bull ring

We went and visited the bull ring in Valencia. I have always been interested in bull fighting, but I don't think I could ever actually go to one. We watch a video in the museum of a bull fight and that was gory enough for me. The bull ring was quite old, built in the 1800's and still used today.

Pictures of the bulls

A Matador

Kit pretending to be a matador

Beautiful capes

me and my bull friend

For 2 euros you got into the museum and then a guided tour of the bull ring.

These aren't actually the bulls they use, but these are the resident oxen used to calm down the bulls before a fight.

The ring, seats are priced based on how close to the action you are, as well as if the seat is in the sun or the shade, which makes a huge difference if it's over 100 degrees. It was a scorching day when we went and you could see the benefit of the shade.

The attached hospital in case of any emergencies

Ole!

Once the bull was finally finished the crowd, and the president or another high ranking official decide how well the matador performed. If he did poorly he has to leave from the same door he came into the ring from. If he did okay, he is awarded one of the bulls ears and can leave from the door leading into town. If he does very well he gets both of the bulls ears. And if he does spectacularly he gets both ears and the tail and is carried out into town on the shoulders of the crowd, to spend the entire night partying.

These are the platforms the matadors can duck behind if a bull is chasing them or feeling particularly rowdy. Up close you could see it was covered in gouges and scratches from bulls horns.

This is where they hung the bulls up after they are killed to clean them and chop them up for food for the restaurants around town where it is considered a delicacy.

A sign for a future bull fight on the 17th of August.

That ends our trip to Valencia we fell in love with city also and we couldn't decide which one we liked better Valencia or Barcelona. On to San Jose next.

Beach Day

We spent a lovely afternoon at the beach in Valencia. We rode bikes from our hotel and before we hit the beach we went for a paella lunch. Paella is a Spanish rice dish that is cooked over a wood fire in a huge cast iron skillet. Kit did some research and found the best place to eat paella in Valencia called Casa Carmela. It was where all the locals go and it was fantastic. Paella is traditionally the main dish of a long and languorous lunch, preceded by fresh seafood and perhaps a salad, and followed by deserts, coffee, and aperitifs. Paella comes in a number of different varieties, primarily seafood, Valenciana (which is made with chorizo and various meats like rabbit), and black rice paella (made black by squid ink!) We made reservations and were the first ones there. It was full by the time we left - an hour and half later.

The restaurant 

Me trying to take pictures of them cooking the paella over the wood fires

We got the seafood Paella and it was so good. I wish I could have some right now. We followed our meal with lemon sorbet, a coffee for Kit, and it just so happened that a Chivas Regal representative was on hand, pouring us generous tumblers of Scotch and taking us through tastings with dried apple slices. Ole!

Just to illustrate how slow a true paella lunch should be, there was a group of 8 elderly men behind us, they were seated a half hour after us but by the time we left, an hour and a half later, they were on their 3rd round of drinks and appetizers but hadn't even gotten paella yet. They were in for a long afternoon of eating and drinking!

Us on the beach- perfect!

We didn't realize that all beaches in Spain are topless, and usually have a nude area as well. The Spanish people were very casual about it, but it was still a bit novel for us. Kit went topless at every beach!

It was a perfect day

Riding our bikes 

A gargoyle we saw while riding through the city

A fun pic of kit in the hotel trying to figure out where we are going.

Flamenco

We heard from friends who visited Spain before that we needed to see a Flamenco. Flamenco is a Spanish dance from Andalusia in southern Spain. It includes singing, guitar, dancing and handclaps. It has been known as a musical outlet for the poor and gypsies of Spain. It is a very emotional piece of music by all who participate. If you want to learn more about the history of Flamenco go here

We looked up the best place to see Flamenco in Valencia and went there one night.

The Plaza del Ayuntamiento at night

Some street art on our walk to the Flamenco

yellow light streets and a full moon

A sign describing what flamenco is

The bar we went to was a tiny place that could fit around 50 people with a stage in the middle. We got seats on the side of the stage.

The band-guitar, singers, dancer and a drummer

The Flamenco dancer

They did two sets. The first one was more light hearted and the second one was darker with more of a feeling of sadness and despair.

There are two videos of the performance at the bottom of this page- I recommend watching them to get a feel of what Flamenco is like.

We decided to ride bikes home along the old river Turia. The river used to run almost around the entire city but it once flooded part of Valencia so they diverted it and made it into 7km of parks that now surround the city. We came across this carnival in one area.

After a long bike ride home us being silly in the elevator to our hotel room.

Flamenco vidoes