Valencia, Spain (Valencia, España)
December 2015
The river Turia burst its banks and flooded Valencia in 1957, resulting in around 100 fatalities and egregious damage to the city. Knowing it was too dangerous to risk future flooding, the government rerouted the river, leaving a large expanse of riverbed empty. The space was converted into an urban park called the Jardines del Turia. Walking through it on a sunny winter's day, we got a good sense of how much of an asset it is to the city. There was plenty of grassy areas to laze about in, as well as walking lanes, jogging lanes and cycling lanes. Many people were playing football or having picnics under shady trees.
The Hemispheric, which resembles an enormous eye when viewed from the side, was the first building constructed for the complex. Completed in 1998, it serves as a planetarium and an IMAX cinema.
The next morning we woke earlier than usual to pack up our things, getting ready to move on when I heard a strange scene play out in the stairwell of the apartment. Judging from the sounds, I surmised that a lady was carrying her chihuahua or other tiny pooch up the stairs and stopped, perhaps to search for her keys. The dog was ruff ruffing enthusiastically, and as it was earlier than most Spaniards' waking time, the lady began to shush him. The sounds quickly turned from 'ruff shhh ruff shhh' to 'yipp shhh yipp shhh' and I figured the dog was getting slapped for being too noisy. Sleepy and scrambled from our early start, the morning was improved with freshly squeezed orange juice and croissants. We reunited with Denis and set off for Catalonia.
Today's post was almost called: Post-Riverial Perambulations
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