Open-air aquarium or oceanographic park; Ágora — A versatile space that will allow the holding of varied events. Surrounded by attractive streams and pools of water, it and the surrounding areas of the "city" are typically used as a relaxing place to walk day or night, with an open air bar outside El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe during the evening."

http://www.valencia-cityguide.com/tourist-attractions/the-city-of-arts-and-sciences.html

Seeing Calatravas and Candelas is definitely impressive enough for anybody to travel to that location for. In fact, this is not the first Calatrava I have seen - I have never travelled to a destination solely to marvel at the curves that this architect produces but I have stumbled across quite a few of his creations - starting with the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2005 when I started my studies in Marquette University, a couple of his bridges in Bilbao and Dublin when I visited those cities in 2009 and 2010, and the World Trade Centre Transportation Hub earlier in the 2017. In fact, the City of Arts and Sciences is the closest I ever been to a city just to snap some photos of it.

If I was an architect, I may be Calatrava-hunting; however, I am not. I wanted to see the City of Arts and Sciences to see for myself the representation of the amount of money spent by the regional governments of Spain on mega projects such as this when the price of debt was low due to the backing up of stronger European Union economies. (But yes, the tourist and the Asian in me did take a lots of snaps of the buildings!) However, seeing the building for myself and the regeneration it was part of along a dried river bed made me question whether it was simply a waste of money or was it simply spending at the wrong time but could actually bring benefits in the long run. On the one hand, do they need such a big opera house and museums but on the other hand, I am sure that because of this, many visit Valencia for the sole purpose of seeing this architectural marvel which then generates many positive externalities to the businesses and people of the city.

The City of Arts and Sciences

Tired of walking around the whole complex and snapping photos while having this economic conundrum, I headed back to hotel, stopping by at a nearby cafe to get some food para llevar. After a short rest in the hotel room, I checked out and then headed to the old centre of Valencia. There were some very pretty cathedrals, buildings, plazas, but without the City of Arts and Sciences, many other towns and cities in Spain would outshine Valencia.

Fountains and Buildings in Valencia

I then caught the 16:15 train from the High Speed Rail Station in Valencia (different from the other train station) to Madrid Atocha. It was a comfortable ride and there is nothing better than a beer on a high speed train going through the Spanish countryside and towns.

Upon arrival in Madrid, I searched for the C10 train to Majadahonda but was not sure whether the train I took was actually the C10 or not - it did take me to my destination however - I guess that was all that mattered. Upon arrival in Majadahonda, where I have been quite a few times, Karl, my Spanish flat-mate in Marquette, came to pick me up. After a short trip to see his family we headed back to his new 4 bed and 2 1/2 bath condominium. Can't believe the space and price he paid for it compared to Cambridge real estate prices.

20th December 2017 This was a very chill day where I spent the whole morning and early afternoon watching TV at Karl's flat while he is at work. The highlight was taking Bru, Karl's dog out to the local forest, Monte del Pilar, where I was made to stay longer at the forest due to the puppy eyes when we wanted to leave the first time. When Karl was back, we lunched at Xinito, a trendy Chinese restaurant with a very good priced set menus for lunch - we had baos which they lumped as dim sum, kung pau chicken, gyozas, and a prawn curry. Dinner follow after spending the afternoon with Karl's family and a game of pool. We dined at Al Altea which served local Spanish cuisine - scallops, ham croquettes, thinly sliced calamari, and the main course Spanish rice (wet with seafood including a big prawn - better than langostines)!. Ended the night with a properly made glass of G&T (Nordes obviously) at Panorama. They even served their drinks with Gummies as snacks!

Walking Bru at Monte del Pilar

21st December 2017 We had an early start - a short dog walk with Karl and Bru then drove into the city where I was dropped off at Mar de Cristal Metro station where I got a ticket to get to Mendez Alvaro via the 8 line to Nuevos Ministerios and 6 circular. Throughout this journey, I was hoping that I was heading to the right Mendez Alvaro to catch the 8 hour bus to Lisbon.

It was the right Mendez Alvaro after all and the Estacion Autobus Sur was nearby. Therefore, I managed to catch the bus to Lisbon. With a personal entertainment system at every seat, a bottle of water and a Tortilla Espanola Bocadillio in the bag, life was good! We had a quick 15 minute stop at Trujillo, the birth place of Pizzaro and also stopped at Merida and Badajoz but I didn't go down.

To be continued.....