Valencia

We arrived at the hostel (the same one I stayed at for Las Falles in 2010) around 2pm and quickly decided to walk to the beach as it was another day above 90•F. We knew it wasn't going to be a short walk, but neither of us expected to walk about five miles. On the way there we passed by many monuments including the Grand Prix, City of the Arts and Sciences towers and the "river." We stayed at the beach for a while because the water was nice and warm, but on our way out we found a lot of garbage along the edge of the water. We were told it was from the festival held there last weekend.
. Having learned our lesson, we opted to take a cab back to the hostel, where we got paella for dinner.

The next morning I took the free guided walking tour of the city while Emily went to the beach. On the tour I learned a few local legends and a bit of Spanish history. One story in particular stuck with me.

When Valencia was settled by the Romans it was a small islands surrounded by a river, separating it from the mainland. During the time of the Moors it became a larger city. The river would flood every few years. One year the water rose to a very high level and washed out most of the city. So the city government decided to cut off one of the legs of the river and let all the water go to one side, so that it wouldn't flood. Because of this, Valencia is no longer an island. In the 1980s left with just a dry riverbed, the city decided they wanted to build a highway. Everyday the city workers would try to convert part of the riverbed into a road and every night the citizens of Valencia would come through and plant trees to undo the work done by the city workers that day. After a while the city gave up their highway aspirations. So the riverbed sat empty for another few years until it was eventually converted into a park. This park includes the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences), which is a group of buildings designed by Santiago Calatrava, a famous Valencian architect who I am told is also currently designing the Ground Zero monument in Manhattan (although some sources say that this is untrue).

Another fun fact about Valencia is that it was the last refuge for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.