Paris1972-Versailles2003

And after so many years was able to be back to Valencia. If read my blog when a boy used to come from Madrid to visit my aunt here at El Saler just south of Valencia. Of course, the tours always included a visit to the city. Wind up the clock and once living in France, the idea of Spain so close looms big and I took them there. They like it and we road warrior all over including a stop in Valencia. Let me tell you in my black and white series, no pictures , a bit more on this city updating an older post. Valencia is a lot more than El Cid!!

And coming back to Valencia, literally after so many years was a blast of remembering game with my mother. Until later come back with my dear late wife Martine and sons. It is always another sweet spot for me in my beloved Spain. It is a nice city to visit by the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood of Carmen is glorious indeed. We really enjoyed the market or Mercado Central. However, I like to tell you about the history I like on this post.

Valencia is a city located in the eastern part of the country on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Founded in 138 B.C. by the Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus under the name of Valentia Edetanorum, Valencia became, in the Middle Ages, the capital of the Kingdom of Valencia. The city is crossed by the  Túria river , which was redirected in the  1960’s  as a result of the great Flood of Valencia of 1957. Its old bed is now converted into green spaces, the gardens of the Turia.

In 711, the city was taken by the Moors of Northern Africa , Abd al-Allah, the son of Abd al-Rahman I, (first Emir of Cordoba), settled in Balansiya (name of the city in Arabic) and exercised his authority over the region of Valencia. In October 1092, a handful of Almoravids scouts arrived at the walls of Valencia. Ibn Djehaf, a member of the Yemeni High Line, carried by the partisan crowd, took the power of the city after having assassinated al-Qadir.  Rodrigo (El Cid), who was then staying in Zaragoza, besieges Valencia and takes over the city in July 1093. Rodrigo  allied with king Peter I of Aragon and Count Raimond-Berenguer III of Barcelona with the aim of curbing the constant progression of the Almoravid. Rodrigo El Cid  continued to consolidate his power on the Levant, notably with the capture of Murviedro (Sagunto), in 1098.  The Cid dies in Valencia on July 10, 1099. Chimena succeeded in defending the city with the help of his son-in-law Raimond-Berenguer III Count of  Barcelona, until 1101 where King Alfonso VI of Castilla ordered the evacuation of the city. From 1102, the family of the Cid and his companions abandoned the city to the Almoravids. Valencia will only be recaptured definitively from the Moors in 1238, by king James I of Aragon.

The 15C was that of the expansion and growth of the Valencian culture, it is known as the Valencian gold century. Since 18 March 1437, the holy Chalice has been preserved in the Cathedral of Valencia. The construction of large palaces and Churches such as the towers of Serrans or the Micalet (steeple of the Cathedral of Valencia). The Llotja silk Stock exchange of the Seda I dels Mercaders (1482), which becomes one of the most important markets in the Mediterranean, where merchants from all over Europe, specialising in the silk trade, was erected.  It is in Valencia that is printed Obres o trobes en la verge Maria, 45 poems of which 40 in Valencian, 4 in Castilian and 1 in Italian, the first printed book of Spain.  During the war of the Spanish Succession (18C), the city joined the camp of Archduke Charles of Austria, resistant to the rout of the Battle of Almansa on April 25, 1707, abandoned the English army took refuge in Valencia to its fate. In retaliation, the Bourbons put the kingdom to the sack and withdrew its privileges.

Valencia has two urban beaches of golden sand, Las arenas and the beach of Malvarrosa, (see posts) which are bounded in the  south by the Port of Valencia and on the north by  the Patacona Alboraya beach. These are urban beaches, which have a large promenade where there are many large premises, which occupy old public baths, and offer a wide choice of accommodations and local cuisine.

The Mercado Central and the Colom market (see posts) are built, and in 1921 the work of the current València-Nord train station is completed. In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Valencia became the capital of Republican Spain until 1939. The City of Arts and Sciences carried out by Santiago Calatrava, sports facilities  such as Gulliver Park. The city also has several museums, including the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM).  The City of Arts and Sciences revolves around six buildings, including a shady garden, the l’umbracle, and the Oceanogràfic, a oceanarium. A zoological park of 8 hectares, the Biopark Valencia, takes place in the west of the city.  Other nice buildings are the St Mary’s Cathedral,(see post)  Micalet steeple of the cathedral Church of Santa Catalina , the Borgia Palace, and St. Nicholas and St. Peter’s Church.(see posts)

From the 15th to the 19th of March, the days and nights in Valencia become a continuous feast. The Fallas  with very humble origins because they come from the night of San Jose (St Joeph) when we burned the waste of the carpentry workshops. However, the inventiveness of the Valencian people has added all the features peculiar to its culture and history. In Valencia, there is also a bullfighting museum, founded in 1929 with funds from the gift of Luis Moróder Peiró and the bullfighter José Bayard Babu, who for years gathered a large number of materials and objects from the 19C  to early 20C of  Valencia.

The Valencia tourist office in English: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en

The city of Valencia on its history/heritage in Spanish: https://www.valencia.es/cas/la-ciudad

The Autonomus community of Valencia region on Valencia city in English: https://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/en/valencia/valencia

To give you a bit on the area where I spent my early teens years at El Saler ,and the beautiful  Albufera Natural Park , the real home of the Paella Valenciana.

The Valencia tourist office on the beach of El Saler: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what-to-see-valencia/beaches-in-Valencia/beaches-on-the-outskirts/el-saler-beach

The Valencia tourist office on the National Park of Albufera: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what-to-see-valencia/albufera-natural-park

The National Park of Albufera can be reach from Valencia on bus 25 taken at Plaza Puerta del Mar and takes you to El Perello or El Palmar . By road from Valencia take the CV 500 road from the Arts and Science complex it is the V15  cross the Turia river becomes the CV 500 to El Saler and the forest or bosque La Devesa. A better private webpage on the Albufera in English : https://www.lovevalencia.com/en/albufera-valencia.html

There you go folks, another dandy in my beloved Spain all dearly worth the detour. Hope you can enjoy this wonderful Valencia of my beloved Spain.  Or as we said in the 80’s, Spain ,everything under the Sun!

And remember, happy travels , good health, and many cheers to all!!!

And here I am rejoicing of updating this older post in my blog. I had many trips into Galicia Spain, and many friends over the years. I have been enchrined into the supporters group of Real Madrid CF there to my honor and made several friends over the years going all the way back to their grandparents! This was a bit of a road warrior trip I enjoyed very much while staying in Coruña to visit as far north as Xove. Hope you enjoy it as I.

The trips are endless and the memories to last a lifetime. More stories to tell and or expand on my blog.  The feel of the greens of Galicia is always welcome and one of my favorites spots in my beloved Spain.  Some towns are quant and nice even if little known to tourists/visitors etc. These are the ones I like to get the full flavor of my roots deep country. I like to tell you about two nice places in the north of Galicia; San Ciprian (Sao Cibrao in Galician) ,and Jove (Xove in Galician).

San Ciprián (Sao Cibrao in Galician) is a town in the coastal border of the province of Lugo, Galicia.  In the 14C and 15C ships were built here and there was a factory of salt fishes here that still can seen and known locally as the mariners castle. To help guide the ships there was a lighthouse of Atalaia by 1850 that worked until the second half of the 20C.  There is a marine museum and fine beaches in the nearby peninsula with fine sand beaches. San Ciprián , Peninsula de la Paz, is surrounded by fine sandy beaches like those at  Torno, Cubelas, and  A Caosa.  The Royal Factory of Sargadelos in nearby Cervo (Since 1791), one of the oldest and most renowned manufacturers of fine pottery in Galicia.

The festival  of A Maruxaina is celebrated on the second Saturday of August. It is related to a popular legend about a siren who lives on some small islands, Os Farallons, near Sao Cibrao.  Most of the townspeople dress on this day as Maruxainos, that is, in costumes that resemble the dress of days past. Ritually, at noon, the mariners bring the siren from the islands onto shore, while in front of the marine museum they create a mock-trial to judge the Maruxaina on whether she is good or bad. After this the townsfolk serve a potent brew of Queimada (mix of sugar cane and aguardiente a double filter rum drink of higher alcohol content).

Here is the City council of Cervo on Sao Cibrao things to see : http://www.concellodecervo.com/web/publico/turismo/patrimonio/museos

The city council of Cervo on Sao Cibrao beaches with a nice vimeo video! :http://www.concellodecervo.com/web/publico/turismo/praias-e-calas 

The Port authority of Sao Cibrao : https://www.apfsc.com/en/port-of-san-cibrao/presentation-and-geographic-situation/

Jove (Xove in Galician) is a town in the province of Lugo, Galicia .  It is located in the coastal border of the province of Lugo in A Mariña, in the region of Rías Altas of the Cantabrian sea, a change from the  Rías Baixas of the Atlantic ocean, offering a more abrupt , cutoff, nice niches ,big waves and lots of fishing as well as white sandy beaches some still in semi wild status of great beauty.

Great memories and good friends even whatapps with them today, they are natives of Xove and took me to Sao Cibrao for the beaches and barbecue each time in the area.

Things to do or see here are the lookout or Mirador Monte Castelo is on top of the lighthouse or Faro Roncadoiro very nice wild coast with impressive views as well as the Pena Sombreireira,a natural cave with many legends in the area.  Casa de Villalba, is an Americas continent style house on the old town of Xove. Architecture elements of the Americas like the crystal tower and gardens around it. This is due to the millions of Galician that went to the Americas in years past.  O Pazo, a mansion in a hilly area from the 14C belonging to field marshal Don Pedro Pardo de Cela. The Church of Xove, three nerfs with double bell tower and a nice main door still with the inscription of 1694 on it; a nice retable altar from the end of the 17C and another renaissance style from the 16C in the sacristy. Here it is celebrated the feast of San Bartolomé on eac August 24th.

Wonderful beaches all around such as the O Portinho, a small one with white sand and not much waves around the port of Sao Cibrao and next to the old remains of a whale packer of Moras that was working until the end of the 1970’s. The beach of  Lago white sandy and fine beach little waves a bit windy and straight line very nice for water sports such as sailing. The beach of  Portocelos , very hidden beach at the end of a harbor of the same name with a bottle shape tail with a nice slow waves ;it has about 250 meters long by 20 meters wide ,and has white and stony beach sections. It has two heads coming together those of Canelas and Portocelo by the time they reach the ocean in low tide and it is when it has the most beach area available. The best one for me was Esteiro beach with sand dunes, little housing around and near the town of Viveiro next to the harbor entrance of Muiñelo, very calm waters for those seeking peace and quiet beach  as well as a blue flag beach best in class clear pure waters.

We went by other towns such as the before mentioned Viveiro; all very magical and beautiful like you are along in the world, for once , it is welcome. You need to best have a car about 1h30 from A Coruna taking the N651 toll free or AP9 toll road; LU 861 and finally the LU 549 (provincial roads LU=Lugo).

Ah ok a bit on Viveiro, of course. Viveiro is also in the Province of Lugo, bordering the Cantabrian sea to the west of Xove and east of O Vicedo.  It has old walls of the original ramparts and gates such as Vila, Valado, with a Romanesque style, and Castelo da Ponte, also called the gate of Carlos V, that is the emblem of Viveiro. This door has the sculpted imperial arms of the monarch, the original arms of the kingdom, and the arms of the city. And you past in front of it on your way to Xove, bordering the Cantabrian sea! wonderful. you see the Monastery of the Concepcion founded in 1601 or before and the Chapel of  Ecce Homo, also called the chapel of Pity, by around 1608. The Romanasque buildings abound such as the Churches of San Pedro, Santa María, and San Francisco. The bridge over the Landro river dates back to the medieval era too. Viveiro’s is the oldest Carnival in Galicia. Also, with many beaches such as o Area or O Covas covering 1,5 km both.

The Galicia region tourist office on Viveiro in English: https://www.turismo.gal/que-visitar/rias-e-praias/ria-de-viveiro?langId=en_US

The Xove Tourist office: http://www.xove.es/conoce/

The province of Lugo tourist board on Xove: https://www.terrasdelugo.info/xove.html

The province of Lulgo tourist board on Cervo/Sao Ciprao: https://www.terrasdelugo.info/cervo.html

There you go folks, another dandy region in my beloved Galicia. Or we said, Spain everything under the sun! You are all set for a wonderful trip into the beauty of Galicia ,unspoiled beautiful and do not say you read it hear please lol!!!Keep it a secret lol!!!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!