Spain: Part III

Our last day in Valencia was spent in the city's Old Town. The architecture was gorgeous and the city is just lovely. Our first stop off of the train was the bull ring. Really awesome, but the market inside of it was drug dealer central.

So we made our way to the central train station because it was supposed to be gorgeous and it was.

Then we headed to the central post office because again it was supposed to be awesome and it was.


Then we headed to the town hall because it was supposed to be pretty. The outside definitely was. The kids were just happy the doors were locked.

After a bad lunch, we went over to the Mercado Central. The guys enjoyed looking at the seafood for sale. Owen impressed the fruit lady by purchasing his own apple and orange with his own money.



Across the street is the old silk market (La Longia). This is an old medieval building with a ton of great carvings and unique pillars that spiral upwards about 80 feet to the ceiling. We were able to see the whole thing in time before it closed for lunch.





After a snack,

we headed to the cathedral. Totally gorgeous and most well-known for housing the supposed "Holy Grail" and having the actual right arm of St. Vincente.



Our last stop was a walk through the Torre Serrano. It is a really well-preserved tower gate on the northern entrance to the old city. The kids were most impressed with the array of Halloween costume castoffs populating the dry moat: a witch's hat, two brooms, a devil's pitchfork, a pair of silver pom poms and a plastic chair.





The metro tram stop was just across the river and not a moment too soon as the youngest two were sightseeing worn out! Lucky for us, St. Vincente gave his right arm to make the day worthwhile for centuries of school children.

On our last day, we got an early start to head south to Alicante. On the way we stopped at a town called Calpe where there is a huge 300m tall rock rising up out of the Mediterranean called Penyon d'Ifach. We played in the very blue sea.



After a very tourist-centered lunch, we continued south to Alicante.

We found our very posh five-star hotel (booked by Kris) without a fuss. The kids enjoyed the indoor heated pool and the groomed deserted beach. Craig had an evening run. We found an AWESOME Italian restaurant just around the corner from the hotel after opting out from the pricey hotel restaurant. We spent the last day in Alicante. Our favorite part was shopping in El Corte Ingles - a six story department store. We did go to see the "castle" in Alicante, but most of it was either being rebuilt or restored to look genuine.


Craig couldn't resist a photo op of 'the pirate guy' at the castle.



We headed to the airport early and waited for our flight. Overall, we did not enjoy the Costa Blanca and its being overrun by British old age pensioners. Cars were double-parked all over, people wandered into the streets and pushy hawkers selling junk were everywhere. However, the coastline is gorgeous. Spain was a worthwhile trip.